Long Beach Municipal Code Ch. 8.101 Tenant Harassment

The purpose of this Chapter is to deter harassing behavior by residential real property owners, to encourage such owners to follow the law and uphold their responsibility to provide habitable rental properties, and to give tenants legal recourse when they are subjected to harassment by owners.

(ORD-20-0044(Emerg.) § 1, 2020)

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this Chapter, shall be construed as defined in this Section:

A. Owner. The term "owner" is any person, acting as principal or agent, offering a rental housing unit for rent, or any contractor or subcontractor performing work for the benefit of such person, or any representative of the foregoing.

B. Rental agreement. The term "rental agreement" means an agreement, oral, written, or implied, between an owner and a tenant for the use and/or occupancy of a rental housing unit.

C. Rental housing unit. The term "rental housing unit" is any dwelling or unit that is intended or used for human habitation.

D. Tenant. The term "tenant" shall mean any renter, tenant, subtenant, lessee, or sublessee of a rental housing unit.

(ORD-20-0044(Emerg.) § 1, 2020)

No owner shall:

A. Interrupt, terminate, or fail to provide housing services required by a rental agreement or by Federal, State, County, or local housing, health, or safety laws, or threaten to do so, or violate or threaten to violate California Civil Code Section 789.3.

B. Acting in bad faith, (i) fail to timely perform repairs and maintenance required by a rental agreement or by Federal, State, County or local housing, health or safety laws; (ii) fail to exercise due diligence in completing such repairs once undertaken; (iii) fail to follow appropriate industry repair, containment, or remediation protocols designed to minimize exposure to noise, dust, lead, paint, mold, asbestos, or other building materials with potentially harmful health impacts; or (iv) conduct elective renovation or construction of a rental housing unit for the purpose of harassing a tenant.

C. Abuse the right of access into a rental housing unit as established by California Civil Code Section 1954 or other applicable law. Such abuse includes, without limitation, entries for inspections that are not related to necessary repairs or services; entries excessive in number; entries or demands for entry at times outside normal business hours; entries contrary to a tenant's reasonable request to change the date or time of entry; photographing or otherwise recording portions of a rental housing unit that are beyond the scope of a lawful entry or inspection; and misrepresenting the reasons for accessing a rental housing unit.

D. Influence or attempt to influence a tenant to vacate a rental housing unit through fraud, misrepresentation, intimidation or coercion, which shall include threatening to report a tenant to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

E. Threaten a tenant, by word or gesture, with physical harm, or abuse tenant with words, either orally or in writing, which are inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.

F. Violate any law which prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, sexual preference, sexual orientation, ethnic background, nationality, religion, age, parenthood, marriage, pregnancy, disability, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), occupancy by a minor child, or source of income.

G. Take action to terminate any tenancy, including service of any notice to quit or other eviction notice, or bring any action to recover possession of a rental housing unit, based upon facts which owner has no reasonable cause to believe to be true or upon a legal theory which is untenable under the facts known to owner.

H. Provide false written or verbal information regarding any Federal, State, County or local tenant protections, including mischaracterizing the nature or effect of a notice to quit or other eviction notice. False information includes, without limitation, requesting or demanding a tenant: (i) sign a new lease not in the tenant's primary language if (a) lease negotiations were conducted in the tenant's primary language, (b) the existing lease is in the tenant's primary language, or (c) owner is otherwise aware that the new lease is not in tenant's primary language; or (ii) enter into a rent repayment plan to take advantage of tenant protection laws that do not require such plans.

I. Acting in bad faith, (i) refuse to acknowledge or accept receipt of a tenant's lawful rent payment as set forth in a rental agreement, by usual practice of the parties, or in a notice to pay rent or quit; (ii) refuse to cash or process a rent check or other form of acceptable rent payment for over thirty (30) days after it is tendered; or (iii) fail to maintain a current address for delivery of rent payments.

J. Acting in bad faith, (i) violate a tenant's right to privacy, including without limitation, by requesting information regarding residence or citizenship status, protected class status, or Social Security number, except for, in the case of Social Security number, for purposes of obtaining information for the qualifications for a tenancy; (ii) release such information except as required or authorized by law; or (iii) request or demand an unreasonable amount of information from tenant in response to a request for reasonable accommodation.

K. Acting in bad faith, communicate with a tenant in a language other than the tenant's primary language for the purpose of intimidating, confusing, deceiving or annoying the tenant.

L. Interfere with the right of tenants to organize as tenants and engage in concerted activities with other tenants for the purpose of mutual aid and protection; deny property access to tenant organizers, advocates, or representatives working with or on behalf of tenants living at a property; prevent tenant or tenant organization meetings in an appropriate space accessible to tenants under the terms of their rental agreement(s); or discourage distribution or posting in common areas of literature informing tenants of their rights.

M. Commit other repeated acts or omissions of such significance as to substantially interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace or quiet of any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of a rental housing unit and that cause, are likely to cause, or are intended to cause any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of a rental housing unit to vacate such rental housing unit or to surrender or waive any rights in relation to such occupancy.

(ORD-20-0049(Emerg.) § 1, 2020; ORD-20-0044(Emerg.) § 1, 2020)

A. If an owner violates the terms of this Chapter, an aggrieved tenant may institute a civil action for injunctive relief, direct money damages, and any other relief that the court deems appropriate, which such relief shall include a civil penalty of no less than Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000), and no more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000), per violation, at the discretion of the court. If the aggrieved tenant is older than sixty-five (65) or disabled, the court may award an additional civil penalty of up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) per violation, at the discretion of the court.

B. The court may award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to a tenant who prevails in any such action. The court may award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to an owner who prevails in any such action if the court determines that the tenant's action was frivolous.

C. The above remedies are not exclusive and do not preclude any tenant from seeking other remedies or penalties provided by applicable law.

(ORD-20-0044(Emerg.) § 1, 2020)

If any provision of this Chapter is found to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, that invalidity shall not affect the remaining provisions of this Chapter which can be implemented without the invalid provisions, and to this end, the provisions of this article are declared to be severable. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Chapter and each provision thereof irrespective of whether any one or more provisions are found invalid, unconstitutional or otherwise unenforceable.

(ORD-20-0044(Emerg.) § 1, 2020)

Nothing in this Chapter shall be construed as to prevent an owner from lawfully evicting a tenant pursuant to applicable State or local law.

(ORD-20-0044(Emerg.) § 1, 2020)