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Santa Ana · Renting & eviction

Harassment and lockouts in Santa Ana

Santa Ana bans harassment, including cutting housing services, abusing entry, and repeat move-out offers within 6 months after a written refusal.

Key points

  • Harassment: Santa Ana bans harassment, including cutting housing services, abusing entry, and repeat move-out offers within 6 months after a written refusal.

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

What Santa Ana's code says

Santa Ana code What Santa Ana's code adds
Prohibited acts
  • Interrupting, stopping or not providing required housing services, or threatening to, including violating Civil Code section 789.3.
    Applies: Any rental agreement, tenancy or estate at will; not events outside the owner's control or properly noticed interruptions.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Interrupt, terminate, or fail to provide Housing Services required by 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 Civil Code section 789.3.
  • In bad faith: fail to perform or diligently complete required repairs and maintenance; fail to follow appropriate repair, containment, or remediation protocols; conduct elective renovation or construction to harass; refuse lawful Rent payments; refuse to process a Rent payment for over thirty (30) days; fail to maintain a current payment address; violate or release Tenant privacy; or demand unreasonable accommodation information
    Applies: Actions taken in bad faith
    § 8-3122 · code text
    F. Refuse to cash or process a Rent check or other form of acceptable Rent payment for over thirty (30) days after it is tendered;
  • Abusing entry rights, such as improper, excessive, untimely, misleading or overly broad entries, inspections, photos, recordings or entry demands.
    Applies: Entering the rental property.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Abuse the right of access into Residential Real Property as established by Civil Code section 1954 or other applicable law.
  • Pressuring a tenant to move out through fraud, misrepresentation, intimidation or coercion, including threats to report them to Homeland Security.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Influence or attempt to influence a Tenant to vacate Residential Real Property through fraud, misrepresentation, intimidation or coercion, which shall include threatening to report a Tenant to the United States Department of Homeland Security.
  • Threatening physical harm, or using offensive words likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Threaten the Tenant, by word or gesture, with physical harm, or abuse Tenant with words, either orally or in writing, which are offensive and inherently likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction.
  • Breaking laws against discrimination based on protected traits or source of income.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    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.
  • Ending a tenancy or suing to evict on facts the owner has no reason to believe, or an untenable theory.
    Applies: No liability for an eviction lawsuit unless the tenant first wins that case.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    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 Unit based upon facts which the Owner has no reasonable cause to believe to be true or upon a legal theory which is untenable under the facts known to the Owner.
  • Removing the tenant's belongings or furnishings without prior written consent.
    Applies: Except when enforcing a legal end of the tenancy.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Remove from the Rental Unit personal property, furnishings, or any other items without the prior written consent of the Tenant, except when done pursuant to enforcement of a legal termination of Tenancy.
  • Giving false information about tenant protections, notices, eviction notices, primary-language agreements or rent repayment plans.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    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.
  • Offering money to move out more than once in 6 months after the tenant refused further offers in writing.
    Applies: After the tenant tells the owner in writing they want no more offers to move out.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    A. A Tenant to vacate more than once in six (6) months, after the Tenant has notified the Owner in writing that the Tenant does not desire to receive further offers of payments to vacate;
  • Trying to force a tenant out with threats or intimidation.
    Applies: Does not cover good-faith settlement offers in pending eviction cases made without threats or intimidation.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    B. Attempt to coerce Tenant to vacate accompanied with threats or intimidation.
  • Using a language other than the tenant's primary language to intimidate, confuse, deceive or annoy them.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Communicate with Tenant in a language other than Tenant's primary language for the purpose of intimidating, confusing, deceiving or annoying Tenant.
  • Interfering with the tenant's right to quiet use and enjoyment.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Interfere with a Tenant's right to quiet use and enjoyment of a Rental Unit as that right is defined by law.
  • Commit repeated significant acts or omissions that substantially interfere with or disturb occupancy and cause, are likely to cause, or are intended to cause a Tenant to vacate or surrender rights
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Commit 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 such Rental Unit and that cause, are likely to cause, or are intended to cause any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of a Rental Unit to vacate such Rental Unit or to surrender or waive any rights in relation to such occupancy.
  • Removing a housing service to make the tenant move out.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Remove a housing service for the purpose of causing the Tenant to vacate the Residential Real Property.
  • Interfering with tenant organizing, joint activities, organizer access, tenant meetings, or posting and handing out tenant-rights materials.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    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;
  • Threatening or intimidating a tenant over immigration or citizenship status, or unlawfully revealing that status.
    § 8-3122 · code text
    Threatening or intimidating a Tenant based on their immigration or citizenship status or otherwise disclosing a Tenant's immigration or citizenship status in violation of California Civil Code section 1940.35(a) and California Code of Civil Procedure section 1161.4, as may be amended.

The California rule underneath

Where Santa Ana's rule above does not cover a situation, state law still applies. For the statewide rule on its own, see Tenant harassment and lockouts in California.

CA state law The statewide rule underneath
Lockouts and self-help eviction banned
A landlord may not change locks, remove doors or windows, or remove the tenant's belongings to force a tenant out
Utility shutoffs banned
A landlord may not cut off water, heat, electricity, gas or other utilities to force a tenant out
Lockout / shutoff penalty
Actual damages plus up to $100 per day of violation, at least $250 per cause of action, and attorney's fees

Who this affects

TenantsLandlordsProperty managers

General information, not legal advice.

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