The rental lease cannot contradict rental laws in California.
According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, about 40 percent of the state's households are renters. It is not surprising, then, to find there are many laws on the books that regulate the home rental industry. Some of the laws, notably the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which protects renters against discrimination; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992, which requires landlords to allow for reasonable accommodations for disabled tenants; and the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, which protects renters if the building they are living in is foreclosed upon, are federal laws. The bulk of rental legislation, however, is found in state and local codes.
Tenant Rights
At the state level, California laws regulating rental practices are spelled out in the Civil Code and Health and Safety Code. By and large, these laws focus on protecting the tenant. They range from limiting the amount of money a landlord can take as a security deposit to protecting the tenant against retaliatory actions of the landlord, such as raising rent in response to a tenant's complaints. They require the landlord to keep the rental unit at or above a basic standard of habitability and allow the tenant to withhold rent if necessary repairs are not made. They also limit the conditions under which a landlord can go into the rental unit, and require notice for entry. The eviction process is also regulated. It mandates reasonable notice to the tenant and provides for a timeline to allow for tenant response. Local rental laws, most often in the form of rent control, limit evictions and rent raises.
Landlord Rights
Landlord rights stem from basic property rights written into the California Constitution. As the property owner, landlords are entitled to posses and protect the property within the framework of tenant-protection laws. One of the few state laws that is specifically aimed at preserving the landlord's rights is the Ellis Act, which allows landlords to go out of business. Landlords spell out their most specific rights in the lease agreement.
Lease
The rental lease comes into play for all those areas not specifically regulated under federal, state and local law. It spells out how much, when and where the tenant pays rent, the duration of the lease, the conditions under which the lease can be renewed, and can include a set of house rules and regulations. Although it protects both the tenant and landlord and contractually obligates both parties, the lease originates from the landlord and is generally the document he uses to take action, such as an eviction, against the tenant.
Local Rent Control
A number of communities in California, such as Santa Monica, Berkeley, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Jose, have adopted rent control legislation. Rent control limits how much and how often landlords can raise rents and generally prevents them from evicting tenants without just cause (such as failure to pay rent). Some local rent control laws order the landlord to pay interest on security deposits and require him to inform tenants of their appeal rights. Some rent control laws, called vacancy decontrols, allow landlords to bring rents up to market rate when the units are vacated. Other laws, called vacancy controls, require below-market rents to be passed on to future tenants even after a unit has been vacated by the previous occupant.
Disagreements
In some cases, how disagreements between tenants and landlords are handled is spelled out in the lease. In others there may be local agencies or organizations that act as decision-makers or mediators. For instance, if a rental unit is not being repaired, the tenant may be able to report the problem to a local housing or building department. In some communities there are nonprofit housing advocates that mediate disputes between landlords and tenants.
In all cases, of course, tenants and landlords can work out disagreements among themselves. If disagreements cannot be resolved, they may result in an eviction, which can result in a lawsuit being brought by the landlord against the tenant or a lawsuit brought by the tenant against the landlord. The lease, federal, state and local rental laws will be the guide a judge uses in making a ruling.
Tags: rent control, rental laws, rental unit, state local, against tenant