BILL NUMBER: AB 969	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Ammiano

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2013

   An act to amend Section 1942.5 of the Civil Code and Section
1174.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to landlord and
tenants.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 969, as introduced, Ammiano. Landlord and tenant.
   (1) Existing law provides that, if a lessor retaliates against a
lessee of a dwelling for exercising his or her rights or because of a
complaint to an appropriate agency as to tenantability and the
lessee is not in default as to the payment of rent, the lessor may
not recover possession, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily,
increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days of the
occurrence of specified events.
   This bill would provide that a lessee is not in default as to the
payment of rent when the lessee has made all payments or has
exercised a right to deduct an amount from or withhold rent, or the
lessor is prohibited from collecting rent.
   (2) Existing law governs unlawful detainer proceedings. Existing
law requires a court, in an unlawful detainer proceeding involving
residential premises, as specified, and in which the tenant has
raised as an affirmative defense a breach of the landlord's
obligations, as provided by law, or of any warranty of habitability,
to determine whether a substantial breach of these obligations has
occurred.
   This bill would clarify that, in unlawful detainer proceedings
involving residential premises, the jury, or the court, if the
proceeding is tried without a jury, shall determine whether a
substantial breach of the obligations has occurred.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 1942.5 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   1942.5.  (a) If the lessor retaliates against the lessee because
of the exercise by the lessee of his  or her  rights under
this chapter or because of his  or her  complaint to an
appropriate agency as to tenantability of a dwelling, and if the
lessee of a dwelling is not in default as to the payment of his 
or her  rent, the lessor may not recover possession of a
dwelling in any action or proceeding, cause the lessee to quit
involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180
days of any of the following:
   (1) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has given
notice pursuant to Section 1942, or has made an oral complaint to
the lessor regarding tenantability.
   (2) After the date upon which the lessee, in good faith, has filed
a written complaint, or an oral complaint  which 
 that  is registered or otherwise recorded in writing, with
an appropriate agency, of which the lessor has notice, for the
purpose of obtaining correction of a condition relating to
tenantability.
   (3) After the date of an inspection or issuance of a citation,
resulting from a complaint described in paragraph (2) of which the
lessor did not have notice.
   (4) After the filing of appropriate documents commencing a
judicial or arbitration proceeding involving the issue of
tenantability.
   (5) After entry of judgment or the signing of an arbitration
award, if any, when in the judicial proceeding or arbitration the
issue of tenantability is determined adversely to the lessor.
   In each instance, the 180-day period shall run from the latest
applicable date referred to in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive.
   (b)    (1)  A lessee may not invoke subdivision
(a) more than once in any 12-month period. 
   (2) For purposes of subdivision (a), a lessee of a dwelling is not
in default as to the payment of rent when either of the following
conditions are met:  
   (A) The lessee has made all rent payments due or has exercised his
or her right to deduct an amount from or withhold the payment of
rent pursuant to this chapter.  
   (B) The lessor is prohibited from collecting rent pursuant to this
chapter. 
   (c)  It   Notwithstanding  
subdivision (a), it  is unlawful for a lessor to increase rent,
decrease services, cause a lessee to quit involuntarily, bring an
action to recover possession, or threaten to do any of those acts,
for the purpose of retaliating against the lessee because he or she
has lawfully organized or participated in a lessees' association or
an organization advocating lessees' rights or has lawfully and
peaceably exercised any rights under the law. In an action brought by
or against the lessee pursuant to this subdivision, the lessee shall
bear the burden of producing evidence that the lessor's conduct was,
in fact, retaliatory.
   (d) Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting in any
way the exercise by the lessor of his or her rights under any lease
or agreement or any law pertaining to the hiring of property or his
or her right to do any of the acts described in subdivision (a) or
(c) for any lawful cause. Any waiver by a lessee of his or her rights
under this section is void as contrary to public policy.
   (e) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, a lessor
may recover possession of a dwelling and do any of the other acts
described in subdivision (a) within the period or periods prescribed
therein, or within subdivision (c), if the notice of termination,
rent increase, or other act, and any pleading or statement of issues
in an arbitration, if any, states the ground upon which the lessor,
in good faith, seeks to recover possession, increase rent, or do any
of the other acts described in subdivision (a) or (c). If the
statement is controverted, the lessor shall establish its truth at
the trial or other hearing.
   (f) Any lessor or agent of a lessor who violates this section
shall be liable to the lessee in a civil action for all of the
following:
   (1) The actual damages sustained by the lessee.
   (2) Punitive damages in an amount of not less than one hundred
dollars ($100) nor more than two thousand dollars ($2,000) for each
retaliatory act where the lessor or agent has been guilty of fraud,
oppression, or malice with respect to that act.
   (g) In any action brought for damages for retaliatory eviction,
the court shall award reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing
party if either party requests attorney's fees upon the initiation of
the action.
   (h) The remedies provided by this section shall be in addition to
any other remedies provided by statutory or decisional law.
  SEC. 2.  Section 1174.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended
to read:
   1174.2.  (a) In an unlawful detainer proceeding involving
residential premises after default in payment of rent and in which
the tenant has raised as an affirmative defense a breach of the
landlord's obligations under Section 1941 of the Civil Code or of any
warranty of habitability, the  court   jury, or
the court, if th  e proceeding is tried without a jury,
 shall determine whether a substantial breach of these
obligations has occurred. If the  court   trier
of fact  finds that a substantial breach has occurred, 
the court   it  (1) shall determine the reasonable
rental value of the premises in its untenantable state to the date of
trial, (2) shall deny possession to the landlord and adjudge the
tenant to be the prevailing party, conditioned upon the payment by
the tenant of the rent that has accrued to the date of the trial as
adjusted pursuant to this subdivision within a reasonable period of
time not exceeding five days, from the date of the  court's
 judgment or, if service of the  court's 
judgment is made by mail, the payment shall be made within the time
set forth in Section 1013, (3) may order the landlord to make repairs
and correct the conditions which constitute a breach of the landlord'
s obligations, (4) shall order that the monthly rent be limited to
the reasonable rental value of the premises as determined pursuant to
this subdivision until repairs are completed, and (5) except as
otherwise provided in subdivision (b), shall award the tenant costs
and  attorneys'  attorney's  fees if
provided by, and pursuant to, any statute or the contract of the
parties. If the court orders repairs or corrections, or both,
pursuant to paragraph (3), the court's jurisdiction continues over
the matter for the purpose of ensuring compliance. The  jury or
 court shall, however, award possession of the premises to the
landlord if the tenant fails to pay all rent accrued to the date of
trial, as determined due in the judgment, within the period
prescribed by the  jury or  court pursuant to this
subdivision. The tenant shall, however, retain any rights conferred
by Section 1174.
   (b) If the  court   jury, or the court, if
the proceeding is tried without a jury,  determines that there
has been no substantial breach of Section 1941 of the Civil Code or
of any warranty of habitability by the landlord or if the tenant
fails to pay all rent accrued to the date of trial, as required by
the  jury or  court pursuant to subdivision (a), then
judgment shall be entered in favor of the landlord, and the landlord
shall be the prevailing party for  the  purposes of
awarding costs or  attorneys'   attorney's 
fees pursuant to any statute or the contract of the parties.
   (c) As used in this section, "substantial breach" means the
failure of the landlord to comply with applicable building and
housing code standards  which   that 
materially affect health and safety.
   (d) Nothing in this section is intended to deny the tenant the
right to a trial by jury. Nothing in this section shall limit or
supersede any provision of Chapter 12.75 (commencing with Section
7060) of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code.