Retaliation in San Jose: the local rules

Each rule below links to the section of the San Jose Municipal Code it was read from, with the code text one click away (checked October 2026). General information, not legal advice.

What San Jose's code says

San Jose code What San Jose's code adds
Presumption period	The presumption period is 6 months. Applies: Tenant used city just-cause rights within 6 months before the landlord's act. Landlord can rebut it. After 6 months, claims proceed without it. § 17.23.1270 · code text In an action by or against a Tenant, evidence of the assertion or exercise by the Tenant of rights under this Part within six months prior to the alleged act of retaliation shall create a rebuttable presumption that the Landlord's act was retaliatory.
Protected activities	Organizing, petitioning government for rent relief, or using any right under the Mobilehome Rent Ordinance. Applies: Mobilehome park spaces only. Applies to an eviction where the landlord's main motive is retaliation. § 17.22.2010 · code text Retaliation for the mobilehome owner's or mobilehome tenant's organizing, petitioning government for rent relief, or exercising any right granted under this chapter; Asserting or using rights under the city's Mobilehome Rent Ordinance. Applies: Mobilehome park spaces only. Covers all retaliation, including eviction threats, forcing-out harassment, cut services, rent increases, new or higher deposits or charges. § 17.22.2010 · code text It shall be unlawful for a landlord to retaliate against a mobilehome owner or mobilehome tenant for the owner's or tenant's assertion or exercise of rights under this chapter in any manner, including but not limited to: Asserting or using rights under the city's just-cause rules. Applies: Units under the city just-cause rules. Protects against retaliatory eviction actions, notices to quit, cut services, rent increases and immigration reports. § 17.23.1270 · code text No Landlord may threaten to bring, or bring, an action to recover possession, cause the Tenant to quit the Rental Unit involuntarily, serve any notice to quit or Notice of Termination, reduce any housing services, report or threaten to report the Tenant, Tenant Household, or individuals the Landlord knows to be associated with the Tenant to the immigration authorities, or increase the rent where the Landlord's intent is retaliation against the Tenant for the Tenant's assertion or exercise of rights under this Part. Using any right under the city's Apartment Rent Ordinance. Applies: Apartment Rent Ordinance units. For an eviction where the landlord's main motive is retaliation and the tenant is not otherwise breaking tenancy terms. § 17.23.510 · code text The Landlord's dominant motive in seeking to recover possession of the Rental Unit is retaliation against the Tenant for exercising any rights under this Chapter 17.23;
Remedies	The landlord may not evict. Applies: Mobilehome park spaces only, when the landlord's main motive is retaliation or getting around the ordinance. § 17.22.2010 · code text It shall be unlawful for any landlord to evict a mobilehome owner or mobilehome tenant where the landlord's dominant motive in seeking to recover possession of the rental unit is: Retaliation is a defense against an action to recover the unit. § 17.23.1270 · code text Any such retaliation shall be a defense to an action to recover possession, or it may serve as the basis for an affirmative action by the Tenant for actual and punitive damages and injunctive relief. The tenant can sue for actual and punitive damages and injunctive relief. § 17.23.1270 · code text Any such retaliation shall be a defense to an action to recover possession, or it may serve as the basis for an affirmative action by the Tenant for actual and punitive damages and injunctive relief. The landlord cannot take back the unit. Applies: Apartment Rent Ordinance units; tenant not otherwise breaking tenancy terms; landlord's main motive is retaliation for using ordinance rights or getting around the ordinance. § 17.23.510 · code text Possession of a Rental Unit shall not be recovered by a Landlord from a Tenant, and the Tenant Household, who is not otherwise in violation of the terms of occupancy of the Rental Unit, if either:

Also in San Jose's code: Mobilehome Rent Ordinance (§ 17.22.2010) — mobilehome park spaces only; Rental Dispute Mediation and Arbitration (§§ 17.23.510, 17.23.1270) — excludes mobilehomes and mobilehome parks. This page does not summarize it yet.

The California rule underneath

Where San Jose's rule above does not cover a situation, state law still applies. For the statewide rule on its own, see Retaliatory eviction in California.

CA state law The statewide rule underneath
Retaliation protection period	For 180 days after a tenant complains about habitability (to the landlord or an agency), the landlord may not evict, raise rent or cut services in retaliation Applies: The tenant must not be in default on rent, and may invoke this no more than once in any 12-month period. A landlord who states a good-faith ground in the notice may still act. Civ. Code § 1942.5(a), (b)
Retaliation damages	Actual damages plus punitive damages of $100 to $2,000 per retaliatory act (fraud, oppression or malice) Civ. Code § 1942.5(h)(2)

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Retaliation in San Jose

What San Jose's code says

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