AB 299: Motels, hotels, and short-term lodging: disasters. - California

09/05/25 - Amended Senate → 09/16/25 - Enrolled · 5 edits · Sep 16, 2025

MODERATE

This is the transition from the Amended Senate version to the Enrolled version of AB 299, which protects disaster-displaced guests in motels, hotels, and short-term lodgings from being treated as tenants until they have stayed 270 consecutive days. The changes are entirely technical: cleanup of drafting artifacts (duplicate section numbers, merged old and new text), minor wording corrections in the notice language, and standard enrollment formatting. No substantive policy changes were made.

TECHNICAL

Removed a duplicate section number reference. The amended version listed both 'Section 1954.079' and 'Section 1954.071' in the act title; the enrolled version correctly lists only Section 1954.071.

Cleaned up drafting artifacts in subsection (c) where old and new text had been merged together (e.g., 'At or before If, before or at the time when a guest subject to subdivision (b) physically or electronically reserves or extends of check-in'). The enrolled version contains only the final clean language.

Removed a leftover old version of subsection (d) that read 'A lodging may request and rely upon, among other reasonable confirmations, written affirmation from a guest...' which had been superseded by the confirmation form approach in the amended version.

Corrected minor wording in the required notice text: 'lived stayed here for 270 consecutive days or more consecutively. more.' was cleaned up to 'stayed here for 270 consecutive days or more.' and 'residing staying here as a result of because you were displaced' was corrected to 'staying here because you were displaced.'

Standard enrollment formatting changes: removed amendment history headers, added 'Passed the Assembly September 13, 2025' and 'Passed the Senate September 12, 2025', added Governor approval block, and removed line numbering.

09/16/25 - Enrolled → 10/10/25 - Chaptered · 2 edits · Oct 10, 2025

MINOR

AB 299 transitioned from its enrolled form to its final chaptered form as Chapter 531 after Governor approval on October 10, 2025. No substantive policy changes were made between versions; the statutory text is identical. The only differences are administrative: assignment of a chapter number, recording of the Governor's approval date, and formatting adjustments to page headers and layout.

TECHNICAL

The bill was assigned Chapter 531 and the Governor's approval date (October 10, 2025) was recorded, converting it from an enrolled bill into a final chaptered law.

Page headers changed from 'AB 299' to 'Ch. 531' and page numbering was adjusted throughout the document.

10/10/25 - Chaptered → AB299

MINOR

No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions. The diff reflects only a change in document presentation format: the 'from' version is the authenticated chaptered document with formal state headers and page numbers, while the 'to' version is a web-based rendering from the California Legislature website that includes navigation elements (menus, search bars, links). All legislative text, definitions, thresholds, and provisions are identical.

07/17/25 - Amended Senate → 09/05/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Sep 5, 2025

MODERATE

The September 5 Senate amendment to AB 299 renumbers the new Civil Code section from 1954.079 to 1954.071 and makes several substantive changes to how disaster-displaced guests are handled in motels, hotels, and short-term lodgings. The most significant changes add a mandatory confirmation form that guests must sign (or face limited stay or refusal of service), create specific exceptions allowing lodgings to skip the 72-hour vacate notice for nonpayment, property damage, safety risks, or disruption, and clarify that lodgings are not required to extend reservations beyond 30 days.

DEFINITION

The new Civil Code section is renumbered from 1954.079 to 1954.071.

REQUIREMENT

The notice trigger changed: previously the lodging had to provide notice at or before the guest reserved or extended a stay beyond 30 days; now the lodging must provide notice if, before or at check-in, it believes the guest is subject to the disaster-displacement protections.

The notice language was updated to clarify that the lodging is not required to extend the guest's reservation, but must still give 72 hours notice before requiring the guest to leave.

A new confirmation form requirement (subdivision (d)) obligates lodgings to provide guests with a form containing two check-box options: one confirming the guest is staying due to disaster damage, and one confirming they are not. If a guest fails or refuses to select an option, the lodging may rely on other reasonable information to determine applicability, and may limit the duration of stay or refuse accommodations entirely.

ENFORCEMENT

New exceptions (subdivision (e)(2)) allow lodgings to skip the 72-hour vacate notice if: the guest fails to pay all charges when due; the guest interferes with quiet enjoyment of other guests; the lodging has reasonable grounds to believe the guest damaged or will damage property; or the lodging has reasonable grounds to believe the guest poses a risk of harm to others.

SCOPE

A new explicit exclusion (subdivision (f)) states the section does not apply to a guest residing in a lodging for any reason other than a disaster that substantially damaged, destroyed, or made uninhabitable their prior housing.

07/03/25 - Amended Senate → 07/17/25 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Jul 17, 2025

MODERATE

The July 17 Senate amendment to AB 299 adds a 270-day cap on the tenancy protection for disaster-displaced guests staying in motels, hotels, or short-term lodgings, meaning after 270 consecutive days the guest would be considered a tenant with full eviction protections. It also adds a new requirement that lodgings and third-party online booking platforms must provide a specific written notice to guests who extend their stay beyond 30 days, explaining their legal rights under the bill.

ELIGIBILITY

The protection against being classified as a tenant now has a time limit: it applies only until the guest has resided in the lodging for 270 consecutive days. The prior version had no such cap, meaning the protection lasted indefinitely (until the section's 2031 repeal date).

REQUIREMENT

A new subdivision (c) requires that at or before a guest reserves or extends a stay that would result in more than 30 consecutive days of residence, the lodging operator or third-party online booking entity must provide a specific written notice in at least 12-point type explaining the guest's rights under the law, including the 270-day threshold and the 72-hour vacate notice requirement.

A new subdivision (d) allows a lodging to request and rely upon written affirmation from a guest confirming they are residing in the lodging because their prior housing was destroyed or made uninhabitable by a disaster, giving operators a verification mechanism.

TECHNICAL

Terminology was standardized throughout: 'guest resident' changed to 'resident,' 'living' changed to 'residing,' and sentence structure was adjusted for clarity in the operative provisions.

03/04/25 - Amended Assembly → 07/03/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Jul 3, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amendment significantly broadens AB 299 from a Los Angeles County wildfire-specific protection to a statewide disaster-based protection for guests in motels, hotels, and short-term lodgings. The bill now covers any federally declared major disaster or state of emergency that substantially damages housing, rather than only wildfires in one county. A legislative findings section specific to the January 2025 LA wildfires was removed.

Scope change

Expanded from a Los Angeles County wildfire-specific measure to a statewide disaster-based protection covering any federally declared major disaster or state of emergency that substantially damages housing, while simultaneously narrowing the federal disaster trigger to require a presidentially approved major disaster declaration.

SCOPE

Protection expanded from people who lost their residence in a wildfire in Los Angeles County to any guest whose prior housing was substantially damaged, destroyed, or made uninhabitable by a qualifying disaster anywhere in the state.

Section 3, which contained legislative findings declaring a special statute necessary due to unique circumstances in Los Angeles County from extreme wildfires beginning January 2025 that displaced over 100,000 residents, was entirely removed.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'disaster' was narrowed on the federal side: it now requires a 'federal major disaster declaration approved by the President of the United States' rather than any 'state of disaster or emergency declared by the federal government.'

The short-term lodging compliance requirement now specifies 'of 30 days or less' and changes the standard from 'met that requirement' to 'was in compliance with that requirement.'

REQUIREMENT

The notice requirement for guests residing over 30 days now explicitly requires the 'lodging operator' to provide a 'written notice' at least 72 hours before requiring the guest to vacate.

TECHNICAL

The operative provision now explicitly states the lodging shall not constitute a new tenancy (adding 'nor have their lodging constitute a new tenancy'), clarifying that both the guest's status and the property itself are protected from being reclassified as a tenancy.

01/23/25 - Introduced → 03/04/25 - Amended Assembly · 5 edits · Mar 4, 2025

MODERATE

The amended version significantly broadens AB 299 from protecting only wildfire-displaced guests in Los Angeles County to covering anyone whose housing was damaged or made uninhabitable by any declared disaster or state of emergency. It adds formal definitions for 'disaster' and 'lodging,' introduces a 72-hour notice requirement for guests staying more than 30 days, and sets a January 1, 2031 sunset date.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from a narrow protection for wildfire-displaced guests in Los Angeles County to a broader protection covering any disaster or state of emergency, with formal definitions and a defined end date of January 1, 2031.

SCOPE

Expanded eligibility from only wildfire-displaced residents of Los Angeles County to anyone whose prior housing was damaged, destroyed, or made uninhabitable by a declared disaster or state of emergency, regardless of the specific type of disaster.

DEFINITION

Added a definition of 'disaster' as an event resulting in a federal state of disaster/emergency or a Governor's state of emergency proclamation under Government Code Section 8625.

Added a detailed definition of 'lodging' covering motels, hotels, and short-term lodgings, with specific criteria for short-term lodgings based on whether local registration or licensure requirements existed at the time of the disaster declaration.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement that if a guest has been residing in a lodging for more than 30 days, the lodging must provide at least 72 hours' notice before requiring the guest to vacate.

TIMELINE

Added a sunset provision repealing the section on January 1, 2031, making this a temporary measure rather than permanent law.

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