Amended  IN  Senate  March 25, 2019
Amended  IN  Senate  March 04, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill No. 18

Introduced by Senator Skinner
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Ting)
(Coauthors: Senators Beall and Wiener)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bonta and Wicks)

December 03, 2018

An act to add Section 314 to the Business and Professions Code, to amend Section 1161b of the Code of Civil Procedure, and to add Sections 50467 and 50490.6 to, and to add Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 50570) to Part 2 of Division 31 of, and to add Section 50490.6 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to housing.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 18, as amended, Skinner. Keep Californians Housed Act.
(1) Existing law establishes the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) under the control of a civil executive officer known as the Director of Consumer Affairs. Existing law requires, among other things, that the director provide for the establishment of a comprehensive library of books, documents, studies, and other materials relating to consumers and consumer problems.
This bill, no later than January 1, 2021, would require DCA to publish on its internet website, and to biannually update, a guide to all state laws pertaining to landlords and the landlord-tenant relationship. The bill would also require DCA to survey each city in this state to determine which cities, if any, provide resources or programs to inform landlords of their legal rights and obligations and to post on its internet website a list of those cities which, in the judgment of DCA, have the most robust resources and programs.

(1)

(2) Existing law requires a tenant or subtenant in possession of a rental housing unit under a month-to-month lease at the time that property is sold in foreclosure to be provided 90 days’ written notice to quit before the tenant or subtenant may be removed from the property. Existing law also provides tenants or subtenants holding possession of a rental housing unit under a fixed-term residential lease entered into before transfer of title at the foreclosure sale the right to possession until the end of the lease term, except in specified circumstances. Existing law repeals these provisions as of December 31, 2019.
This bill would delete the above-described repeal date, thereby extending the operation of these provisions indefinitely.

(2)Existing law establishes the Department of Housing and Community Development and requires, among other things, that it update and provide a revision of the California Statewide Housing Plan to the Legislature every 4 years, as provided.

This bill, no later than January 1, 2021, would require the department to develop and publish on its internet website, and to annually update, a guide to all state laws pertaining to landlords and the landlord-tenant relationship. The bill would also require the department to survey each city in this state to determine which cities, if any, provide resources or programs to inform landlords of their legal rights and obligations and to post on its internet website a list of those cities which, in the judgment of the department, have the most robust resources and programs.

(3) Existing law requires the department Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to administer, among other housing programs, the California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program. Under that program, the department HCD allocates grants to administrative entities, as defined, to be used for specified eligible activities, including rental assistance and housing relocation and stabilization services to ensure housing affordability to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.
This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would make an unspecified sum available to the department, HCD, to be used to provide statewide competitive grants for rental assistance under the California Emergency Solutions and Housing Program, as provided. The bill would also establish the Homelessness Prevention and Legal Aid Fund and require moneys in the fund to be used, upon appropriation, to provide legal aid to tenants facing eviction or displacement in the form of competitive grants awarded by the department, as provided. require an administrative entity to use these grant funds for rental assistance and legal aid, as provided. The bill would require an administrative entity that applies to receive a grant under this bill’s provisions to demonstrate in its application that the primary expenditure will be rental assistance and limit the use of these funds used for administrative costs, as defined, related to the planning and execution of eligible activities to 10% of the amount of the grant.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 This act shall be known, and may be cited, as the Keep Californians Housed Act.

SEC. 2.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) California is experiencing a rental housing crisis. According to analysis by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, California has only 22 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low income households.
(b) Due in part to lack of supply, California cities have some of the highest rents in the nation. San Francisco’s rent is the most expensive in the country, averaging $3,300 per month for a one-bedroom unit, and San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Anaheim are all in the top 10 for highest rents in the nation.
(c) About 29 percent of California renters spend more than one-half of their income on rent, which can make it difficult for families to afford basic items like food, clothing, transportation, and health care. In 2015, more than 4 in 10 households had housing costs that exceeded 30 percent of household income.
(d) The housing crisis harms families across California and has resulted in higher levels of homelessness or displacement of previously housed individuals and families. One-quarter of the nation’s homeless population, and half of the nation’s unsheltered homeless, now live in California.
(e) Providing emergency financial assistance and legal aid to keep residents from being evicted will prevent evictions and potentially break the cycle of poverty.

SEC. 3.

 Section 314 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

314.
 (a) (1) No later than January 1, 2021, the department shall publish on its internet website an updated guide to all state laws pertaining to landlords and the landlord-tenant relationship. The department shall update the guide biannually thereafter.
(2) In developing the guide required by this subdivision, the department shall include a template for cities and counties to add information pertaining to their ordinances regulating the landlord-tenant relationship. The department shall make the guide, along with the template required by this paragraph, available to each city and each county in this state in a form that allows for a city or county to add information pertaining to its ordinances.
(b) The department shall survey each city in this state to determine which cities, if any, provide resources or programs to inform landlords of their legal rights and obligations. The department shall publish on its internet website a list of those cities which, in the judgment of the department, have the most robust resources and programs.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

 Section 1161b of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:

1161b.
 (a) Notwithstanding Section 1161a, a tenant or subtenant in possession of a rental housing unit under a month-to-month lease or periodic tenancy at the time the property is sold in foreclosure shall be given 90 days’ written notice to quit pursuant to Section 1162 before the tenant or subtenant may be removed from the property as prescribed in this chapter.
(b) In addition to the rights set forth in subdivision (a), tenants or subtenants holding possession of a rental housing unit under a fixed-term residential lease entered into before transfer of title at the foreclosure sale shall have the right to possession until the end of the lease term, and all rights and obligations under the lease shall survive foreclosure, except that the tenancy may be terminated upon 90 days’ written notice to quit pursuant to subdivision (a) if any of the following conditions apply:
(1) The purchaser or successor in interest will occupy the housing unit as a primary residence.
(2) The lessee is the mortgagor or the child, spouse, or parent of the mortgagor.
(3) The lease was not the result of an arms’ length transaction.
(4) The lease requires the receipt of rent that is substantially less than fair market rent for the property, except when rent is reduced or subsidized due to a federal, state, or local subsidy or law.
(c) The purchaser or successor in interest shall bear the burden of proof in establishing that a fixed-term residential lease is not entitled to protection under subdivision (b).
(d)  This section shall not apply if any party to the note remains in the property as a tenant, subtenant, or occupant.
(e) Nothing in this section is intended to affect any local just cause eviction ordinance. This section does not, and shall not be construed to, affect the authority of a public entity that otherwise exists to regulate or monitor the basis for eviction.

SEC. 4.Section 50467 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:
50467.

(a)(1)No later than January 1, 2021, the department shall develop and publish on its internet website a guide to all state laws pertaining to landlords and the landlord-tenant relationship. The department shall update the guide annually thereafter.

(2)In developing the guide required by this subdivision, the department shall include a template for cities and counties to add information pertaining to their ordinances regulating the landlord-tenant relationship. The department shall make the guide, along with the template required by this paragraph, available to each city and each county in this state in a form that allows for a city or county to add information pertaining to its ordinances.

(b)The department shall survey each city in this state to determine which cities, if any, provide resources or programs to inform landlords of their legal rights and obligations. The department shall publish on its internet website a list of those cities which, in the judgment of the department, have the most robust resources and programs.

SEC. 5.

 Section 50490.6 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to read:

50490.6.
 (a) In addition to any other moneys made available for purposes of the program, the sum of ____ dollars ($____) shall be made available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the department to be used as provided in this section.
(b) The department shall distribute funds made available pursuant to subdivision (a) to administrative entities in the form of grants awarded on a competitive basis. In administering this competitive grant program, the department shall award funds to administrative entities based on demonstrated need and ensure geographic diversity in the distribution of grant funds. Grants awarded to administrative entities pursuant to this section shall supplement, and shall not supplant, moneys otherwise allocated to them pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 50490.2.
(c) An administrative entity that receives a grant pursuant to this section shall use the funds awarded pursuant to this section exclusively for those eligible activities described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 50490.4. the following eligible activities:
(1) Rental assistance, including back rent, prospective rent, or move-out or move-in costs. Rental assistance provided pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed 48 months for each assisted household, and rent payments shall not exceed two times the current HUD fair market rent for the local area, as determined pursuant to Part 888 of Title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) Legal aid, including representation in eviction proceedings, mediation between landlords and tenants, preeviction legal services, and legal education and awareness for communities.
(d) An administrative entity applying for a grant pursuant to this section shall demonstrate in its application that the primary expenditure of that grant will be for rental assistance.
(e) An administrative entity that receives an allocation pursuant to this section shall not use more than 10 percent of that allocation for administrative costs related to the planning and execution of the eligible activities described in subdivision (c). For purposes of this subdivision, “administrative costs” does not include staff and overhead costs directly related to carrying out the eligible activities described in subdivision (c). An administrative entity may share any funds available for administrative costs with a subrecipient.

SEC. 6.Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 50570) is added to Part 2 of Division 31 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
4.Homelessness Prevention and Legal Aid
50570.

(a)There is hereby created in the State Treasury the Homelessness Prevention and Legal Aid Fund.

(b)Upon appropriation by the Legislature, all moneys in the fund shall be used for the purpose of providing legal aid to tenants facing eviction, including by means of an unlawful detainer action pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1159) of Title 3 of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, or displacement.

(c)The department shall distribute funds made available for purposes of this chapter in the form of grants awarded on a competitive basis, including grants to cities and counties to establish their own tenant legal aid programs, as provided by law.