BILL ANALYSIS
SB 781
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Date of Hearing: June 23, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mike Feuer, Chair
SB 781 (Leno) - As Amended: June 8, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 37-0
SUBJECT : EVICTION PROCEDURE: RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITIES FOR
THE ELDERLY
KEY ISSUE : SHOULD A RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITY FOR THE ELDERLY
INCLUDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION WHEN PROVIDING A NOTICE OF
EVICTION?
FISCAL EFFECT : As currently in print this bill is keyed fiscal.
SYNOPSIS
This relatively non-controversial bill requires a Residential
Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE) to include additional
information when providing a notice of eviction to a resident,
including the reason for the eviction, the effective date of the
eviction, and additional information informing the resident of
his or her rights regarding evictions. The bill is supported by
Bet Tzedek Legal Services, the California Advocates for Nursing
Home Reform, and Disability Rights California (all co-sponsors),
as well as many other public interest groups. It is opposed by
the Community Residential Care Association of California.
SUMMARY : Seeks to provide additional information to a resident
receiving a notice of eviction from a Residential Care Facility
for the Elderly (RCFE). Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires that in addition to complying with other applicable
regulations, an RCFE who sends a notice of eviction to a
resident shall set forth in the notice to quit the reasons
relied upon for the eviction, with specific facts to permit
determination of the date, place, witnesses, and circumstances
regarding those reasons.
2)Requires the notice to quit to include the following:
a) The effective date of the eviction;
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b) Resources available to assist in identifying alternative
housing and care options, including public and private
referral services and case management organizations;
c) Information about the resident's right to file a
complaint with the department regarding the eviction, with
the name, address, and telephone number of the nearest
office of community care licensing and the State Ombudsman.
d) The following statement: "In order to evict a resident
who remains in the facility after the effective date of the
eviction, the residential care facility for the elderly
must file an unlawful detainer action in superior court and
receive a written judgment signed by a judge. If the
facility pursues the unlawful detainer action, you must be
served with a summons and complaint. You have the right to
contest the eviction in writing and through a hearing."
3)Requires an RCFE, in addition to either serving a 30-day
notice or seeking approval from DSS and serving a three-day
notice on the resident, also notify or mail a copy of the
notice to quit to the resident's responsible person.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Provides, under the California Residential Care Facilities for
the Elderly Act, for statutes and regulations governing
licensing and operation of Residential Care Facilities for the
Elderly. (Health and Safety Code Section 1569 et seq.)
2)Provides, under existing regulations, that an RCFE may, upon
30 days written notice to the resident, evict the resident
only for one or more of the following reasons:
a) nonpayment of the rate for basic services within 10 days
of the due date;
b) failure of the resident to comply with state or local
law after receiving written notice of the alleged
violation;
c) failure of the resident to comply with the general
policies of the facility. The general policies must be in
writing, must be for the purpose of making it possible for
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residents to live together and must be made part of the
admission agreement;
d) if, after admission, it is determined that the resident
has a need not previously identified and a reappraisal has
been conducted, and the licensee and the person who
performs the reappraisal believe that the facility is not
appropriate for the resident; or
e) changes of use of the facility. (Cal. Code Regs., tit.
22, Sec. 87224.)
3)Provides, under existing regulations, that an RCFE may, upon
obtaining prior written approval from the licensing agency,
evict the resident upon three days written notice to quit.
The licensing agency may grant approval for the eviction upon
a finding of good cause, as specified. (Cal. Code Regs., tit.
22, Sec. 87224(b).)
4)Requires, under existing regulations, an RCFE to include in
the notice to quit the reasons relied upon for the eviction
with specific facts to permit determination of the date,
place, witnesses, and circumstances concerning those reasons.
(Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, Sec. 87224(d).)
5)Requires, under existing regulations, an RCFE, in addition to
either serving a 30-day notice or seeking approval from the
Department of Social Services (DSS) and serving a three-day
notice on the resident, to also notify or mail a copy of the
notice to quit to the resident's responsible person. (Cal.
Code Regs., tit. 22, Sec. 87224(c).)
6)Permits a landlord to evict residents through an unlawful
detainer action which is summary in nature. (Code of Civil
Proc. Section 1161.)
COMMENTS : This bill seeks to raise consumer awareness.
According to the author, elderly seniors living in RCFEs
shouldn't be expected to know all of the legal protections
designed to shield them from unfair evictions. SB 781 requires
RCFEs to include additional information to residents that will
help reduce unfair evictions and minimize the risk of
displacement and transfer trauma. In support the author states:
SB 781 will require Residential Care Facilities for
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the Elderly (RCFEs) to include additional provisions
in their eviction notices to ensure that vulnerable
residents who have been living in these facilities,
often for years, are adequately informed of their
legal rights before being forced to leave their homes.
Under current law, RCFEs are required to provide a
30-day notice when evicting a resident which includes
the cause and circumstances of the eviction. (22
Calif. Admin. Code Sec. 87224) RCFEs must also seek a
court order to remove any residents who do not comply
with an eviction notice. (Calif. Code of Civil Proc.
Sec. 1161 et seq.) However, they are not required to
provide information regarding the location of
discharge, nor are they required to notify the
resident of their legal right to file a complaint or
appeal the eviction. This unfairly places the burden
entirely on senior advocates who must ensure that
residents understand their eviction and are not
deprived of any legal remedies available to them under
existing statute.
SB 781 aims to protect some of the most vulnerable
tenants in the state - those seniors living in the
nearly 8,000 Residential Care Facilities for the
Elderly (RCFEs) in California. These residents are
often frail and highly susceptible to transfer trauma
and displacement. They typically require greater
protections to keep them from falling victim to
financial fraud and other deceptive practices, as
well.
SB 781 will reduce the number of unfair evictions and
the impact they have on residents by requiring RCFE
eviction notices to include: 1) the effective date of
eviction, 2) a list of alternate housing and care
options 3) the resident's right to file a complaint
with DSS, Community Care Licensing, 3) an explanation
of the facility's duty to file an unlawful detainer in
Superior Court to evict, and 4) the resident's right
to contest the eviction when served with a summons and
complaint as a result of an unlawful detainer pursued
by the facility.
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Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly provide care to
persons 60 years and older. These facilities provide 24-hour
non-medical care, including room, board, housekeeping,
supervision, and personal care assistance with basic activities
such as bathing, laundry, and eating. The number of elderly
Californians who live in RCFEs has grown as the state's
population has continued to age, according to one of the
co-sponsors of this bill, California Advocates for Nursing Home
Reform (CANHR). CANHR reports that there are more than 7,800
RCFEs housing over 168,000 elderly Californians.
Existing regulations provide that an RFCE may evict a resident
with 30 days written notice for specified reasons only. An RCFE
must include in the notice to quit the reasons relied upon for
the eviction with specific facts to permit determination of the
date, place, witnesses, and circumstances of those reasons.
Despite these regulatory requirements, CANHR and co-sponsor Bet
Tzedek Legal Services report that too often RCFE residents'
rights are violated because they are unaware of these
protections.
Previous legislative efforts to address problems related to
evictions of RCFE residents were not successful. In 1997, AB
846 (Knox, 1997) proposed to prohibit evictions of RCFE
residents unless certain conditions were met and adopt the due
process provisions of the unlawful detainer statutes for those
RCFE residents who do not voluntarily surrender the residential
unit after being served with a notice of eviction. That bill
was vetoed. Similarly, AB 3383 (Knox, 1996), which would have
specified the circumstances under which an RCFE resident could
be evicted, was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SB 781 takes a more modest approach by requiring that RCFEs
include specified information in the notice to quit so that
residents are empowered and understand the protections to which
they are entitled. The bill would require an RCFE to include
additional information in a notice to quit in order to help a
resident better understand his or her rights when facing
eviction. For example, the notice to quit must give the
resident information about resources available to assist him or
her in identifying alternate housing and care options. This
information must include public and/or private referral services
and case management organizations. RCFEs must also include
information about a resident's right to file a complaint with
DSS about the eviction and relevant contact information.
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This bill would also give RCFE residents notice of
landlord-tenant rights. According to California Elder Law
Litigation: An Advocates' Guide (Sec. 4.64, Cal. CEB 2008), a
resident of an RCFE, "just like an apartment tenant, is
protected by the landlord-tenant law." A combination of
regulations, statutes, and caselaw supports this assertion. For
example, regulations provide that the eviction procedures
governing RCFEs are not intended to preclude an RCFE or resident
from "invoking any other available remedy." Under Civil Code
Section 1940(a), landlord-tenant law applies to anyone who
"hire[s] a dwelling unit," such as a room in an RCFE.
California Elder Law Litigation further states that Civil Code
Section 1940(a) provides that "[l]andlord-tenant protections
explicitly apply to 'tenants, lessees, boarders, lodgers, and
others, however denominated."
And, in Klarfeld v. Berg (1981) 29 Cal.3d 893, the California
Supreme Court held that, for purposes of a rent control
ordinance, the term "dwelling unit" includes a room in a
retirement residence where meals and other services are included
as part of a single overall charge. In sum, California Elder
Law Litigation states "Accordingly, an RCFE resident can
challenge an eviction by simply refusing to move. The RCFE will
then be forced to file an unlawful detainer action and prove its
allegations in court." This bill would provide RCFE residents
with notice of landlord-tenant rights.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Bet Tzedek Legal Services (co-sponsor)
California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (co-sponsor)
Disability Rights California (co-sponsor)
Advocacy, Inc.
Alzheimer's Association
Area Agency on Aging of Lake and Mendocino County
California Alliance for Retired Americans
Consumer Attorneys of California
Senior Law Project
Opposition
Community Residential Care Association of CA
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Analysis Prepared by : Drew Liebert / JUD. / (916) 319-2334