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In Memory of 09-11-01
Lest We Forget
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NEW LANDLORD-TENANT LAWS FOR 2005:
We are going to bring you up to date on some new laws
that will effect real estate transactions and Landlord-Tenant relationships.
These laws went into effect on January 1, 2005 and are currently the law of the
land. If one of these laws affect you be sure to take immediate action by
either notifying the landlord, or if you are a landlord, your tenants.
NEW REAL ESTATE LAWS
Cash Payments Restricted:
Effective January 1, 2005, Landlords
may no longer require cash to be the only form of payment of rent or security deposit.
The only exception is where the tenant has previously tendered a check to the landlord which was
dishonored due to insufficient funds or a stopped payment. I would assume
that a dishonored check drawn on a closed account would also apply.
If a "cash only"
requirement exists in the lease, rental agreement or month-too-month agreement the landlord must
give the tenants a written notice stating that the check was dishonored and
informing the tenants that they are required to pay in cash for a specified
period, not to exceed three months. A copy of the dishonored check must also be
attached to the notice. I would assume that a prudent landlord would tender the
notice with a three day notice to pay rent or quit.
If the rental agreement or
month-too-month agreement, or lease does not allow the
landlord to insist on "cash only" under these circumstances, then the
landlord must give a thirty-day notice
to change of terms of tenancy must be served on the tenant if the rental
agreement is month-to-month.
If the tenancy is a fixed term lease,
such as a one year tenancy, the
appropriate language must be added after the initial term has expired. Which may
mean that you are stuck for at least a year or more.
The lesson to be learned is that
landlords
and their managers should
make sure their leases include the appropriate language to enforce this new
provision of the law.
Unlawful Detainer Complaint Attachments
Effective January 1, 2005, all unlawful detainer complaints must include a copy of the
notice upon which the eviction is based. In other words if you are evicting a
tenant for violating a term or condition of a rental agreement or lease, a copy
of the document and any changes made to the document, must be attached to the
complaint. You must also file and serve a proof of service of the notice in
addition to the lease document above-mentioned, together with the
lease, including any addenda or attachments to the lease.
The only exception to this requirement is where the complaint is based only upon
the tenant's failure to pay the rent.
Since most of the Unlawful Detainer actions are based upon non-payment of
rent, this section will only apply where the tenant has breached a covenant or
condition of the lease.
If you as landlord or manager and
handle your own evictions, I would suggest that you keep original leases,
notices and proofs of service, and attach clear and legible copies to the
unlawful detainer complaint. If you are not sure what you need to do hire a
lawyer to handle it for you.
Megan's Law Extended
The California Department of Justice must utilize a web site to
inform the general public about certain sex offenders by no later than July 1, 2005. They
are required to keep this information current by doing regular updates of this information on an on-going basis. The information that must be
provided is the same as what is now currently available to the public on a
CD-ROM in most police departments. Effective July 1, 2006, the home address of
the most severe violators will be available. Now we will have to wait and see if
they actually do this.
Theoretically, this information will allow both landlords and their tenants to identify more
easily the existence of a former sex offender who is living in the community,
neighborhood or apartment complex. However, if they identify a sex offender,
they cannot discriminate in renting to them. This is one law that makes
absolutely no sense. Evidently California's version of Megan's law specifically prohibits using this information to
deny housing accommodations. If a property owner or manager is found liable
under this statute, a fine of up to $25,000 can occur.
However if the landlord complies with the law, and the sex offender moves in and
re-offends, the victim can probably sue the landlord or property owner for
withholding the information. The theory being that under certain provisions of state
and federal laws, a landlord may have an affirmative duty to
not rent to anyone who can be considered a threat to the health or
safety of other residents. Arguably a sex offender by definition is a threat to
everyone. Sounds like this law could use a little tweaking. Once again the
hippies in the California legislature have created a conundrum by trying to be
politically correct.
A landlord is caught between the Devil and a hard spot on this issue. Since this
will hopefully change, if you identify a sex offender in the neighborhood or
worse in your complex, I would contact the police and your attorney to see how
to best handle this contradictory set of laws.
Residential Hotels Cannot Avoid Eviction
Law
Residential Hotel owners use to avoid having to file an unlawful detainer by
having the tenants move out before the thirtieth day of residency. Many people
don't know that Residential Hotels are hotels that primarily rent to transients
and other people by the week. Before the change in the law, they could kick out
their resident's at will. Obviously this offers no protection to the
tenants. They would avoid this be requiring that their tenants check out and reregister before the thirtieth day
of occupancy.
The new law requires that if an occupant is required to check out and re-register before the 30
days are up, their is a presumption that the owner is attempting to circumvent
the law by forcing the tenants to maintain a transient status. Of course the
landlord can present evidence to rebut this presumption.
60-Day Rent Increases Now Permanent
This law applies to residential
tenancies only.
If a residential landlord decides to raise the rent more than 10% in a 12 month
period, and the tenancy is month to month, then the landlord is required to give
the tenant sixty days notice of their intent to raise the rent. If the increase
is less than 10% on thirty days notice is required.
It is important for property owners,
landlords and managers to
understand that this law only applies when the tenancy is currently
month-to-month. If the landlord is raising the rent as a result of a specific
provision in the lease or rental agreement, such as a renewal of the
lease, then this law does not apply.
Local Laws
It is important to check with the city and county where your rental property is
situated to determine if additional new laws are imposed upon your property
rights. Many cities in California have or are contemplating passing laws
establishing such requirements as:
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Rent control;
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Evictions only for cause;
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Moratoriums on
condominium conversions;
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Lead-based paint inspection and removal programs;
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Sprinkler retrofits; and
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laws that allow city and county prosecutors
to file unlawful detainer actions against tenants who are unlawfully engaged in
illegal drug offenses. Some jurisdictions charge the property owner for
the costs of such prosecutions.
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