BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Senator Noreen Evans, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
SB 612 (Leno)
As Amended April 8, 2013
Hearing Date: April 16, 2013
Fiscal: No
Urgency: No
NR
SUBJECT
Residential tenancy: victims of human trafficking and elder or
dependent adult abuse
DESCRIPTION
Existing law allows a tenant to terminate his or her lease
within 180 days of the issuance of a temporary restraining
order, protective order, emergency protective order, or written
report by a peace officer alleging that the tenant, or household
member, is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder
or dependent adult abuse, or stalking. Existing law also
prohibits a landlord from terminating a tenancy or failing to
renew a tenancy based upon an act or acts against a tenant or a
tenant's household member that constitute domestic violence,
sexual assault, or stalking if those acts have been documented
by a temporary restraining order, emergency protective order, or
written report by a peace officer.
This bill would extend these tenant protections to victims of
human trafficking. This bill would also allow a tenant to
terminate his or her lease upon the issuance of documentation
from qualified third parties that demonstrates the tenant or a
household member is seeking assistance for physical or mental
injuries resulting from any of the aforementioned abuse. This
bill would also prohibit landlords from disclosing information
related to a tenant's early termination based on abuse, as
specified.
BACKGROUND
Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, elder and
dependent adult abuse, and stalking face numerous challenges
(more)
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when seeking to regain control of their lives. Depending on the
situation, the victim may need to change his or her phone
number, participate in the Safe at Home Program through the
Secretary of State, or even move, to create a safe environment
for themselves and their family. Victims who rent their home
face challenges when attempting to leave a dangerous environment
if they are currently in a long-term lease.
In response to concerns regarding the inability of victims to
terminate their lease without liability, AB 2052 (Lieu, Ch. 440,
Stats. 2008) allowed a tenant to terminate his or her lease
within 60 days of the issuance of a temporary restraining order,
emergency protective order, or written report by a peace officer
alleging that the tenant, or household member, is a victim of
domestic violence or stalking. Absent that protection, victims
who relocated could still be subject to liability under the
lease if the landlord did not agree to release the tenant from
his or her obligations. Subsequently, AB 588 (V. Manuel Pérez,
Ch. 76, Stats. 2011) increased this time from 60 to 180 days.
SB 1403 (Yee, Ch. 516, Stats. 2012) further extended these
protections to victims of elder or dependent adult abuse and
included protective orders among the appropriate supporting
documentation allowed when victims seek to terminate leases
prematurely. Additionally, SB 782 (Yee, Ch. 626, Stats. 2010)
prohibited landlords from terminating or failing to renew a
tenancy based upon a documented act or acts against a tenant or
a tenant's household member that is a victim of domestic
violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
This bill would extend these tenant protections to victims of
human trafficking. This bill would also authorize qualified
third parties, including specified counselors and health
practitioners, to submit supporting documentation of abuse along
with a tenant's notice that he or she intends to terminate
tenancy.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law 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. (Civ.
Code Sec. 1940 et seq.)
Existing law provides that if a tenant or lessee of real
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property breaches the lease and abandons the property before the
end of the term, the landlord may deem the lease terminated and
seek damages, or continue to perform under the lease and seek
rent as it becomes due. (Civ. Code Sec. 1951.2; 250 LLC v.
Photopoint Corp. (2005) 131 Cal.App.4th 703.)
Existing law allows a tenant to terminate his or her tenancy if
the tenant, or a household member, was the victim of domestic
violence, sexual assault, stalking, or dependent adult or elder
abuse. The notice to terminate a tenancy must be in writing,
with one of the following attached: (1) copy of a temporary
restraining order, protective order, or emergency protective
order, as specified; or (2) copy of a written report by a peace
officer, as specified. (Civ. Code Sec. 1946.7(a)-(b).)
Existing law requires the notice to terminate tenancy to be
given within 180 days of the date that any order was issued, or
within 180 days of the date that any written report was made, or
the time period otherwise required for termination of tenancy.
(Civ. Code Sec. 1946.7(c).)
Existing law prohibits a landlord from terminating a tenancy or
failing to renew a tenancy based upon an act or acts against a
tenant or a tenant's household member that constitute domestic
violence, sexual assault, stalking, or elder or dependent adult
abuse if the acts of domestic violence, sexual assault, or
stalking have been documented by a temporary restraining order,
emergency protective order, or a copy of a written report by a
peace officer. (Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 1161.3(a).)
This bill would also allow a tenant to terminate his or her
tenancy if the tenant or a household member was the victim of
human trafficking.
This bill would add documentation from a qualified third party
based on information received while acting in his or her
professional capacity, to the list of documents with which a
tenant may substantiate the need for early termination of a
lease or rental agreement based upon domestic violence, sexual
assault, stalking, elder or dependent adult abuse, or human
trafficking.
This bill would define "qualified third party" as domestic
violence counselors, sexual assault counselors, or human
trafficking caseworkers, as defined, and "health practitioners."
A "health practitioner" would be defined as a physician,
surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, registered nurse, licensed
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social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, or
licensed professional clinical counselor.
This bill would prohibit a landlord from disclosing any
information provided by the tenant regarding the early
termination of his or her lease based on documented abuse
unless:
the tenant consents in writing to the disclosure; or
the disclosure is required by law or order of the court.
COMMENT
1.Stated need for the bill
According to the author:
Current law does not provide survivors of human trafficking
with the ability to break residential leases, regardless of
their ability to document abuse. Adding human trafficking
victims to this existing protection will provide an important
safety measure for victims needing to flee violence.
It is not always feasible or advisable for a survivor of
domestic violence or human trafficking to obtain a restraining
order or police report. Survivors of domestic violence and
human trafficking are often reluctant to involve the court
system or law enforcement out of difficulty navigating the
court system, fear of retaliation or increased violence by
their abusers, and fear of the child welfare system. Immigrant
victims may also fear being reported to immigration officials
for deportation by their abusers.
Even when survivors do not want to involve the criminal
justice system, they are often working with other service
providers to address the abuse and increase their safety. By
expanding the accepted documentation to include these
professionals, more victims will be able to obtain this safety
protection.
2.Extending existing tenant protections to victims of human
trafficking
Current law allows a victim of domestic violence, sexual
assault, stalking, or elder or dependent adult abuse to break a
rental or lease agreement in order to secure safety for himself
or herself and family. Current law also prohibits a landlord
from evicting one of these tenants if the abuse has been
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documented through a temporary restraining order, emergency
protective order, or written report by a peace officer. This
bill would extend these provisions to victims of human
trafficking.
The National Council of Jewish Women in support of this bill,
writes about the unique situation that victims of human
trafficking face:
Victims who have escaped human trafficking live in fear that
they will be located by their trafficker. Many victims,
especially children who have been sex trafficked, are
trafficked by people they know or who know their family. This
increases the likelihood that their trafficker will be able to
find them if they escape. When a victim of human trafficking
is found by their former trafficker, it is paramount that the
victim be able to relocate quickly in order to protect his or
her safety and prevent further victimization. The ability to
terminate an apartment lease is an important right enabling a
trafficking victim to do so.
As with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking,
and elder or dependent adult abuse, tenants who are victims of
human trafficking seeking to terminate their rental or lease
agreements early would be subject to certain requirements and
restrictions discussed below.
a. Tenant may notify landlord of status as victim of human
trafficking; documentation required
This bill would provide relief to a tenant who provides
written notice to the landlord that he or she or a household
member was a victim of human trafficking. If the tenant has a
valid temporary restraining order, protective order, emergency
protective order, protective order, elder or dependent adult
abuse order, written report by a law enforcement agency or
officer, or documentation from a qualified third party (see
Comment 3), the tenant may terminate the rental agreement and
quit the premises. The notice to terminate the rental
agreement must be given within 180 days of the date the
aforementioned court order, police report, or documentation
from a qualified third party was issued.
b. Tenant to pay rent for the 30 days after notice to
terminate is given, then is released from rent obligations
without penalty
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If the tenant gives the notice in writing, provides
documentation as required, and gives the notice of termination
of tenancy within the required 180 days, existing law would
require the tenant to pay rent only for the 30 days following
the date notice of termination to the landlord was given.
After that, the tenant would be released from the obligation
to pay rent and be able to move without concern about
liability for leaving the residence before the end of the
lease.
c. Relief from rent obligation applies only to tenant or
household member with status and to his or her family
Existing law expressly states that the relief provided to
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, elder
abuse, or dependent adult abuse would be available only to
such a tenant and his or her household members. Other tenants
who are parties to the rental agreement would still be
obligated to fulfill their obligations under that rental
agreement. Existing law defines "household member" as a
family member who lives in the same household as the tenant.
Thus, for example, in a college roommate situation, if one
roommate was a victim of stalking and chose to terminate the
lease, the other roommates would still be liable for the
remainder of the lease. This bill would apply the same
limitations to tenants who are victims of human trafficking.
As detailed above, existing law provides a balance between
protections for victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse,
stalking, elder abuse, and dependent adult abuse, while
maintaining protections for landlords. As a matter of public
policy, victims of human trafficking should be able to utilize
tenant protections provided under existing law for other abuse
victims in order to secure safer accommodations.
1.Supporting documentation from qualified third parties
Under existing law a court order or police report must accompany
a tenant's notice to terminate tenancy (see Comment 2 above).
This bill would additionally allow a statement from a qualified
third party to accompany a notice to terminate tenancy. That
statement would have to be based on information received while
the qualified third party was acting in his or her professional
capacity. Qualified third parties would include domestic
violence counselors, sexual assault counselors, or human
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trafficking caseworkers, as defined in the Evidence Code, and
"health practitioners." A "health practitioner" would be defined
as a physician, surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, registered
nurse, licensed social worker, licensed marriage and family
therapist, or licensed professional clinical counselor.
The California Apartment Association, opposed to the introduced
version of this bill, now writes in support after author's
amendments narrowed the scope of qualified third parties:
CAA asked for a tightening of the "qualified third party"
definition and suggested that the bill limit a qualified third
party to "health practitioner" as used in this section to mean
a "physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist,
registered nurse, licensed clinical social workers, licensed
marriage and family therapist, or licensed professional
clinical counselor." We ask that these qualified third
parties issue documentation "based on information received
while acting his or her professional capacity. . . "
CAA understands that these qualified third parties may be the
first ones to witness the physical domestic abuse and may be
the first to provide assistance. While CAA continues to
advocate that the best way to protect a victim and any
children involved is through a report to the police or by
obtaining a restraining order, CAA also understands that a
victim's fear may hamper her ability or desire to file a
public police report or obtain a public restraining order.
Domestic violence at a rental property hurts not only the
actual victims but is disruptive to neighboring tenants. With
these amendments, CAA wants to ensure that there is reliance
upon actual medical practitioners who truly - in their
professional capacity - see and understand the abuse.
Thus, allowing supporting documentation from professionals not
associated with the police or courts may aid victims in escaping
abuse by allowing them to relocate without concern about the
liability for rent for the remainder of the lease term. However,
a balance must be struck between protecting the safety of
victims and ensuring the certainty of contracts. In an effort
to achieve that balance, below are two suggested amendments.
a. Ability to verify legitimacy of documentation
This bill would allow qualified third parties to submit
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supporting documentation that a tenant may submit with his or
her notice to terminate tenancy, but does not specify as to
what information that documentation must contain.
Unlike police reports or court orders, which are easily
verified by case number and appear on forms bearing the city
or county seal, statements from qualified third parties could
be written on any letterhead. Under the provisions of this
bill, these statements may contain no identifying information
that a landlord could use to verify the legitimacy of the
statement. Thus, opponents of this bill raise the concerns
that expanding supporting documentation to include statements
from qualified third parties will create confusion for
landlords and invite abuse by tenants.
The amendments below would appear to address these concerns by
requiring the following information on statements from
qualified third parties.
Identifying information of the qualified third party,
including name, address, phone number, and professional
affiliation.
The professional license number of the third party. In
the event that the qualified third party is not a member of
a professional licensing board (as may be the case with
domestic violence counselors, sexual assault counselors, or
human trafficking caseworkers) the statement would need to
be on the letterhead of his or her state-recognized
employer and include the name and contact information of
his or her immediate supervisor.
In addition, the following amendments would authorize
landlords to contact the qualified third party in order to
verify the legitimacy of the statement without violating
confidentiality requirements (see Comment 4).
Suggested amendments:
On page 3, line 22, add "(4) Documentation from a qualified
third party shall include the following:
(i) name, address, and phone number of qualified
third party;
(ii) professional affiliation or licensing board of
qualified third party;
(iii) professional license number of qualified third
party, or if not applicable, the name of the qualified
third party's immediate supervisor, and be on
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letterhead of state recognized employer of qualified
third party; and
(iv) if known and safe to provide, the abuser's name
and physical description.
On page 4, after line 23 insert: (3) A landlord's
communication to a qualified third party who provided
documentation under subdivision (3) of Sec. 1946.7(b) to
verify the contents of that documentation shall not be
considered disclosure under this section.
a. Provisions related to qualified third parties to sunset
As noted above, opponents of this bill raise the concern that
expanding supporting documentation to include statements from
qualified third parties will invite abuse by tenants who aim
only to terminate a lease or rental agreement early without
penalty. Staff notes that opponents have not provided any
specific evidence demonstrating exploitation of existing law.
Thus, while the opponent's concern regarding abuse and
qualified third parties is feasible, whether or not it is
likely is not readily apparent. Arguably, assisting victims
who wish to protect themselves from further abuse outweighs
speculation that provisions of this bill will be misused.
The following amendment would allow the Legislature to review
the provisions of this bill related to qualified third parties
and the concerns raised by the opposition, by having those
provisions sunset on January 1, 2016.
Suggested amendment:
Sunset provisions in this bill related to qualified third
parties on January 1, 2016.
1.Confidentiality
This bill would prohibit a landlord from disclosing any
information provided by a tenant regarding his or her notice to
terminate tenancy, unless required by law or court order, or the
tenant consents in writing to the disclosure.
The author points out, "documentation of abuse can include
personal, sensitive information and to protect the safety of
victims, this documentation must remain confidential unless the
victim consents ? or the disclosure is otherwise required by
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law." In addition, victims searching for new housing may be
thwarted in their efforts if current or previous landlords
indicate to a potential landlord that the prospective tenant has
a history of being connected to physical abuse, stalking, or
trafficking. Thus, the confidentiality provision of this bill
aids both in protecting individuals from further victimization
at the hands of their abuser, and allows them to have a fresh
start without the stigma associated with domestic violence,
stalking, and other abuse.
2.Additional Author's amendment
In order to conform this bill with existing law which prohibits
a landlord from terminating a tenancy or failing to renew a
tenancy based upon an act or acts against a tenant or a tenant's
household member that constitute specified violence or abuse
(Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 1161.3(a)) the author offers the following
amendment.
Suggested amendment:
Add "human trafficking" as defined in Section 236.1 of the
Penal Code to the types of violence listed under Section
1161.3(a) of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Support : ACLU-California; Alliance Against Family Violence and
Sexual Assault; Asian and Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic
Violence; Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach; California
Apartment Association; Casa de Esperanza; Center for Community
Solutions; Center for Domestic Peace; Center of Excellence on
Elder Abuse and Neglect at UC Irvine; Crime Victims United of
California; Domestic Violence Education and Services; Emergency
Shelter Program; Family Violence Law Center; Housing California;
Housing Equality Law Project; Jewish Family Services of Los
Angeles; Law Foundation of Silicon Valley; Legal Aid Society
Employment Law Center; Mountain Crisis Services, Inc.; National
Council of Jewish Women-California; Next Door Solutions to
Domestic Violence; Peace Over Violence; Rainbow Services, LTD.;
Regional Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission; San Francisco
Department on the Status of Women; Sojourn Services for Battered
Women and Their Children; South Asian Network; Tenants Together;
Walnut Avenue Women's Center; Western Center on Law and Poverty;
Women's Crisis Support-Defensa de Mujeres; Women's Foundation of
California
Oppose unless amended : Apartment Association, California
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Southern Cities; Apartment Association of Orange County; East
Bay Rental Housing Association; NOR Cal Rental Property
Association
HISTORY
Source : California Partnership to End Domestic Violence;
National Housing Law Project
Related Pending Legislation : None Known
Prior Legislation :
SB 1403 (Yee, Ch. 516, Stats. 2012) See Background.
AB 588 (V. Manuel Pérez, Ch. 76, Stats. 2011) See Background.
SB 782 (Yee, Ch. 626, Stats. 2010) See Background.
AB 2052 (Lieu, Ch. 440, Stats. 2008) See Background.
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