AB 400

Under current law, a tenant may terminate his or her tenancy and remove from

the premises if the tenant or a child of the tenant faces an imminent threat of serious

physical harm from another person if the tenant remains on the premises. The

tenant must provide notice to the landlord and a certified copy of: 1) an injunction

order protecting the tenant or the child from the person; 2) a condition of release

ordering the person not to contact the tenant; 3) a criminal complaint alleging that

the person sexually assaulted or stalked the tenant or the child; or 4) a criminal

complaint filed against the person as a result of an arrest for committing a domestic

abuse offense against the tenant.

This bill requires a landlord to change the locks to a tenant's premises, or to give

a tenant permission to do so, regardless of whether the tenant is terminating his or

her tenancy, if the tenant requests it and provides the landlord with a certified copy

of one of the documents that the tenant must provide under current law to terminate

his or her tenancy because the tenant faces an imminent threat of serious physical

harm from another person if the tenant remains on the premises. The landlord must

change the locks, or give the tenant permission to do so, within 48 hours after

receiving the request and certified copy of the document. The tenant is responsible

for the cost of having the locks changed.

The bill provides an exception from the requirement to change the locks. If the

person who is the subject of the document that the tenant provides a certified copy

of to the landlord is also a tenant of the premises for which the locks are to be

changed, the landlord is not required to change the locks unless the document is: 1)

an injunction directing that other tenant to avoid the residence of the tenant

requesting that the locks be changed; or 2) a condition of release ordering that other

tenant not to contact the tenant requesting that the locks be changed.