Prop M and How it Defines Landlord Tenant Relations

Quiet Enjoyment

Is now a service included with ones rent. Quiet enjoyment includes untimely repairs, refusal to accept lawful rent. It defines varoius kinds of harassment that landlords have sometimes been guilty of.

Most of this was already illegal. but now you can take these issues to the rent board for a rent reduction rather than to a civil court. What is newly defined as harassment is holding a tenants rent check. No longer can a landlord refuse to cash checks for any length of time. I know of one owner who is harassing a tenant by not cashing her checks for almost one year. If the landlord were to cash them all at once it would be a real problem for the tenant. Prop M makes that illegal now.

Here is the new definition of tenant harassment

Sec. 37.10B Tenant Harassment direct from the sfgov site:

(a) No landlord, and no agent, contractor, subcontractor or employee of the landlord shall do any of the following in bad faith or with ulterior motive or without honest intent:

(1) Interrupt, terminate or fail to provide housing services required by contract or by State, County or local housing, health or safety laws;

(2) Fail to perform repairs and maintenance required by contract or by State, County or local housing, health or safety laws;

(3) Fail to exercise due diligence in completing repairs and maintenance once undertaken or 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;

(4) Abuse the landlord's right of access into a rental housing unit as that right is provided by law;

(5) Influence or attempt to influence a tenant to vacate a rental housing unit through fraud, intimidation or coercion;

(6) Attempt to coerce the tenant to vacate with offer(s) of payments to vacate which are accompanied with threats or intimidation;

(7) Continue to offer payments to vacate after tenant has notified the landlord in writing that they no longer wish to receive further offers of payments to vacate;

(8) Threaten the tenant, by word or gesture, with physical harm;

(9) Violate any law which prohibits discrimination based on actual or perceived race, gender, sexual preference, sexual orientation, ethnic background, nationality, place of birth, immigration or citizenship status, religion, age, parenthood, marriage, pregnancy, disability, AIDS or occupancy by a minor child;

(10) Interfere with a tenants right to quiet use and enjoyment of a rental housing unit as that right is defined by California law;

(11) Refuse to accept or acknowledge receipt of a tenant's lawful rent payment;

(12) Refuse to cash a rent check for over 30 days;

(13) Interfere with a tenant's right to privacy;

(14) Request information that violates a tenant's right to privacy, including but not limited to residence or citizenship status or social security number;

(15) 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 such dwelling unit and that cause, are likely to cause, or are intended to cause any person lawfully entitled to occupancy of a dwelling unit to vacate such dwelling unit or to surrender or waive any rights in relation to such occupancy.

Thanks for Reading
Howard Bell
www.yourpropertypath.com
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