BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 588
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          Date of Hearing:   March 22, 2011

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
                                  Mike Feuer, Chair
             AB 588 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Introduced:  February 16, 2011
           
          SUBJECT  :   Tenancy: Victims of Domestic Violence 

           KEY ISSUE :  Should the time frame within which a victim of 
          domestic violence may notify a landlord of his or her intent to 
          terminate a lease, as provided by existing law, be increased 
          from 60 to 180 days?

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   As currently in print this bill is keyed 
          non-fiscal. 

                                      Synopsis 
                                          
          Tenants who are victims of domestic violence often face special 
          problems relating to their tenancy.  On the one hand, to protect 
          the safety of themselves or family members, tenants may need to 
          vacate a residence but cannot easily do so because they are 
          locked into a long-term lease.  On the other hand, some innocent 
          victims of domestic violence have been evicted due to the 
          nuisance created by the behavior of the violent abuser.  The 
          last two legislative sessions enacted laws to address each of 
          these problems.  AB 2052 (Chapter 440, Stats of 2008) allows a 
          victim of domestic violence to terminate a lease early, without 
          being obligated for rent for the entire term, so long as the 
          victim documents the domestic violence by means of a court order 
          or police report.  Existing law requires that the court order or 
          police report has been issued within the last 60 days.  AB 782 
          (Chapter 626, Stats of 2010) prohibits a landlord, under certain 
          circumstances, from evicting a tenant solely because of the 
          behavior of the abuser and generally requires the landlord to 
          change locks if a victim does not move.  Existing law under this 
          provision requires the substantiating court order or police 
          report to have been issued or made within the last 180 days.  By 
          extending the 180-day time frame to the early termination 
          statute, the bill now under consideration would make these 
          corollary provisions of existing law consistent.  More 
          important, persons who work with domestic violence victims 
          report that 60 days is an insufficient amount of time for a 
          victim to determine whether or not his or her situation requires 
          moving.  For example, a victim may assume that he or she is safe 








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          because the abuser is incarcerated or respects a stay away 
          order, but then is subsequently released or stops respecting the 
          stay away order and the 60-day window has expired.  This bill, 
          the author contends, will better protect victims of domestic 
          violence and give them more time to evaluate whether or not 
          their situation requires taking the drastic step of vacating 
          their home.  The bill is supported by the California Partnership 
          to End Domestic Violence, Crime Victims United of California, 
          the Western Center on Law and Poverty, and the California Rural 
          Legal Assistance Foundation.  There is no known opposition to 
          the bill. 

           SUMMARY  :  Amends an existing law so that a tenant who is a 
          victim of domestic violence has more time to provide notice of 
          intent to terminate a lease early.  Specifically  this bill  
          provides that upon informing the landlord of intent to terminate 
          a tenancy because he or she is a victim of domestic violence,  
          sexual assault, or stalking, the tenant must also provide the 
          landlord with a substantiating court order or police report, as 
          specified, that was issued or written within the last 180 days.  
          (Existing law requires the order or report to have been issued 
          or written within the last 60 days.)  
          
          EXISTING LAW  : 
          
          1)Defines the rights and duties of landlords and tenants, 
            including presumptions regarding the terms of the hiring, the 
            lawful means of terminating a lease or rental agreements, and 
            the remedies available to the respective parties in the event 
            of a breach of a lease or rental agreement.  (Civil Code 
            Sections 1940 to 1954.1.) 

          2)Provides that if a tenant or lessee of real property breaches 
            the lease and abandons the property before the end of the 
            term, the landlord has two remedies: deem the lease terminated 
            and seek damages, or continue to perform under the lease and 
            seek rent as it comes due.  (Civil Code Section 1951.2; 250 
            LLC v. Photopoint Corp, USA 131 Cal. App. 4th 703.) 

          3)Permits a tenant or a tenant's household member who was a 
            victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking to 
            terminate a rental agreement and be discharged from rental 
            payments due, as specified.  The tenant must provide the 
            landlord with a copy of a temporary restraining order, 
            emergency protective order, or a written report by a peace 








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            officer stating that the tenant or  household member has filed 
            a police report alleging that the tenant or household member 
            is a victim of domestic violence,  sexual assault, or 
            stalking.  Specifies that the notice to terminate the tenancy 
            shall be given within 60 days of the date that the order was 
            issued or the police report made.  (Civil Code Section 
            1946.7.)
           
          4)Requires a landlord to change the locks of a tenant's 
            dwelling, under specified circumstances, where the tenet or a 
            member of the tenant's household is a victim of domestic 
            violence, sexual assault, or stalking and provides the 
            landlord with copies of a court order or police report, as 
            specified, that has been issued or made within the last 180 
            days.  (Civil Code Section 1941.5 and 1951.6.) 

          5)Prohibits a landlord, under certain circumstances, from 
            terminating or failing to renew a tenancy against a tenant 
            based on acts of domestic violence, sexual assault, or 
            stalking against the tenant or household member.  Provides 
            that the act or acts domestic violence, sexual assault, or 
            stalking must be documented by a court order or police report 
            that was issued or created within the last 180 days.  (Code of 
            Civil Procedure Section 1161.3.)

           COMMENTS  :  Tenants who are victims of domestic violence often 
          face special problems relating to their tenancy.  On the one 
          hand, as a matter of self- or family protection, a tenant may 
          need to vacate a residence but discovers that he or she cannot 
          easily do so because of obligations under a long-term lease.  On 
          the other hand, some innocent victims of domestic violence have 
          been evicted due to the nuisance created by the behavior of the 
          violent abuser.  Existing law addresses both of these issues.  
          This bill would extend the time frame within which a victim of 
          domestic violence may take advantage of the early termination 
          provisions of existing law. 

          This straight-forward bill amends an existing law that protects 
          tenants who have been victims of domestic violence by allowing 
          for early termination of a lease when their safety depends upon 
          it.  Civil Code Section 1946.7, which became effective in 
          September of 2008, permits a tenant to notify a landlord that 
          the tenant or a member of the tenant's household was a victim of 
          domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and that the 
          tenant intends to terminate the tenancy because of this.  If 








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          there is a long-term rather than a month-to-month lease, the 
          tenant is only responsible for payment of rent for 30 days 
          following the giving of the notice of intent.  Without such 
          protection, a victim of domestic violence in a long term lease 
          would be forced to choose between remaining until the lease runs 
          out, which may put the victim and victim's family at risk, or be 
          obligated to pay rent for the entire term of the lease.  In 
          order to take advantage of this law, the notice to terminate the 
          tenancy must be accompanied by a copy of a court order or police 
          report showing that the tenant has been a victim of domestic 
          violence, sexual assault, or stalking.  However, under this 
          existing law, the court order or police report must have been 
          issued or written within the past 60 days.   

          A parallel provision in existing law, which seeks to protect 
          victims of domestic violence from being unfairly evicted because 
          of the actions of an abuser, requires that court orders or 
          police reports have been issued or written with the last 180 
          days.  (Civil Code Sections 1941.5 and 1941.6.)  Not only will 
          this proposed bill make these parallel provisions in existing 
          law consistent, the author and supporters point out that 
          extending the time frame will give victims more flexibility in 
          determining whether the threat to themselves and their families 
          is so great that they must make the difficult decision to give 
          up their homes.   

          In addition, because the purpose of the court order or police 
          report is simply to provide evidence of a pattern and history of 
          domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking - not to show 
          that there is an existing or effective order in place - the 60 
          day limitation seems rather arbitrary.  For example, the author 
          cites statutes in about a dozen other states that have similar 
          protections but do not impose any time limit on the supporting 
          documentation.  Finally, it is difficult to see how the 
          extension of the time frame will impose any increased burden on 
          the landlord.  Whether the order issued two months earlier or 
          six month earlier, the landlord is only entitled to rent for the 
          30 days following receipt of notice.  The landlord's obligation 
          is determined from the time that notice is given, not from the 
          time that supporting documents were issued.  In short, the 
          extension of the notice period from 60 to 180 days appears to be 
          a reasonable change that will afford greater protection and 
          flexibility to survivors of domestic abuse without imposing any 
          greater burden on the landlord.  This probably explains why the 
          landlord associations, who were very involved in negotiations on 








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          the previous two bills, have not yet weighed in on this measure. 


           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :  Crime Victims United of California 
          supports this bill because "victims of domestic violence do not 
          always petition to be released from their leases within the 
          current 60 day time frame because their offender has been 
          arrested" and, the victim hopes, the offender "will be in 
          custody for long periods of time."  However, if the offender is 
          later released and continues to harass, stalk, abuse, or 
          otherwise pose a threat to the victim, the 60 days may have 
          passed and "the victim would have to then break the lease and 
          face financial hardship or wait out the term of the lease 
          agreement, compromising her safety." 

          According to the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence 
          (CPEDV), this measure will "allow considerably more Ýdomestic 
          violence] survivors to use the life-saving protections that 
          Civil Code Section 1946.7 offers."  CPEDV reports that they have 
          conducted several trainings for staff on how to help survivors 
          move safely with the help of existing law.  CPEDV contends that 
          giving the victim added flexibility is critical, especially in 
          light of budget cuts and an economic recession that have 
          decreased the availability of domestic violence shelters and 
          affordable housing alternatives. 

          The Western Center on Law & Poverty and the California Rural 
          Legal Assistance Foundation argue that this bill makes "a simple 
          but important change in the law for survivors of domestic 
          violence."  WCLP and CRLA note that, in many cases, "the 
          perpetrator may be absent from the property for more than 60 
          days, then return."  Because the tenant-survivor is reluctant to 
          move from his or her home unless it is absolutely necessary, 
          this absolute necessity may not become apparent until more than 
          60 days after the initial court order was issued or the police 
          report prepared.  WCLP and CRLA add that "this modest change 
          will impose no undue hardship on landlords," especially given 
          that even before this protection was enacted landlords often 
          granted a victim's request to terminate a lease for reasons both 
          humane and practical, such as to avoid damage to property or 
          preserve the quiet enjoyment of other tenants.  "The same logic 
          applies to the extension of time proposed" in this bill, WCLP 
          and CRLA conclude. 

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   








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           Support 
           
          American Civil Liberties Union 
          California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
          California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
          Crime Victims United of California
          Western Center on Law & Poverty 

           Opposition 
           
          None on file
           

          Analysis Prepared by  :    Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334