Amended
IN
Senate
July 28, 2020 |
Amended
IN
Senate
May 18, 2020 |
Amended
IN
Senate
April 08, 2020 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 27, 2019 |
Introduced by Assembly Members Ting, Gipson, and Kalra (Principal coauthor: Senator Wiener) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta, Gonzalez, and Mullin) (Coauthor: Senator Skinner) |
February 20, 2019 |
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 with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
(n)
(o)
(p)
(d)
(b)
(c)
(a)Notwithstanding any other law, a state court, county sheriff, or party to an unlawful detainer case in California shall not accept for filing or take any further action, including, but not limited to, executing a writ of possession, or otherwise proceed with any unlawful detainer action except for those stating a cause of action pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4) of Section 1161 of this code or Section 798.56 of the Civil Code. If a residential unlawful detainer action is based on multiple causes of action including paragraph (3) or (4) of Section 1161 of this code or subdivisions (b) or (c) of Section 798.56 of the Civil Code, a state court in California shall not enter judgment for possession in favor of the plaintiff
unless that judgment is based on either paragraph (3) or (4) of Section 1161 of this code or subdivisions (b) or (c) of Section 798.56 of the Civil Code.
(b)For any residential unlawful detainer action that is filed after March 4, 2020, that includes a cause of action under paragraph (3) or (4) of Section 1161 of this code or subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 798.56 of the Civil Code, if, by the deadline for filing an answer to the complaint, no answer has been filed with the court, the court shall proceed as though all named defendants had filed an answer denying each and every allegation in the complaint.
(c)For any residential unlawful detainer matter that does not include a cause of action under paragraph (3) or (4) of Section 1161 of this code or subdivision (b) or (c) of
Section 798.56 of the Civil Code, and for which a trial, hearing, settlement conference, or other in-person appearance has been set as of the date of enactment of this section are hereby continued until further notice from the court.
(d)This section shall be operative only while there is a state or locally declared state of emergency related to the COVID-19 virus in the jurisdiction in which the property is located, and shall become inoperative 15 days after the state or locally declared state of emergency ends.
(e)This section is repealed on January 1, 2022.
(a)For any residential unlawful detainer action that includes a cause of action under paragraph (2) of Section 1161, any defendant may, at any time between the filing of the complaint and entry of judgment, notify the court of that defendant’s desire to stipulate to the entry of an order pursuant to this section.
(b)Upon receiving notice from the defendant in accordance with subdivision (a), the court shall notify the plaintiff and convene a hearing to determine whether to issue an order pursuant to subdivision (c).
(1)At the hearing, the court shall first determine whether the defendant’s inability to stay
current on the rent resulted from increased costs for household necessities or reduced household earnings due to the COVID-19 virus. The defendant shall bear the burden of producing evidence of increased costs for household necessities or reduced household earnings due to the COVID-19 virus. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, if the increased costs for household necessities or decreased earnings took place at any point between March 4, 2020, and March 4, 2021, then the court shall presume that the increased household costs or decreased household earnings was due to the COVID-19 virus.
(2)If the court finds that the defendant’s inability to stay current on the rent resulted from increased costs for household necessities or reduced household earnings due to the COVID-19 virus, the court shall next permit the plaintiff to show cause
for why the court should not issue an order pursuant to subdivision (c) due to material economic hardship on the plaintiff. If the plaintiff has an ownership interest in just one or two rental units, then the court shall presume that issuance of an order pursuant to subdivision (c) would constitute a material economic hardship.
(3)If the plaintiff has an ownership in 10 or more rental units, the court shall presume that the issuance of an order pursuant to subdivision (c) would not constitute a material economic hardship. The formal rules of evidence shall not apply to the introduction of evidence at this hearing, but the court may look to the formal rules of evidence in determining the weight that it shall give to the documentation presented by each side.
(c)If the
court determines that the tenant’s inability to stay current on the rent is the result of increased costs in household necessities or decreased household earnings due to the COVID-19 virus and the court finds that it would not be a material economic hardship to the plaintiff and if the court determines that no cause exists after review of a timely response from the plaintiff, then the court shall make the following order:
(1)The tenant shall remain in possession.
(2)The tenant shall make monthly payments to the landlord beginning in the next calendar month, in strict compliance with all of the following terms:
(A)The payment shall be in the amount of the monthly rent plus 10 percent of the unpaid rent owing at the time of the order, excluding late fees, court costs, attorneys fees, and any other charge other than rent.
(B)The payment shall be delivered by a fixed day and time
to a location that is mutually acceptable to the parties or, in the absence of an agreement between the parties, by no later than 11:59 pm on the fifth day of each month.
(C)The payment shall be made in a form that is mutually acceptable to the parties or, in the absence of agreement between the parties, in the form of a cashier’s check or money order made out to the landlord.
(3)If the tenant fails to make a payment in full compliance with the terms of paragraph (2), the landlord may, after 48 hours’ notice to the
tenant by telephone, text message, or electronic mail, as stipulated by the tenant, file with the court a declaration under penalty of perjury containing all of the following:
(A)A recitation of the facts constituting the failure.
(B)A recitation of the actions taken to provide the 48 hours’ notice required by this paragraph.
(C)A request for the immediate issuance of a writ of possession in favor of the landlord.
(D)A request for the issuance of a money judgment in favor of the landlord in the amount of any unpaid balance plus court costs and attorneys fees.
(4)The case is dismissed with the court retaining jurisdiction to enforce the terms of the order pursuant to Section 664.6.
(d)For purposes of this section, “material economic hardship” mean that persons enduring the economic hardship would have to limit spending on household necessities. Reduction in savings, profit margins, discretionary spending, or nonessential assets shall not constitute material economic hardship. In determining whether issuance of an order pursuant to subdivision (c) would constitute an material economic hardship for the plaintiff, the court shall bear in mind the Legislature’s intent that the common economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 virus is not the fault of any
one person or group of people and so must ordinarily be born by both landlords and tenants.
(e)This section shall be operative only while there is a state or locally declared state of emergency related to the COVID-19 virus in the jurisdiction in which the residential real property is located, and shall become inoperative 15 days after the state or locally declared state of emergency ends.
(f)This section is repealed on January 1, 2022.
(b)
(c)
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district because, in that regard, 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.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.