BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 781|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 781
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 5/5/09
Vote: 21
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 4/21/09
AYES: Corbett, Harman, Florez, Leno, Walters
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Eviction procedure: residential care
facilities for the elderly
SOURCE : Bet Tzedek Legal Services
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform
Disability Rights California
DIGEST : This bill requires a residential care facility
for the elderly to include additional information when
providing a notice of eviction to a resident, including the
reason for the eviction, the effective date of the
eviction, and additional information informing the resident
of his/her rights regarding evictions.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, the California Residential Care
Facilities for the Elderly Act, provides for statutes and
regulations governing licensing and operation of
residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFE).
(Section 1569 et seq. of the Health and Safety Code)
CONTINUED
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Existing regulations provide that an RCFE may, upon 30 days
written notice to the resident, evict the resident only for
one or more of the following reasons:
1. Nonpayment of the rate for basic services within 10 days
of the due date.
2. Failure of the resident to comply with state or local
law after receiving written notice of the alleged
violation.
3. Failure of the resident to comply with the general
policies of the facility. The general policies must be
in writing, must be for the purpose of making it
possible for residents to live together and must be made
part of the admission agreement.
4. If, after admission, it is determined that the resident
has a need not previously identified and a reappraisal
has been conducted, and the licensee and the person who
performs the reappraisal believe that the facility is
not appropriate for the resident.
5. Changes of use of the facility. (Title 22, Section
87224 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR))
Existing regulations provide that an RCFE may, upon
obtaining prior written approval from the licensing agency,
evict the resident upon three days written notice to quit.
The licensing agency may grant approval for the eviction
upon a finding of good cause, as specified. (CCR Title 22,
Section 87224(b))
Existing regulations require an RCFE to include in the
notice to quit the reasons relied upon for the eviction
with specific facts to permit determination of the date,
place, witnesses, and circumstances concerning those
reasons. (CCR Title 22, Section 87224(d))
Existing regulations require an RCFE, in addition to either
serving a 30-day notice or seeking approval from the
Department of Social Services (DSS) and serving a three-day
notice on the resident, to also notify or mail a copy of
the notice to quit to the resident's responsible person.
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(CCR Title 22, Section 87224(c))
Existing law permits a landlord to evict residents through
an unlawful detainer action which is summary in nature.
(Section 1161 of the Code of Civil Procedure)
This bill requires an RCFE that sends a notice of eviction
to a resident to comply with the above described
regulations and codifies the regulatory requirement that an
RCFE include in the notice to quit the reasons relied upon
for the eviction, with specific facts to permit
determination of the date, place, witnesses, and
circumstances regarding those reasons.
This bill also requires the notice to quit to include the
following:
1. The effective date of the eviction.
2. Resources available to assist in identifying alternate
housing and care options, including public and or
private referral services and case management
organizations.
3. Information about the resident's right to file a
complaint about the eviction with DSS and relevant
contact information.
4. An explanation that in order to evict a resident, the
RCFE must file an unlawful detainer action in superior
court and receive a written judgment signed by a judge.
If the facility pursues an unlawful detainer, the
resident must be served with a summons and complaint,
and the resident has the right to contest the eviction
in writing and through a hearing.
This bill also codifies the regulatory requirement that an
RCFE, in addition to either serving a 30-day notice or
seeking approval from DSS and serving a three-day notice on
the resident, also notify or mail a copy of the notice to
quit to the resident's responsible person.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
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SUPPORT : (Verified 5/11/09)
Bet Tzedek Legal Services (co-source)
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (co-source)
Disability Rights California (co-source)
Advocacy, Inc.
Alzheimer's Association
Area Agency on Aging of Lake and Mendocino County
California Alliance for Retired Americans
Consumer Attorneys of California
Senior Law Project
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author writes: "SB 781 will
require Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFEs)
to include additional provisions in their eviction notices
to ensure that vulnerable residents who have been living in
these facilities, often for years, are adequately informed
of their legal rights before being forced to leave their
homes. ? Due to severe budget cuts within the Department
of Social Services (DSS), California's 7,800-plus RCFEs are
surveyed only once every five years. The current situation
leaves more than 168,000 of California's most vulnerable
seniors without the oversight and supervision intended to
protect residents from harmful or illegal practices carried
out by facility operators. In fact, every year hundreds of
California's elderly are unfairly displaced from their care
facilities due to insufficient eviction notices. SB 781 is
simply about consumer awareness. Elderly seniors living in
RCFEs shouldn't be expected to know all of the legal
protections designed to shield them from unfair evictions."
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform states:
"Despite their vulnerabilities, RCFE residents have few
protections from unsafe and unwarranted evictions from
their homes. ? Once the notice has been given, the RCFE
resident's only means for opposing the eviction is to make
an appeal to Community Care Licensing or to refuse to leave
and force the facility to seek an unlawful detainer. What
makes RCFE evictions particularly problematic is that
residents are often not even aware of the few protections
they do have. The lack of basic information about the
processes designed to protect RCFE residents, combined with
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their vulnerabilities and the lack of meaningful regulatory
oversight from Community Care Licensing, results in
frequently inappropriate evictions to places that are
unable to provide sufficient care services.
Bet Tzedek Legal Services writes that "[b]y requiring RCFEs
to include in their eviction notices information regarding
appeal rights, ? procedure, and timing, SB 781 will empower
RCFE residents and help reduce the frequency and severity
of transfer trauma and displacement."
RJG:mw 5/12/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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