Spring 2020 Owner Newsletter
Legislative Update
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4120 Atlantic Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90807
(562) 989-9835
DRE License #01251870
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Monday-Friday from 8:30am - 5:00pm
We are temporarily closed on Saturdays due COVID-19 Restrictions
In observance of Memorial Day, our office will be closed on
Monday, May 25th
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SUMMARY: California Courts Issue Emergency Rule on Evictions and Forecolsures
by Western Center on Law & Poverty
Click on original link
here
At its meeting on April 6, 2020, the Judicial Council adopted an emergency court rule that effectively stops all evictions, other than those necessary to protect public health and safety, for the duration of the COVID
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19 emergency. The rule is applicable to all courts and to all eviction cases, whether they are based on a tenant’s missed rent payment or another reason. This new court rule will apply until 90 day after the Governor lifts the state of emergency related to the COVID
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19 pandemic, or until it is amended or repealed by the Judicial Council. The rule:
- Prohibits a court from issuing a summons after a landlord files an eviction case, unless necessary to protect public health and safety. This means that, even if a landlord files an eviction case, most tenants will not need to respond until the emergency rule expires, ensuring that tenants do not lose their right to tell their side of the story in court due to the emergency.
- The time for a tenant to respond to a new eviction case does not begin until the tenant is served with a court‐issued summons, and in nearly all unlawful detainers cases, no summons will be issued during this emergency period.
- If a court finds on the record that an eviction action is necessary to protect public health and safety, the court will issue a summons even during this emergency period. Only in these rare cases will a tenant be required to respond in court after being served with the summons and complaint.
- Prohibits a court from entering a default judgment against the tenant because the tenant failed to file a response, unless the court finds on the record:
- The eviction is necessary to protect public health and safety; and
- The tenant failed to respond in the time required by law, including any extension that may apply due to the Governor’s Executive Order regarding evictions during the COVID19 emergency.
- For eviction cases where the tenant has responded or appeared, prohibits a court from setting the case for trial earlier than 60 days after a trial is requested, unless necessary to protect public health and safety.
- Requires any trial in an eviction case that was already scheduled as of April to be postponed until at least 60 days after the initial trial date.
In addition, the Judicial Council adopted an emergency rule related to judicial foreclosures. This rule also applies until 90 days after the Governor lifts the COVID
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19 state of emergency. The rule:
- Prohibits a court from taking any action or issuing any decisions or judgments unless necessary for public health and safety.
- Postpones any legal deadlines for filing judicial foreclosure cases.
- Extends the period for exercising any rights in a judicial foreclosure case, including any right of redemption from a foreclosure sale, or petitioning the court in relation to such a right.
Note that this rule does not impact non
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judicial foreclosures, which comprise the vast majority of foreclosures in California. Non
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judicial foreclosure sales are conducted by private parties outside the courthouse and are not affected by these new emergency rules.
While these emergency rules effectively put evictions and judicial foreclosures on hold at least through the summer, they do not establish any new tenant rights or defenses to an eviction, address requirements for notifying landlords or providing documentation when tenants are unable to pay rent due to loss of income or other COVID
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19 related reasons, or address how repayment will be handled. These are all issues that would be difficult for the courts to take on, or that they don’t have the authority to address. We expect that the Legislature will address these issues with urgency when it returns in May.
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Legislative Update for 2020
by Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP
Click on original link
here
Landlord/Tenant Laws and Trends
AB 74
Budget Act of 2019:
Allocates $20,000,000 to provide eviction defense or other tenant defense assistance in landlord/tenant rental disputes, including pre-eviction and eviction legal services, counseling, advice and consultation, mediation, training, renter education, representation, and legal services to improve habitability, increase affordable housing, ensure receipt of eligible income or benefits to improve housing stability, and homelessness prevention.
AB 330
Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act Expansion:
Existing law provides legal assistance for low-income parties in some civil matters affecting basic human needs in specified courts, including unlawful detainers. This bill significantly expands the scope of the program by increasing fees used to fund the program (including increasing court fees from $25 to $40 to issue a Writ of Possession, an Abstract of Judgment, a Satisfaction of Judgment, and certifying court documents). The result of this expansion will be more contested eviction cases, especially impacting affordable housing providers.
AB 827
Recycling Bins:
Requires businesses (including multifamily residential properties with 5 or more units) previously subject to recycling laws, to provide customers with a recycling bin or container that is visible, easily accessible, adjacent to each trash container (except in restrooms), and clearly marked with educational signage as of July 1, 2020. The bill requires the Department of Resources and Recycling Recovery to develop model signage on or before July 1, 2020. The law does not require landlords to provide a recycling bin to each individual household.
AB 1110
90 Day Notice for Rent Increases over 10 Percent: This law
amends Civil Code §827(b), requiring a 90-day notice, rather than a 60-day notice, if the landlord serves a residential tenant with a notice of rent increase of more than 10 percent. If the rent increase is due to a change in a tenant’s income or family composition as determined by a recertification, only 30 days’ notice is required (unless otherwise specified by state or federal statute or regulation, recorded regulatory agreement, or contract).
AB 1188
Temporary Roommate at Risk of Homelessness:
This bill creates new Civil Code §1942.8, which authorizes a tenant, subject to landlord approval, to temporarily permit occupancy of their dwelling unit by a person who is at risk of homelessness, (as defined), regardless of the terms of the lease or rental agreement. The owner or landlord may adjust the rent payable under the lease when the person who is at risk of homelessness is occupying the dwelling unit. The terms regarding rent payable in those circumstances must be in writing. The law establishes the rights and obligations of the person at risk of homelessness, the tenant, and the owner, including the procedure to remove the person who is at risk of homelessness from the property. The law does not apply to any federally funded or assisted low-income housing. The law expires on January 1, 2024.
AB 1399
Ellis Act – Removal from Rental Market:
This bill was described by the Governor as “closing a loophole in the Ellis Act.” The bill clarifies that if any unit is returned to the rental market, the entire property is considered back on the rental market. The law amends the Ellis Act to explicitly define the date of withdrawal of rental accommodations as the date on which the final tenancy among all tenants is terminated. The law also clarifies that the payment of punitive damages to a former tenant does not extinguish an owner’s obligation to offer the tenant the right to re-rent the unit if the unit is returned to the rental market within 10 years of its withdrawal.
AB 1482
Rent Caps and Just Cause:
The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 imposes rent caps and just cause eviction restrictions for residential rental property throughout California. It adds new Civil Code §1946.2, 1947.12 and 1947.13. AB 1482 also requires certain written disclosures.
- Rent Cap: Unless exempt from AB 1482 (as defined by the statute) beginning January 1, 2020, rent increases are capped at 5% plus inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), or a cap of 10%, whichever is lower. All rent increases given since March 15, 2019, will count toward the rent cap, and if the amount exceeds the permissible rent cap, the increase will have to be rolled back effective January 1, 2020, so that it does not exceed 5%+CPI.
- Just Cause: Unless specifically exempt (as defined by statute), this bill prohibits an owner or their agent of a residential property from terminating a resident’s tenancy after the household has resided in the unit for twelve months without just cause. The law identifies 11 tenant-fault and 4 no-fault reasons for termination and requires relocation payments for no-fault tenancy terminations. If a resident’s tenancy is terminated for a “no fault” reason, the landlord must pay relocation assistance in the amount of one month’s rent.
AB 1482 is a complex piece of legislation which will require landlords with properties subject to AB 1482 to make significant changes to their current business practices, changes to their lease agreements and other forms and notices.
AB 2343
Expiration
Date Calculation of 3-Day Notices:
This bill amended Code of Civil Procedure §1161 and §1167, as of September 1, 2019, to change how the expiration date of certain 3-day notices and the unlawful detainer summons is calculated. California Landlord/Tenant Law previously allowed weekends and holidays to count towards the 3-day notice period but prohibited a notice from expiring on a weekend or holiday. Code of Civil Procedure §1161 now specifically excludes
“Saturdays and Sundays and other judicial holidays
” when calculating the notice period for notices to pay rent or quit or notices to perform covenant or quit only. (It does not exclude these days when calculating expiration periods for 30 or 60-day termination notices or 3-day notices to quit based on nuisance or illegal activity). Similarly, Code of Civil Procedure §1167 has been amended so that the 5-day period which a defendant has to respond to an unlawful detainer summons will not include judicial holidays, including Saturday and Sunday (which gives a tenant more time to file an answer in an eviction case).
Articles with more information are available below:
SB 234
Family Daycare Homes:
Under the California Day Care Facilities Act, small daycare homes are considered a residential use of property, while large family daycare homes could be treated as residential use of property, or require issuance of a permit, pursuant to local ordinance. This bill modifies existing law to require that a large family daycare home be treated as a residential use of property for purposes of all local ordinances. The bill also replaces the language of Health and Safety Code §1597.40 to more explicitly prohibit a property owner or manager from refusing to sell or rent, or refusing to negotiate for the sale or rental of, or otherwise making unavailable or denying, a detached single-family dwelling, a townhouse, a dwelling unit within a dwelling, or a dwelling unit within a covered multifamily dwelling, in which the underlying zoning allows for residential use, to a person because that person is a family daycare provider. The bill also requires that the Department of Social Services notify family daycare license applicants that housing discrimination remedies are available to a family daycare home provider, applicant, or person claiming their protections have been denied.
SB 644
Service Member Security Deposits:
This bill amends California Civil Code §1950.5. It reduces the amount that a landlord can charge
active
service members for a security deposit on residential rental housing. Effective January 1, 2020, landlords may not request a security deposit of more than one month’s rent for an unfurnished unit, and two month’s rent for a furnished unit, if the unit is rented to an active service member. Additionally, a landlord may not refuse to rent to an active service member due to the reduced security deposit. This law does not apply in a roommate situation, when a property is rented to a group of individuals, and at least one person in the household is not the service member’s spouse, parent, domestic partner or dependent. It also does not apply if the tenant has a history of poor credit or of causing damage to rental property or its furnishings.
Local Rent Control and Just Cause Ordinances:
While AB 1482 dramatically alters the rental housing landscape by creating a statewide rent cap, AB 1482 does not negate existing local rent control or just cause ordinances which may further limit rent increases or allowable reasons to terminate a tenancy. Local rent control and just cause ordinances continue to be approved and passed with increasing frequency. It is more important than ever for landlords and management to be acutely aware of local legislation that may impact their properties.
Local Right-to-Counsel Initiatives:
Distinct from state funding (which generally provides legal representation to unlawful detainer defendants who meet specific income/eligibility requirements), there are local movements to initiate right-to-counsel programs, which expand legal representation to a broader number of tenants involved in landlord/tenant disputes or named in unlawful detainer actions. In June 2018, San Francisco voters approved the “No Eviction without Representation Act”, which went into effect July 11, 2019, providing legal services to any tenant in receipt of an eviction notice or served with an unlawful detainer action, regardless of income. In September 2019, the Los Angeles County Supervisors passed a motion to provide eviction representation at 5 pilot sites which will provide legal services to tenants meeting specific income eligibility requirements.
Lead:
On June 1, 2018, HUD announced a department-wide enforcement campaign to enforce lead safety rules in single family homes and multifamily properties. During the month of June, HUD issued notices of violation against eight HUD-assisted California properties for violations of lead safety rules and regulations. AB 2370, which was passed in 2018, mandates that any licensed child day care center (including family day care homes) located in a building constructed before January 1, 2010, have its drinking water tested for lead contamination levels on or after January 1, 2020, but no later than January 1, 2023, and every five years after the date of the initial test. AB 2370 also imposes additional requirements (unrelated to the testing of drinking water for lead) on individuals obtaining a license to operate a daycare.
Proposition 65:
Effective July 1, 2019, new
Sections 25607.34 and 25607.35
of the California Code of Regulations require Proposition 65 warnings be provided to new tenants and other adult occupants (and annually thereafter during the tenancy). The warnings must be in a specific updated format and delivered in specific ways. Additionally, effective August 30, 2018, new warning signs are required to be posted in:
- enclosed parking facilities; and
- designated smoking areas.
SB 329
Source of Income:
This bill adds federal, state or local public assistance or federal, state or local housing subsidies (such as Section 8) to the definition of source of income. The bill makes it illegal to reject a prospective tenant solely based on the applicant’s use of a Section 8 federal housing choice voucher or any other federal, state or local public assistance or housing subsidies. It will require landlords to treat voucher holders like any other applicant, except that when qualifying the applicant for income you can only use the applicant’s portion of the rent to determine whether the applicant meets your rent-to-income ratio. The law also prohibits “No Section 8” and similar advertisements. An article with more information is available at
https://www.kts-law.com/section-8-and-source-of-income-protections-sb-329-and-sb-222/
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Links to important information regarding COVID-19
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