BILL NUMBER: SB 775	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JULY 8, 2015
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 23, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Allen

                        FEBRUARY 27, 2015

   An act to amend Section 1947.8 of the Civil Code, relating to
tenancy.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 775, as amended, Allen. Tenancy: rent control: certification.

   Existing 
    (1)     Existing  law regulates the
terms and conditions of residential tenancies. Existing law, the
Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, prescribes  state-wide
  statewide  limits on the application of local
rent control with regard to certain properties, including those that
have a certificate of occupancy issued after February 1, 1995.
Existing law requires a local ordinance or charter controlling
residential rent prices that requires registration of rents to
provide for the certification of permissible rent levels and
prescribes a process in this regard, including a requirement that,
upon the request, a local agency provide a landlord and a tenant with
a certificate reflecting the permissible rent levels of the rental
unit. Existing law provides that the permissible rent levels
reflected in the certificate  are ,   are, 
in the absence of intentional misrepresentation or fraud, binding
and conclusive upon the local agency unless the determination of the
permissible rent levels is appealed.
   This bill would specify that the certification provisions
described above, on and after January 1, 2016, do not apply to
tenancies  commencing  for which the owner of
residential property may establish the initial rent under the
Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, as specified.  The bill would
except from this exclusion a tenancy for which the property owner
provides the local rent control agency with a writing, signed under
penalty of perjury, of the tenancy's initial rent that complies with
the agency's requirements, which would create a rebuttable
presumption that the statement of the initial rent is correct. By
expanding the crime of perjury, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.  
   (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.  
   This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee:  no
  yes  . State-mandated local program:  no
  yes  .


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 1947.8 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
   1947.8.  (a) If an ordinance or charter controls or establishes a
system of controls on the price at which residential rental units may
be offered for rent or lease and requires the registration of rents,
the ordinance or charter, or any regulation adopted pursuant
thereto, shall provide for the establishment and certification of
permissible rent levels for the registered rental units, and any
changes thereafter to those rent levels, by the local agency as
provided in this section.
   (b) If the ordinance, charter, or regulation is in effect on
January 1, 1987, the ordinance, charter, or regulation shall provide
for the establishment and certification of permissible rent levels on
or before January 1, 1988, including completion of all appeals and
administrative proceedings connected therewith. After July 1, 1990,
no local agency may maintain any action to recover excess rent
against any property owner who has registered the unit with the local
agency within the time limits set forth in this section if the
initial certification of permissible rent levels affecting that
particular property has not been completed, unless the delay is
willfully and intentionally caused by the property owner or is a
result of court proceedings or further administrative proceedings
ordered by a court. If the ordinance, charter, or regulation is
adopted on or after January 1, 1987, the ordinance, charter, or
regulation shall provide for the establishment and certification of
permissible rent levels within one year after it is adopted,
including completion of all appeals and administrative proceedings
connected therewith. Upon the request of the landlord or the tenant,
the local agency shall provide the landlord and the tenant with a
certificate or other documentation reflecting the permissible rent
levels of the rental unit. A landlord may request a certificate of
permissible rent levels for rental units which have a base rent
established, but which are vacant and not exempt from registration
under this section. The landlord or the tenant may appeal the
determination of the permissible rent levels reflected in the
certificate. The permissible rent levels reflected in the certificate
or other documentation shall, in the absence of intentional
misrepresentation or fraud, be binding and conclusive upon the local
agency unless the determination of the permissible rent levels is
being appealed.
   (c) After the establishment and certification of permissible rent
levels under subdivision (b), the local agency shall, upon the
request of the landlord or the tenant, provide the landlord and the
tenant with a certificate of the permissible rent levels of the
rental unit. The certificate shall be issued within five business
days from the date of request by the landlord or the tenant. The
permissible rent levels reflected in the certificate shall, in the
absence of intentional misrepresentation or fraud, be binding and
conclusive upon the local agency unless the determination of the
permissible rent levels is being appealed. The landlord or the tenant
may appeal the determination of the permissible rent levels
reflected in the certificate. Any appeal of a determination of
permissible rent levels as reflected in the certificate, other than
an appeal made pursuant to subdivision (b), shall be filed with the
local agency within 15 days from issuance of the certificate. The
local agency shall notify, in writing, the landlord and the tenant of
its decision within 60 days following the filing of the appeal.
   (d) The local agency may charge the person to whom a certificate
is issued a fee in the amount necessary to cover the reasonable costs
incurred by the local agency in issuing the certificate.
   (e) The absence of a certification of permissible rent levels
shall not impair, restrict, abridge, or otherwise interfere with
either of the following:
   (1) A judicial or administrative hearing.
   (2) Any matter in connection with a conveyance of an interest in
property.
   (f) The record of permissible rent levels is a public record for
purposes of the California Public Records  Act, Chapter
  Act (Chapter  3.5 (commencing with Section 6250)
of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government  Code. 
 Code). 
   (g) Any notice specifying the rents applicable to residential
rental units which is given by an owner to a public entity or tenant
in order to comply with Chapter 12.75 (commencing with Section 7060)
of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code shall not be
considered a registration of rents for purposes of this section.
   (h) "Local agency," as used in this section, means the public
entity responsible for the implementation of the ordinance, charter,
or regulation.
   (i) Nothing in this section shall be construed:
   (1) To grant to any public entity any power which it does not
possess independent of this section to control or establish a system
of control on the price at which accommodations may be offered for
rent or lease, or to diminish any such power which that public entity
may possess, except as specifically provided in this section.
   (2) On and after January 1, 2016, to apply to tenancies commencing
on or after January 1, 1999, for which the owner of residential
property may establish the initial rent under Chapter 2.7 (commencing
with Section  1954.50).   1954.50), except
that, for a tenancy that commenced on or after January 1, 1999, if
the property owner provides the local agency with the tenancy's
initial rent in compliance with that agency's registration
requirements, in writing signed under penalty of perjury, there shall
be a rebuttable presumption that the statement of the initial rent
is correct. 
   SEC. 2.    No reimbursement is required by this act
pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local
agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a
new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or
changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of
Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a
crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the
California Constitution.