Change to Megan’s Law Has Implications for Landlords
Jan Leasure
A hot topic among landlords and property managers is the emergence of the California Attorney General's sex offender database website. As you no doubt know, the California Department of Justice has maintained a 900 number to their Sex Offender Identification Hotline for some time. The law now requires that information about sex offenders be made available on an internet website. Previously, you, your residents, and the general public could only get sex offender information by personally visiting local law enforcement offices or by calling 1-900-448-3000.
However, the California Attorney General is now making available the registered home address of sex offenders who are believed to be the most serious offenders at www.meganslaw.ca.gov.
To read a discussion of the rules for the use of the database and the liability landlords may be assuming, whether they elect to use the database or not to use the database.  JOIN California Landlord Solutions NOW!
Keeping Up with the Law
Jan Leasure
The best landlords stay abreast of legal changes that affect the way they do business. Eliminating the opportunity for a tenant to trip you on a technicality can drastically reduce the hassle factor of your business.
This article discusses changes in Section 1942 of the California Civil Code that are in effect as of January 2004. This code section previously provided that a landlord is liable to a tenant for up to $1,000 when
- the landlord demands or collects rent on a building that is untenantable,
- the property has been inspected by a public officer responsible for the
enforcement of any housing law,
- the public officer has provided a specified notice to a landlord, and
- the violations have continued to exist for 60 days
The law now provides that a landlord is liable also when
- the landlord issues a notice of rent increase or
- issues a 3-day notice pursuant to an unlawful detainer action if Items 2 and 3, above, exist, and
- the period of time that the violations need to have continued to exist is  reduced from 60 days to 35 days.
The amount that a tenant can collect under these provisions is increased from $1000.00 to $5,000.00.
The previous law permitted a landlord to bring an action for unlawful detainer and permitted the tenant to assert an affirmative defense that the landlord had failed in his/ her obligation to provide a tenantable dwelling or that the landlord had breached some other warranty of habitability.
The law provides that the landlord who institutes an unlawful detainer proceeding based upon a tenant's nonpayment of rent is liable to the tenant for reasonable attorney's fees and costs of the suit, in an amount to be fixed by the court, if the landlord is in violation of specified provisions of the Civil Code and the Health and Safety Code.
What are those specified provisions? JOIN NOW AND GET THE DETAILS!
A revision to the security deposit law will require landlords to provide receipts to the tenants when deductions are taken from security deposits. The newest form provided in our forms library will help you comply with the new law. And, of course, as always, all forms are free to download for California Landlord Solutions members! Civil Code Section 1950.5 will require landlords to provide tenants with receipts when they use a tenant's security deposit for services, repairs, or cleaning to the rental unit. This new law takes effect January 1, 2004.
With some exceptions, landlords must provide tenants with the following no later than 21 days from the time that the tenant vacates the premises:
(This is the same as always) An itemized statement indicating the basis for, and the amount of, any security received and the disposition of the security and shall return any remaining portion of the security to the tenant; and
(This is the newer part) Copies of receipts, bills, invoices, or a vendor price list or other vendor document that reasonably documents the cost of the items purchased by the owner and used in the repair or cleaning of the unit.
For more details on this new law,
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Increased Penalties for Bad Faith Retention of Security Deposit
Jan Leasure
The court may award damages for bad faith whenever the facts warrant such an award, regardless of whether the injured party has specifically requested relief. In any action under this section, the landlord has the burden of proof as to the reasonableness of the amounts claimed. Members of California Landlord Solutions will find the forms necessary to comply with this new legislation.
Forms currently available to our Members are on our site for this application include:
- Notice to Resident of Right to Walk-Through
- Notice of Date
- Time of Walk-Through
- Statement of Inspection during Walk-Through.
Join Now to Find Out More About Mold and What You Need to Know...........
Jan Leasure
In recent years, there has been an increase in media coverage of mold-related problems in rental property. While mold has always been present in our environment, there has been an increase in mold occurrences in buildings.Â
This increase has been attributed to an aging building stock; new housing construction where porous materials may not have been kept dry during construction; and modern building techniques designed to conserve energy that also seal in moisture.Â
In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued mold remediation guidelines, and in California, legislation was passed that requires the Department of Health Services to establish standards for mold hazard identification, disclosure, and remediation.Â
JOIN NOW AND READÂ THE FULL ARTICLE TODAY!
EPA Issues Regulations for Painting
Jan Leasure
If you are cutting or sanding painted surfaces on the inside or outside of your home, you can create hazardous lead dust and chips if your home happens to have lead-based paint, which was legal in the US until 1977. You are no doubt familiar with the disclosure requirement regarding lead based paint in homes built prior to 1978.
To further protect people from the risks of lead based paint, the EPA issued a rule requiring the use of certain prescribed lead-safe practices when disturbing painted surfaces of more than six square feet on the interior or more than 20 square feet on the exterior.
Under the new rule, contractors who undertake renovation, repair and painting projects that disturb lead-based paint in homes, child care facilities, and schools built before 1978 must be certified by the EPA. What does this mean in practical terms?
It means that firms performing renovation, repair, and painting projects that meet the above criteria be certified by EPA, and that they use certified renovators who are trained by EPA-approved training providers to follow lead-safe work practices. Thus, property management companies who perform their own repairs must become certified, or if they hire firms to do repairs, they must hire certified firms. If you are an owner-operator of your own rental property built before 1978, you must become certified if you do your own repairs.
If you hire contractors to do repairs for you, you must be sure they are certified. Individuals can become certified renovators by taking an eight-hour training course from an EPA-approved training provider. Click here to find out where to take a training course near you.
Alternately, if you have only one pre-1978 rental or just a few, you may wish to get an inspection by a Certified Risk Assessor, Lead Inspector or Certified Renovator who will certify the property to be lead-free, in which case the rule would not apply. The California Department of Public Health maintains an index of lead-certified professionals on their website.Â
Carbon Monoxide Detectors to be Required by California Law
Jan Leasure
To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, Senate Bill 183 was signed into law by  Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on May 7, 2010. This bill will require carbon monoxide detectors in all existing California homes by July 1, 2011. and apartments by January 1, 2013. The new law covers single-family housing, factory-built homes, condominiums, and apartments that have a "a fossil fuel burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or an attached garage".  That means any heater, appliance or fireplace that burns coal, kerosene, oil, wood, fuel gases, and other petroleum or hydrocarbon products, which emit carbon monoxide as a byproduct of combustion. In other words, unless the home is an all-electric home with a detached garage, it is covered by this law.
The carbon monoxide detector may be battery-powered, a plug in type, or it can be hard-wired with a battery backup. It can be combined with a smoke detector, but, if it is, it must emit "an alarm or voice warning in a manner that clearly differentiates between a carbon monoxide alarm warning and a smoke detector warning." Â According to the new law, the State Fire Marshall is to certify and approve both the devices and their instructions, so property owners must install a detector that has been certified by the Fire Marshall. Once the Fire Marshall identifies the approved detectors, it will then be illegal to sell detectors that have not met the Fire Marshall's certification requirements.
Law Requires Landlord to Walk Thru with Resident!
Jan Leasure
There are a number of Landlord-Resident laws that savvy landlords need to be aware of. Most are very detailed, and one wrong move by the landlord can mean that his tenant will win an action against him.
One mandates a walk-through for a vacating resident and describes the required process. As of January 1, 2003, landlords must perform a walk-through with residents no earlier than two weeks prior to the termination of the tenancy if requested by the resident. If requested by the resident, the landlord, or an agent of the landlord, shall make an initial inspection of the rental at a reasonable time. This inspection is in addition to any final inspection the landlord or his agent may make after the resident has vacated the premises.
The intent of this new law is to give residents an opportunity to remedy identified deficiencies in the unit prior to move out. The landlord must notify the resident in writing of the resident's option to request a walk-through or an inspection of the premises within two weeks of the resident's departure. The landlord must also notify the resident of the resident's right to be present at the inspection. The purpose of the inspection is to allow the resident an opportunity to fix anything that is broken, to clean anything that needs cleaning, or to do anything else he needs to do in order to avoid deductions from the security deposit.
If a resident does not to request an inspection after being notified of his right to have one, no further action on the part of the landlord is required. If an inspection is requested by the resident, the landlord and resident must attempt to schedule the inspection at a mutually acceptable date and time. If a mutual time is agreed upon for the inspection, the landlord must give at least 48 hours prior written notice to the resident of the date and time of the inspection. The resident and the landlord may agree to forgo the 48-hour prior written notice by both signing a written waiver. If a mutually agreed time cannot be scheduled, the landlord must give at least 48 hours written notice to the resident of the date and time for an inspection.
The resident need not be present during the time of the inspection. If the resident is not present at the agreed-upon time, the landlord should continue with the inspection whether the resident is present or not, unless the resident previously withdrew his or her request for the inspection.
The inspection should be scheduled within a reasonable time after notification of either party's intention to terminate the tenancy, before the end of the lease term, but no earlier than two weeks before the termination of the tenancy or the end of the lease date.
The landlord must give the resident an itemized statement based on his inspection. The itemized statement should specify repairs or cleaning that the landlord plans to make the basis of any deduction from the resident's security deposit. This itemized statement must include the actual text of specified sections of the security deposit law (CA Civil Code section 1950.5). California law can be found online at www.leginfo.ca.gov/calaw.html but don't panic. The language is available on the forms that are available on this site! The statement must be given to the resident, if the resident is present for the inspection, or should be left by the landlord inside the premises if the resident is not present.
During the time following the initial inspection until the end of the tenancy, the resident should be given a chance to remedy identified deficiencies, in order to avoid deductions from the security deposit. The landlord has the right to use the security deposit for deductions that are itemized in the statement that are not corrected by the resident, so long as the deductions are allowed by law.
Deductions allowed by law include the default by the resident in the payment of rent, the repair of damages to the unit, exclusive of ordinary wear and tear, caused by the resident or the resident's guests, the cleaning of the unit in order to bring the unit to the same level of cleanliness it was in at the inception of the tenancy, the failure of the resident to restore, replace, or return personal property or appurtenances, damage to the unit that occurred between completion of the initial inspection and termination of the tenancy, and damage to the unit that was not identified by the landlord during the initial inspection due to the presence of the resident's possessions.
