Existing law governs the hiring of residential dwelling units and requires a landlord to provide specified notice to tenants prior to an increase in rent. Existing law, the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, prescribes statewide limits on the application of local rent control with regard to certain properties. That act, among other things, authorizes an owner of residential real property to establish the initial and all subsequent rental rates for a dwelling or unit that meets specified criteria, subject to certain limitations. This bill would make it unlawful for any person to sell, license, or otherwise provide to 2 or more persons a rental pricing algorithm, as defined, with the intent or reasonable expectation that it be used by 2 or more persons, as specified, to set rental terms, as defined, for residential premises. The bill would make it unlawful for a person to set or adopt rental terms based on the recommendation of a rental pricing algorithm if the person knows or should know that the rental pricing algorithm processes nonpublic competitor data, as defined, to set rental terms and that the pricing algorithm or the recommendation of the algorithm was used by another person to set or recommend a rental term for residential premises in the same market. Existing law establishes the Attorney General as the head of the Department of Justice, with charge of all legal matters in which the state is interested, except as specified. Existing law imposes various requirements on the Attorney General related to consumer protection, including, among others, the supervision of charitable trusts and the enforcement of antitrust laws. This bill would authorize the Attorney General, and the city attorney or county counsel in the jurisdiction in which the rental unit is located, to file a civil action for a violation of the bill, as specified, and would authorize a person who is harmed by a violation of the bill to file a civil action, as specified.
Existing law governs the hiring of residential dwelling units. Existing law, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, prohibits, until January 1, 2030, an owner of residential real property from terminating the tenancy of certain tenants without just cause, either at-fault or no-fault of the tenant. The act exempts certain types of residential real properties from that prohibition, including, among others, housing that has been issued a certificate of occupancy within the previous 15 years. This bill would exclude housing built to replace a previous housing unit that was subject to the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, was substantially damaged or destroyed by a disaster, as defined, and was issued a certificate of occupancy before that housing unit was substantially damaged or destroyed, from the above-described exemption from the just cause requirements. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code proposed by AB 1529 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1529 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law regulates the hiring of real property and imposes various requirements on landlords relating to the application for, and leasing of, residential rental property. Existing law prohibits a landlord or its agent from charging a tenant a fee for serving, posting, or otherwise delivering a notice of termination of a hiring of residential property, as specified. Existing law also prohibits a landlord or its agent from charging a tenant any fee for payment by check for rent or security deposit, as provided. This bill would require on or after April 1, 2026, a landlord or landlord's agent who advertises, displays, or offers residential property for rent to include in any advertisement, display, or offer the price, including all required fees or charges, and a description of all available optional housing services, as defined, including the associated fees for each optional housing service. This bill would prohibit a landlord or landlord's agent from using a ratio utility billing system to allocate, demand, or collect fees or charges from a tenant, except for fees or charges for water or sewer service, as provided. The bill would prohibit the landlord from charging any fee or charge other than required fees and charges, as defined, and fees or charges for optional housing services. This bill would also require that any payment received from, or on behalf of, a tenant be applied to rent, rental debt, and any outstanding fees in a specified order, and would prohibit late fees from being charged to a tenant whose only delinquency is attributable to nonpayment or late payment of a late fee. The bill would specify that a decrease in housing services, as defined, is an increase in rent. The bill would provide that a landlord or landlord's agent who violates these provisions is liable to a tenant in a civil action for damages, including treble damages. The bill would provide that its provisions do not prevent a landlord from recovering damages otherwise permitted by law. The bill would establish a 3-year statute of limitations to bring an action under these provisions. The bill would provide that a waiver of its provisions is contrary to public policy and void and unenforceable, and the bill's provisions are severable.
Existing law governs the hiring of real property based on the terms of the agreement or on the behavior of the parties. Existing law requires a landlord to change the locks of a tenant's dwelling if that tenant is a victim of abuse or violence or has an immediate family member or household member who is a victim of abuse or violence, including alleged abuse or violence, as long as the tenant is not alleged to have committed the abuse or violence. Existing law requires a tenant requesting a lock change to provide the landlord with specified documentation. This bill would require a landlord or a landlord's agent, upon request, to make best efforts to provide reasonable accommodations, as defined, to a tenant who is a victim, or whose family or household member is a victim, of specified acts, including domestic violence or sexual assault. The bill would require the landlord or landlord's agent to respond to a request within 5 calendar days of receiving the request, except as specified. The bill would require a landlord or a landlord's agent, if they receive a request for a reasonable accommodation that they cannot grant, to engage in a timely, good faith, and interactive process with the tenant to make best efforts to identify, evaluate, and implement a reasonable accommodation. The bill would authorize a landlord or a landlord's agent to request certification from a tenant requesting a reasonable accommodation demonstrating the tenant's or family or household member's status as a victim, as specified, and would impose confidentiality requirements upon any certification or other documentation provided to a landlord or their agent, except as provided. The bill would require a landlord or a landlord's agent to provide written notice whether a request has been approved or denied, as specified. Existing law prohibits a landlord from taking an adverse action, as defined, based on, among other things, a prospective tenant having previously requested to have their locks changed due to abuse or violence and provides that a landlord who violates this prohibition is liable to the tenant in a civil action for actual damages and statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $5,000. This bill would prohibit a landlord or a landlord's agent from retaliating against a tenant for requesting a reasonable accommodation, as specified, and would provide that a landlord or a landlord's agent may be liable to the tenant in a civil action for the same above-described damages, as provided, for a violation of specified provisions described above relating to a tenant's request for reasonable accommodations. The bill would also specify that it does not require a landlord or landlord's agent to undertake an action that constitutes an undue hardship on the landlord or landlord's agent.
Existing law governs the obligations of tenants and landlords. Existing law authorizes a tenant to deduct the payment made to a public utility or publicly owned utility or a district from the rent, as specified. Existing law prohibits a lessor who has retaliated against a lessee for exercising the lessee's prescribed rights from recovering possession of a dwelling, causing the lessee to quit involuntarily, increasing the rent, or decreasing services within 180 days of the occurrence of specified events relating to tenability, if the lessee is not in default on their rent, as specified. Existing law presumes that the hiring of real property is renewed for a specified amount of time, under specified circumstances. For any residential tenancy commenced, renewed, or continuing on a month-to-month or other periodic basis, on or after January 1, 2026, this bill would require a landlord or their agent to allow the tenant to opt out of paying for any subscription from a third-party internet service provider for specified services in connection with the tenancy. If the landlord or their agent violates this provision, the bill would authorize the tenant to deduct the cost of the subscription from the rent. The bill would prohibit a landlord or their agent from retaliating against a tenant for exercising their rights pursuant to this bill and consistent with the above-described provision on retaliation, as provided.
(1) Existing law governs the hiring of residential dwelling units. Existing law, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, prohibits, until January 1, 2030, an owner of residential real property from terminating the tenancy of certain tenants without just cause, either at-fault or no-fault of the tenant, and requires just cause for terminating a tenancy to be stated in the written notice to terminate tenancy. The act requires an owner of residential real property subject to these provisions to provide the above-described notice to a tenant subject to specified requirements, including, for any tenancy commenced or renewed on or after July 1, 2020, as an addendum to the lease or rental agreement, or as a written notice signed by the tenant, with a copy provided to the tenant, except as specified. This bill would allow the above-described notice to be provided in the lease or rental agreement. (2) Existing law, the Planning and Zoning Law, requires an owner of an assisted housing development, as defined, that is within 3 years of a scheduled expiration of rental restrictions or a scheduled termination of a subsidy contract to provide notice of the scheduled expiration or termination to any prospective tenant at the time the prospective tenant is interviewed for eligibility, to existing tenants, as specified, and to affected public entities, as defined. This bill would require a notice of a scheduled expiration of rental restrictions or a scheduled termination of a subsidy contract described above to remain posted until the expiration or termination has occurred, and would make technical changes relating to these provisions. Existing law requires an owner of an assisted housing development, at least 12 months prior to the anticipated date of the termination of a subsidy contract, the expiration of rental restrictions, or prepayment on an assisted housing development, to provide a notice of the proposed change to each affected tenant household residing in the assisted housing development at the time the notice is provided and to the affected public entities, as specified. Existing law also requires an owner of an assisted housing development proposing to terminate a subsidy contract, or prepay the mortgage, or sell or otherwise dispose of the assisted housing development to provide a notice of the opportunity to offer to purchase, as provided. Existing law requires the notice of the opportunity to purchase to be given before or concurrently with the notice of the proposed change described above, as specified. This bill would specify that the notice of the opportunity to purchase is required to be given before or concurrently with the 12-month notice of the proposed change, as specified. Existing law requires that the initial notice of a bona fide opportunity to submit an offer to purchase contain certain information, including a statement addressing, among other things, whether the owner has an interest in selling the property. Existing law also requires that the initial notice include a statement that specified types of entities, or any combination of them, have the right to purchase the development under these provisions. This bill would delete the requirement that the initial notice include a statement addressing whether the owner has an interest in selling the property. The bill would also clarify that the initial notice include a statement that the specified types of entities, as described above, have the right to submit a bona fide offer to purchase the development. Existing law prescribes various requirements to be satisfied before the exercise of a power of sale under a mortgage or deed of trust and prescribes a procedure for the exercise of that power, including, among other things, that a trustee, mortgagee, or beneficiary, or any of their authorized agents, first file for record, in the office of the recorder of each county wherein the mortgaged or trust property or some part or parcel thereof is situated, a notice of default, as specified. Existing law requires the mortgagee, trustee, or other person authorized to record the notice of default or the notice of sale to mail the notice to specified individuals, including the office of the Controller, Sacramento, California, where, as of the recording date of the notice of default, a "Notice of Lien for Postponed Property Taxes" has been recorded against the real property to which the notice of default applies. This bill would additionally require the mortgagee, trustee, or other person authorized to record the notice of default or the notice of sale to mail the notice to the office of the Director of Housing and Community Development, Sacramento, California, and the office of the Executive Director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, Sacramento, California, where, as of the recording date of the notice of default, a use restriction, as defined, has been recorded against the real property to which the notice of default applies. The bill would prohibit any failure to comply with the above-described provisions from affecting the validity of a trustee's sale or a sale in favor of a bona fide purchaser. (3) Existing law, the Zenovich-Moscone-Chacon Housing and Home Finance Act, prohibits "affordable rent" for certain rental housing developments that receive assistance on or after January 1, 1991, from exceeding a specified percentage based on the area median income adjusted for family size appropriate for the unit and whether the household is an acutely low income household, extremely low income household, very low income household, lower income household, or moderate-income household. Existing law, for a rental housing development that dedicates 80% of units to lower income households, as specified, prohibits affordable rent from exceeding the rent prescribed by deed restrictions or regulatory agreements pursuant to the terms of public financing or public financial assistance for the rental housing development, if the rental housing development receives specified awards on or after January 1, 2025. This bill would instead, for an above-described rental housing development that dedicates at least 80% of units to lower income households, as specified, prohibit affordable rent from exceeding an amount consistent with the maximum rent levels for lower income households, as those rents and incomes are determined by the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. By revising the limit on "affordable rent" for certain housing developments, thereby revising the duties of local government officials with respect to administering various programs and requirements that require a determination of "affordable rent," this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community Development, through its Office of Migrant Services, to assist in the development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or operation of migrant farm labor centers, as provided. Existing law requires the department to develop a report that analyzes the feasibility and impact of transitioning housing units at Office of Migrant Services centers to year-round availability, and to submit that report to specified committees of the Legislature by July 1, 2027, as provided. Existing law, by December 31, 2028, and following completion of that report, requires the department to coordinate with the Department of General Services and the Department of Food and Agriculture to identify available excess sites in proximity to migrant farm labor centers. This bill would specify that, for the purposes of these provisions, the term "available excess sites" refers to prescribed previously identified sites, as provided. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 1946.2 of the Civil Code proposed by SB 522 to be operative only if this bill and SB 522 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
Existing law provides that a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer if the tenant continues to possess the property without permission of the landlord after the tenant defaults on rent or fails to perform a condition or covenant of the lease under which the property is held, among other reasons. Existing law requires a tenant be served a 3 days' notice in writing to cure a default or perform a condition of the lease, or return possession of the property to the landlord, as specified. Existing law, until January 1, 2030, prohibits an owner of residential real property from terminating a tenancy without just cause, as specified. This bill would, until January 20, 2029, enact the Social Security Tenant Protection Act of 2025 (the Act) . The Act would authorize a tenant of residential real property to assert Social Security hardship as an affirmative defense in an unlawful detainer proceeding based on the nonpayment of rent. The Act would define "Social Security hardship" as a loss of income due to an interruption in the payment of Social Security benefits due to the action or inaction of the federal government. The Act would require a tenant asserting Social Security hardship as an affirmative defense to provide, to the satisfaction of the court, evidence that Social Security payments typically received by the tenant's household have been terminated, delayed, or reduced due to no fault of the tenant and that the hardship prevented the tenant from paying the rent. If the tenant successfully provides this evidence, the Act would require the court to issue a stay of the unlawful detainer action, as specified. The Act would not relieve a tenant of their obligation to pay past due rent, and it would require a tenant, within 14 days of the Social Security benefits being restored, to either pay all past due rent or enter into a mutually agreed upon payment plan with the owner of the residential real property. If the tenant pays all past due rent or enters into a payment plan with the owner, the Act would require the court to either dismiss the unlawful detainer action with prejudice or set aside the judgment against all named and unnamed defendants in the action. The Act would further require the Judicial Council, by January 1, 2027, to adopt or modify forms as needed to implement the Act.
Existing law requires that any building with a dwelling unit maintain certain characteristics in order to be tenantable, including the maintenance of adequate heating and hot water systems that conform to the standard of quality set by applicable law. This bill would add a stove and refrigerator that are maintained in good working order and are capable of safely generating heat for cooking purposes and capable of safely storing food, respectively, to the list of characteristics required for the dwelling unit to be tenantable for leases entered into, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would require a landlord to repair or replace a stove or refrigerator that is subject to recall by the manufacturer or a public entity within 30 days of receiving notice that the stove or refrigerator is subject to recall. The bill would also authorize a tenant and landlord to mutually agree when the lease is signed if the tenant chooses to provide and maintain their own refrigerator, subject to certain conditions. The bill would prohibit the application of these new requirements for certain types of dwelling units, including permanent supportive housing, as defined. Existing law authorizes a tenant to repair dilapidations rendering their premises untenantable if the landlord has neglected to repair those dilapidations, subject to certain conditions, or vacate the premises, as specified. This bill would provide that the above-described requirement on a landlord to repair or replace a recalled stove or refrigerator does not prohibit a tenant from exercising any remedy authorized as described above.
