BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1838
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1838 (Bill Berryhill)
As Amended July 15, 2010
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |74-0 |(May 6, 2010) |SENATE: |35-0 |(August 12, |
| | | | | |2010) |
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Original Committee Reference: JUD.
SUMMARY : Extends to San Joaquin County an existing pilot
project that allows local authorities to file actions for
unlawful detainer in order to abate unlawful conduct relating to
controlled substances or illegal weapons or ammunition
possession. Specifically, this bill :
1)Permits the county district attorney of San Joaquin County to
file an action for unlawful detainer in order to abate a
nuisance caused by illegal conduct involving controlled
substances, weapons or ammunition on rental property, so long
as the filing is based on an arrest report.
2)Provides that the district attorney of San Joaquin County may
not file more than five unlawful detainer actions pursuant to
this bill in a calendar year
3)Provides that the provisions of this bill shall remain in
effect only until January 1, 2012, unless that date is
repealed or extended by a later enacted statute.
4)Requires the district attorney of San Joaquin County to report
specified information to the California Research Bureau by
December 31, 2011.
The Senate amendments :
1)Delete legislative intent language.
2)Require that actions brought by the county district attorney
under this bill be based on an arrest report.
3)Limit the number of actions that a county district attorney
may bring under this bill to five per calendar year.
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4)Change the sunset date from January 1, 2014, to January 1,
2012.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to extend to San Joaquin County a
pilot project that permits city attorneys and city prosecutors
to file an unlawful detainer action against tenants who engage
in unlawful conduct involving drugs, weapons, or ammunition on
the premises. The current pilot project, comprised of already
designated cities, is set to expire on January 1, 2014, and the
California Research Bureau (CRB) is required to submit two
reports on the use and effectiveness of the projects in March of
2011 and again in March of 2013 in order to assist the
Legislature in determining the merits and deficiencies of this
approach.
Existing law already permits a landlord to file an unlawful
detainer against tenants engaged in unlawful conduct. For
various reasons, including threats or intimidation by those
engaged in the unlawful activity, landlords are sometimes
reluctant to take such action. In an effort to address this
problem, the Legislature enacted AB 1384 (Chapter 613, Statutes
of 1998), which launched a three-year pilot project that became
effective on January 1, 1999. If a landlord refused to take
action, the pilot project permitted city attorneys and city
prosecutors in five Los Angeles Municipal Court districts to
bring unlawful detainer actions against persons who engaged in
illegal drug activity. AB 815 (Chapter 431, Statutes of 2001)
extended the program to additional courts within Los Angeles and
extended the sunset another three years. That bill also
authorized a court to issue a "partial eviction," meaning that
only offenders would be evicted while innocent tenants would be
allowed to remain. Both the 1998 and 2001 bills required the
Judicial Council to prepare reports, but in both instances there
was apparently insufficient data to provide a meaningful
evaluation. AB 2523 (Chapter 304, Statutes of 2004) extended
the pilot project to 2010, added cities in the counties of San
Diego and Alameda, and strengthened the reporting requirements
so that the Judicial Council could prepare a more useful report.
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In 2007, AB 1013 (Chapter 456, Statutes of 2007) created a
similar pilot project that allowed city attorneys and
prosecutors to bring unlawful detainer actions against persons
engaged in unlawful weapons and ammunition activity on rented
premises. That project, like the drug project, was to sunset on
January 1, 2010. The weapons pilot project included cities in
the counties of Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, and Alameda.
Last year's AB 530 (Chapter 244, Statutes of 2009) made the
following changes to both the drug and weapons projects: 1)
extended the sunset for both projects to January 1, 2014; 2)
added the City of Sacramento to the drug pilot; 3) exempted the
City of Los Angeles from the sunset date for the drug project,
thereby making the program of indefinite duration in Los
Angeles; 4) moved provisions relating to the drug project from
the Health & Safety Code to the Civil Code so that both projects
would be in the same Code; and, 5) shifted the study and report
requirements from the Judicial Council to the CRB.
This bill provides that the district attorney of San Joaquin
County may seek an unlawful detainer in essentially the same
manner as can the city attorneys and city prosecutors pursuant
to existing statutes that provide that authority to
jurisdictions participating in the pilot project, so long as the
action is based on an arrest report, as specified. In addition,
the county district attorney would be limited to five actions
per calendar year. Similar to the existing pilot project, this
county district attorney of San Joaquin County would be required
to submit specified information to the CRB, as specified.
According to the author, there are many locations in San Joaquin
County that have a well-documented history of criminal gang
activity in residential rental properties throughout the county.
According to the author, "these residences use valuable law
enforcement resources with their repeated need for attention."
For example, the author notes that a single home in an
unincorporated area of San Joaquin County generated 444 calls
for Sheriff's services over a six year period. In addition,
such properties endanger neighbors and other tenants and
diminish the community's overall quality of life. The
California Apartment Association supports this bill for
substantially the same reasons, adding that it has worked with
lawmakers in the past to extend the current pilot program and
would welcome its extension to San Joaquin County.
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0005502
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