Business Licenses and Home Offices in San Mateo

Thank you for participating in this year's General Election! As ballots continue to be counted, you can track local and statewide results online with the San Mateo County Elections Office and the California Secretary of State respectively. The California Secretary of State has until December to certify the results of this election. Please stay tuned for a detailed update about how SAMCAR-endorsed candidates as well as local measures and statewide propositions fared at the ballot box...

The City of Half Moon Bay is updating its Implementation Plan (IP), part of the City's Municipal Code that puts the City's Land Use Plan (LUP) policies into practice and wants to hear about your experiences as residents, property owners, businesses and/or visitors and what could work better.

At the Tuesday, August 25, 2026, SAMCAR Marketing/Tour Meeting, members heard an update from San Carlos city officials regarding the city's strategic goals. Kathy Kleinbaum, San Carlos new City Manager, and Al Savoy, the Community Development Director, discussed downtown San Carlos projects, climate change and sustainability planning, traffic and transportation improvements, parks and recreation goals, and commercial and housing developments.

Support your clients in selling healthy, energy-efficient homes with confidence. Use these resources to help clients make their homes healthier, more comfortable, and more cost-effective to run. This toolkit, created by the San Mateo County Sustainability Department in collaboration with WestLight Energy (formerly Peninsula Clean Energy) and the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS (SAMCAR), provides practical resources, local data, financial incentives, and client-facing materials to support conversations with buyers and sellers. [This effort is intended to support informed, voluntary decision-making by homeowners and does not represent an endorsement of mandates or appliance bans.]

The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) announced a major victory for homeownership in California after REALTORS statewide mobilized to stop AB 736, a costly tax proposal, from moving forward in the California State Legislature last week. SAMCAR joined this effort in mobilizing to stop this proposal, protecting California homeownership.

On Monday, June 1, 2026, members of the San Mateo County Association of REALTORS (SAMCAR) attended the Kevin Mullin for Congress Birthday Fundraiser. Billed as "Be the Wave," this fundraising event was an opportunity for SAMCAR members to meet with Congressmember Kevin Mullin and learn more about his efforts to improve our local economy, get input from organizations like SAMCAR, and federal funding for infrastructure projects in San Mateo County.

The National Association of REALTORS' REALTOR Party recently highlighted the repeal of Half Moon Bay's rent stabilization and rental registry policies as a Success Story highlighting SAMCAR efforts to pursue a disciplined, relationship-based advocacy strategy grounded in data, local experience, and constructive solutions. A significant upshot of this result is that even when rent control policies are already in place, they are not irreversible. REALTOR associations can play a decisive role by staying engaged after adoption, monitoring program outcomes, electing more supportive candidates, and using credible data to demonstrate when policies fail to meet their goals.

Legislative Day is the California Association of Realtors signature legislative event. And legislative Day 2026 did not disappoint. Over 2,500 California REALTORS descended on the state capitol during the C.A.R. Spring Business Meetings and took advantage of the opportunity to meet and discuss real estate related issues directly with their state legislators and staff. Read more about SAMCAR's participation in Legislative Day including hot topics and legislation and meetings with elected officials.

April 22, 2026 — The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) announced that the Middle-Class Homeownership Act has officially qualified for the state's November ballot as part of the campaign to build new housing and make home loans affordable for middle-class Californians. This measure enables middle-income Californians to purchase a new home with only 3% down, while spurring a wave of new home construction – at no cost to taxpayers. Read more to learn about the key aspects of the measure.

On March 17, 2026, the Half Moon Bay City Council made a rare and significant decision voting 3–2 to repeal both the rent stabilization and rental registry programs. "Programs that were already in place were repealed," emphasized SAMCAR Government Affairs Director Fernando Peña. "That does not happen often." This outcome reflects months of focused advocacy led by SAMCAR on behalf of homeowners, Realtors, property managers, and housing providers in Half Moon Bay and the surrounding unincorporated communities -- the very individuals who make up the backbone of the local rental housing market.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 6) -- Homeownership emerged as a defining issue in California's 2026 gubernatorial race as six leading candidates gathered in Sacramento for the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS (C.A.R.) 2026 Homeownership Matters Gubernatorial Forum, focused on expanding pathways to ownership across the state. Watch the recorded forum on https://www.car.org/meetings/livestream

On Wednesday, January 7, 2026, President Trump shared via a Truth Social post that his administration is "taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes" and "will be calling on Congress to codify it". The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) to issued a statement from Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer Shannon McGahn, sharing that NAR "is encouraged that the administration and members of Congress are focused on addressing the nation's housing affordability and supply crises. We share the goal of ensuring there are enough places for people to live and of expanding access to homeownership—especially for first-time buyers—and ensuring that housing policy strengthens communities rather than limiting opportunity." Read more for additional data and reporting on the impact of institutional buyers on the housing market.