Photo by Ashin K Suresh on Unsplash

Some Have Many Homes, Others Have None

California's Assembly Bill 1932 would eliminate tax benefits for wealthy residents living in multiple houses.

2024-05-17T13:26-07:00

In the midst of a housing crisis I drive along the mansion-lined hillsides of La Jolla. It's just past dinnertime yet most of the homes are dark. These are sprawling properties with a dozen bedrooms each, big enough to fit the largest of families, and yet they're hauntingly empty. Not even the ultra-rich go out to eat every single night. It's more likely these homeowners are globetrotting among their various estates.

Just over Mount Soledad, tucked away in the canyon, hides an unhoused man trying to make it through another night. Here it is impossible to ignore how some people have many homes while others have none.

Lack of shelter is an issue that affects the most vulnerable in our society, yet the problem is still visible in the most affluent neighborhoods where plots sit unoccupied for most of the year. The housing crisis, of course, won't disappear by putting empty mansions on the market where they will simply change hands among the elite.

Those who live in multiple homes enjoy generous tax breaks along with their exotic travels, hoarding money that could finance housing programs across California. State legislators aware of this potential revenue have authored Assembly Bill 1932, which would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction for these homeowners.

According to Assembly Member Chris Ward, "This is a tax benefit that California offers year after year without question, but results in a massive revenue loss to the state. While we are in the midst of a housing crisis, [AB 1932] could generate up to $200 million annually for California to permanently increase homeownership opportunities for first-time buyers, implement more homelessness prevention strategies, and build desperately needed affordable housing for our extremely low-income constituents."

It's an approach similar to San Francisco's regulation of AirBnBs. Hosts there must occupy the listings for a certain number of months to ensure housing is going to residents and not only to tourists. The idea is that people who live in multiple homes shouldn't profit while there aren't enough houses for everyone else.

The San Diego Housing Federation claims, "San Diego County is more than 134,500 homes short for low-income renters." If AB 1932 passes, the hundreds of millions more dollars in the state's coffers might enable us to catch up.