BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 418
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
418 (Chiu)
As Amended April 6, 2015
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
|----------------+------+--------------------+--------------------|
|Judiciary |10-0 |Mark Stone, Wagner, | |
| | |Alejo, Chau, Chiu, | |
| | |Cristina Garcia, | |
| | |Gallagher, Holden, | |
| | |Maienschein, | |
| | |O'Donnell | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Extends indefinitely existing law that, until January 1,
2016, permits survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking,
and other crimes to terminate a residential lease in order to
escape their abusers. Specifically, this bill:
1)Removes the sunset date of January 1, 2016, for provisions that
allow a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking,
human trafficking, or abuse of an elder or dependent adult to
terminate a residential tenancy before the end of the term,
substantiated by documentation of abuse or violence, as
specified, from a health professional, counselor, or other
qualified third party.
AB 418
Page 2
2)Decreases the survivor's maximum rent liability following a
notice to terminate from 30 days to 14 days.
3)Clarifies that a tenancy terminated under these provisions shall
not constitute a default in the payment of rent by the tenant
and no deduction may be made from the tenant's security deposit
to compensate a landlord for default in the payment of rent by
reason of a termination under this section. Further clarifies
that existing law on security deposits shall otherwise apply
when a tenancy is terminated under this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS: This bill, co-sponsored by the California Partnership
to End Domestic Violence, Western Center on Law and Poverty, and
the National Housing Law Project, seeks to remove the sunset date
for existing California law that, until January 1, 2016, gives
survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault,
stalking, and elder or dependent adult abuse the ability to
terminate a residential lease with documentation of abuse or
violence. This bill also would lower, from 30 days to 14 days,
the number of days that the survivor would be liable for rent
after giving notice to terminate the tenancy under these
provisions. According to the Western Center on Law and Poverty,
these changes "will make the ability to terminate far more
effective in allowing victims to escape abusive relationships. To
the extent that victims will have the financial resources to move
rather than stay, they may be of benefit to landlords and
neighbors who might otherwise be in proximity to further abusive
acts."
Background of previous legislation establishing protections for
victims of abuse. In recent years, the Legislature has recognized
the importance of enabling victims of domestic violence and other
AB 418
Page 3
kinds of abuse to terminate a residential lease without liability
in order to escape their abusers. This bill is the latest in a
number of previous successful efforts to further this important
policy goal. In 2008, the Legislature passed AB 2052 (Lieu),
Chapter 440, Statutes of 2008, which for the first time 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 he or
she is a victim of domestic violence or stalking. Subsequently,
AB 588 (V. Manuel Pérez), Chapter 76, Statutes of. 2011,
lengthened the time period from 60 days to 180 days. The
Legislature later passed SB 782 (Yee), Chapter 626, Statutes 2010,
and SB 1403 (Yee), Chapter 516, Statutes 2012, which extended
these protections to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault,
stalking, and elder or dependent adult abuse, and included
protective orders among the acceptable supportive documentation.
SB 612 (Leno), Chapter 130, Statutes of 2013, later extended these
protections to victims of human trafficking and authorized
documentation by a qualified third party professional to establish
that the tenant was a victim of abuse for the purpose of
terminating the tenancy. SB 612 also established confidentiality
protections for the documentation, and established a sunset date
of January 1, 2016 for all of these provisions.
Summary of existing procedures for termination of tenancy set to
expire at the end of this year. To help survivors of abuse get
away from their abusers, existing law permits tenants who are
victims of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault,
stalking, or elder or dependent adult abuse to terminate their
rental or lease agreement before the end of its term.
Specifically, the tenant must provide written notice to the
landlord that he or she or a household member was a victim of one
of these types of abuse as well as documentation of the abuse, in
the form of a temporary restraining order, protective order,
emergency protective order, elder or dependent adult abuse order,
written report by a law enforcement agency or officer, or
documentation from a qualified third party, based on information
received while the qualified third party was acting in his or her
AB 418
Page 4
professional capacity.
Existing law provides for a standard form document that may be
used for this purpose, or modified as long as it contains
substantially the same information. This documentation must
include a signed statement by the tenant seeking to terminate the
tenancy attesting that he or she has been a victim of abuse or
violence, as specified, and identifying additional information
about the most recent incident and the person or persons
responsible for the acts of abuse or violence. The documentation
also must include a signed statement by the qualified third party
identifying his or her qualified profession, as specified;
licensing information, if applicable; and attesting that the
tenant stated to the third party that the tenant or a member of
his or her household was a victim of one of the specified forms of
abuse or violence. Under existing law, qualified third parties
include domestic violence counselors, sexual assault counselors,
human trafficking caseworkers, and various health practitioners,
such as physicians, psychiatrists, and nurses.
Existing law requires the notice to terminate the rental agreement
to be given within 180 days of the date the court order, police
report, or documentation from a qualified third party was issued.
If the tenant provides documentation as required and gives the
proper notice of termination within the required 180 days, he or
she must pay rent only for the 30 days following the date notice
of termination to the landlord was given. After that, the tenant
is released from the obligation to pay rent and may vacate the
residence without further liability.
Existing law also prohibits 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. Confidentiality is
necessary because documentation of abuse can include personal,
sensitive information and may jeopardize the safety of victims if
AB 418
Page 5
disclosed to the wrong person (for example, the current address of
a relocated human trafficking victim if not shielded from the
trafficker or the trafficker's associates).
The provisions described above are all set to expire on January 1,
2016. The purpose of the sunset date was to allow the Legislature
to review the law in order to ascertain whether there has been any
misuse of qualified third-party documentation by ineligible
tenants or whether other unforeseen problems have arisen.
According to the author and sponsor, there are no reported issues
of alleged fraud pertaining to the third party documentation and
they are not aware of any unforeseen problems that have arisen
since SB 612 was enacted in 2013. Proponents note that the
federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has allowed the same
third party documentation option for over a decade, and they
contend that landlords and housing authorities have generally not
had a problem with this form of verification under VAWA, and in
fact, some landlords actually request it as an additional way to
document or corroborate instances of abuse. Accordingly, this
bill would remove the sunset date from current law in order to
establish these provisions indefinitely.
After a notice to terminate is given, this bill lowers the
liability for rent from 30 days to 14 days. As previously
described, existing law requires a survivor of abuse to pay rent
for 30 days after giving notice of termination to the landlord, as
long as the tenant provides required documentation and gives the
proper notice of termination within the prescribed statutory
period of 180 days. This bill would decrease the period of time,
from 30 days to 14 days, that the survivor of abuse is liable for
the rent after giving notice to terminate the tenancy under these
provisions.
According to the author, reducing additional rent obligations will
help more survivors find safe and decent replacement housing -
something that is crucial to combatting homelessness among
AB 418
Page 6
survivors. According to data from the National Sexual Resource
Violence Center, 52% of all sexual assaults occur where the
survivors live, and nearly 80% of sexual assault survivors living
in public housing wanted to relocate because the perpetrator was
nearby, but could not due to a lack of funds and housing options.
In a 2006 report by the United States Conference of Mayors, 44% of
the cities surveyed identified domestic violence as the primary
cause of homelessness.
Under current law, victims of abuse renting under a month-to-month
lease may already relocate from a property within a 30-day period
without further liability simply by giving notice and failing to
renew for the next month. Therefore the current 30-day rent
liability period primarily benefits those victims who have
obligations under a long-term lease, rather than under a
month-to-month lease. It should be noted that by establishing a
shorter 14-day period, this bill would potentially benefit all
victims of abuse under a lease, whether it be month-to-month or
for a longer term.
Return of security deposits governed by existing law. Recent
amendments to the bill remove provisions requiring an accelerated
process for the return of a survivor's security deposit upon
termination of the lease or rental agreement. Instead, the bill
simply clarifies that existing security deposit law, Civil Code
Section 1950.5, applies when a survivor of abuse terminates a
tenancy under these provisions, and that the landlord may not
consider such a termination to constitute a default in payment of
rent, nor deduct from the survivor's security deposit by reason of
a termination of tenancy under these provisions. With these
amendments, the California Apartment Association supports the
bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
AB 418
Page 7
Anthony Lew / JUD. / (916) 319-2334 FN: 0000090