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Landlord/Tenant: Retaliation and Penalties
Urgency legislation that took eect immediately on August 31, 2020.
Creates new type of retaliatory eviction. Increases penalties for using illegal means to remove a tenant during COVID-19
Until February 1, 2021, illegal retaliation includes bringing an unlawful detainer action against a tenant because they owe "COVID-19 rental debt." Until February 1, 2021, using illegal means to terminate occupancy results in increased penalties.
This law expands the type of acts which constitute "retaliation" to include bringing an action for unlawful detainer based on a cause of action other than nonpayment of COVID-19 rental debt for the purpose of retaliating against the lessee because the lessee has a COVID-19 rental debt. "COVID-19 rental debt" means rent that came due between March 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021.
Also, when a tenant has provided a COVID-19 declaration of nancial distress, penalty damages could be awarded against the landlord if the landlord attempts to remove the tenant by interrupting or shutting o the utilities; changing the locks; removing the windows or doors; or removing the tenant's personal property.
At a minimum, penalty damages of at least $1,000 but no more than $2,000 (at the discretion of judge or jury) can be levied. This would be in addition to existing penalties of $100 a day for each day the landlord is in violation, but at a minimum, $250. The landlord could liable for actual damages and attorney fees, too.
These provisions were part of a larger bill Assembly Bill 3088 and are codied as Civil Code Sections 789.4 and 1942.5. Eective immediately on August 31, 2020, as urgency legislation.
Landlord/Tenant: Rent Cap and Just Cause Eviction
Urgency legislation that took eect immediately on August 31, 2020.
Clari􏰀es permissible rent increases under statewide rent cap law. Clari􏰀es the exemption for a duplex.
Eliminates ambiguities under the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 as to exactly how to calculate the consumer price index for the applicable area -- giving the owner greater assurance that a given rent increase is legally permissible. Clari􏰀es that the exemption for a duplex applies to a single structure containing two separate dwelling units.
Under the Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (commonly referred to as the statewide rent cap and just cause eviction law or "AB 1482"), a landlord is permitted to raise rent by 5% plus ination as indicated by the applicable Consumer Price Index. But AB 1482 is ambiguous in describing precisely which Consumer Price Index ("CPI") measurement can be used. These ambiguities are as follows: 1) As passed AB 1482 did not specify which CPI measure is applicable such as the CPI-U for all Urban Consumers or some other measure such as the CPI-E or CPI-W. 2) AB 1482 required that the CPI numbers for specied metropolitan areas rely on the CPI from April. However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics ("USBLS") does not include April numbers for San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. 3) AB 1482
36 The Greater San Diego Association of REALTORS®