Cities will no longer require or encourage landlords to conduct background checks or evict tenants who have come into contact with law enforcement.
Gov. Gavin Newsom banned these ordinances when he signed Assembly Bill 1418 Oct. 8. Mandatory evictions for contact with a police officer are often part of crime-free housing ordinances, which are in effect in varying degrees across the Inland Empire.
“There is no evidence that these policies do anything to reduce crime. Indeed, a closer look at these policies reveals they are generally motivated by racial animus and a desire to reverse demographic change in a given jurisdiction,” the bill’s author, Assemblymember Tina McKinnor (D-Hawthrone), said according to a Senate report.
The bill prevents cities from requiring, or encouraging, landlords to:
- Evict a tenant based on another tenant’s contact with law enforcement or criminal conviction
- Evict a tenant based on their unlawful conduct or arrest
- Include a lease provision that provides grounds for eviction not provided by state or federal law
- Performing a criminal background check on prospective tenants
Landlords can still run background checks, but a city will no longer be able to require or encourage them to do so.
Encouraging landlords to perform background checks is a part of the educational program that some cities and counties offer.
The bill was passed without opposition, and with support from renters. The Southern California Rental Housing Association supported the bill.
“We’ve long thought that these programs should be voluntary,” said Molly Kirkland, SCRHA director of public affairs.
Disability Rights California also supported the bill.
“Local governments have weaponized these ordinances to evict tenants who were never charged or sentenced of a crime, and allowed for evictions if a tenant’s family member was associated with a reported crime,” Andrew Imparato, DRC executive director, said in a press release.
In 2020, eight counties and 139 cities in California approved crime-free housing policies of varying degrees, according to a review of municipal codes conducted by the Los Angeles Times. Not all of those cities imposed mandatory evictions, and could have included purely educational programs unaffected by the change in law. Those cities included Apple Valley, Banning, Colton, Eastvale, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Hemet, Hesperia, Highland, Indio, Lake Elsinore, Loma Linda, Menifee, Montclair, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Norco, Ontario, Palm Desert, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, Riverside, San Bernardino, Temecula, Twentynine Palms, Upland, Victorville, Yucaipa and Yucca Valley.
San Bernardino and Hesperia both agreed to remove their crime-free ordinances to settle lawsuits.
San Bernardino
San Bernardino was sued by the California Attorney General and the nonprofit Inland Counties Legal Services, and settled Aug. 25.
San Bernardino’s ordinance required landlords to use a crime-free lease addendum and attend an eight-hour education course. It also allowed landlords to certify their property as crime-free. To be certified, the landlord must have conducted background checks on all prospective tenants and “actively pursue” the eviction of tenants who violate the crime-free lease addendum.
Anthony Kim, who led the ICLS’ suit, said that the law is “a legitimately big deal” because of the amount of tenants who have been evicted in massive urban areas across the state.
“It’s really great to see that the state of California sees things the way that we and our colleagues do: that these policies are discriminatory, that they don’t help, they actually hinder keeping communities together. This is a big step to make sure families can stay in their homes and make sure their past isn’t hanging over their heads,” Kim said by phone.
Hesperia
Hesperia was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice, and settled Dec. 22.
The DOJ alleged in their Dec. 2, 2019, complaint that the Sheriff’s Department told landlords that noise violations or having a medical marijuana card could trigger eviction.
Their program mandated landlords evict tenants that the Sheriff’s Department reported from Jan. 1, 2016, to July 18, 2017, and afterward made the evictions optional.
The DOJ argued that the ordinance discriminated against African-American and Latino renters. Hesperia denied their discrimination claim, and did not admit guilt in their settlement.
The Department of Justice filed its lawsuit in 2019, based on an investigation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that found Black renters were four times as likely and Latino renters 29% more likely to be evicted than white renters due to the program. It also found 96% of evictions under the program lived in minority census blocks, in which 79% of rental households live.
The Department of Justice shared three instances of families being evicted after they called the police for help. A Black woman was evicted after she made domestic violence calls to the police. A Latina was evicted for calling the police to help her boyfriend, who was having a mental health crisis. A Black family was evicted after the mother called the police for help. They were unable to find another rental in Hesperia because the program placed them on a list provided to landlords. In that case, the parents moved away, and left their daughter to finish high school.
Other IE ordinances
Moreno Valley’s ordinance, established in 2012, requires eviction of tenants who are believed to have committed crimes, regardless of a criminal conviction. The eviction extended to their guests.
The ordinance stated it is unlawful for renters to allow tenants to continue renting from them in violation of the crime-free lease addendum. Violation of the chapter could bring at most $2,500 to landlords for every day they did not evict the tenant.
Moreno Valley spokesperson Matthew Bramlett declined to comment on the city’s ordinance or the law.
Ontario’s program is not compulsory, but does encourage landlords to add a three-day eviction clause for tenants who commit or facilitate crimes on the rental property. Follow Our Courts reached out to Ontario for comment.
San Bernardino Deputy Sheriff Greg Jones said the law will not affect the county’s crime-free housing education, which he teaches.The county’s program focuses on fair housing, anti-discrimination and supervision of property, he said.
“The law is not going to affect the way we do business, or the way we do training,” Jones said.
The law passed the Assembly unanimously, but with eight assembly members, including Assemblymember Billy Essayli (R-Corona), not voting. It passed the Senate unanimously as well.
The law comes into effect Jan. 1.
