Tenant harassment in California
Tenant harassment is illegal in California. We help tenants who are dealing with it.
General information. Not legal advice. This page provides general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts. Past results do not guarantee or predict the outcome of any future matter.
Telling you to move. Threatening to report you to immigration. Calling the police on you for no reason.
Repairs that drag on for months. Repairs started and never finished. A unit left to slide on purpose.
Notices and forms that are wrong, fake, or built to scare you into leaving when you do not have to.
Coming into your home without proper notice. Coming in over and over without a real reason.
Pressuring you to sign a buyout, a "cash for keys" deal, or any document you did not ask for.
Letting your calls and complaints go unanswered. Refusing to deal with you at all, hoping you give up and leave.
The statutes
In California, tenant harassment is a pattern of behavior by a landlord that pressures, intimidates, or threatens a tenant in a way the law does not allow. It is rarely one big confrontation. It is usually a series of smaller things that add up. It is defined by both state law and local city ordinances.
§ 1940.2
California Civil Code, state law
The state harassment statute. Lists specific conduct landlords are not allowed to engage in, threats, illegal entry, utility shutoffs, fraudulent notices. Tenants can recover damages and a court can order the conduct to stop.
Local law
City anti-harassment ordinances
Many California cities go further than the state, each with its own tenant anti-harassment ordinance, with stronger penalties, a private right of action, and attorney-fee shifting that makes these cases possible to bring. The Los Angeles ordinance (TAHO), Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and Long Beach are among them. Which one applies depends on where you live.
Does your landlord refuse to fix serious problems in your home?
Has your landlord shut off or taken away services like water, heat, gas, power, parking, laundry, or trash?
Does your landlord come into your home without proper notice or for no good reason?
Has your landlord threatened you, scared you, or pressured you to move out?
After you complained or asked for repairs, did your landlord make things worse for you?
What recovery looks like
If a landlord has harassed a tenant in violation of state or local law, a tenant has numerous remedies. They are not mutually exclusive. A single case can include several or all of them.
A court can order your landlord to stop the behavior immediately. The order is called an injunction. It is the most immediate remedy, and often what a tenant wants first.
That can include actual damages, emotional-distress damages, and in some cases additional statutory penalties the law tacks on top. The dollar number depends on the specific facts of the case.
If the harassment forced you out, you may be able to recover moving costs and rent differential — the difference between your old rent and what you have to pay for a comparable place now.
In cases where a landlord’s conduct was deliberate or particularly bad, a court can order extra damages designed to deter the landlord and others like them.
We show real past results elsewhere on this site, but we won’t put a number on your situation from a website. Every case turns on its own facts, and we’d rather walk you through what is possible for yours on a free call.
What working with us looks like
You call or send a message. We get back to you as soon as we can.
The first conversation is free. We ask what’s happening, what you’ve documented, and what you want to happen. No intake form. No paralegal screener.
If your situation looks like one we can help with, we say so. If it isn’t, we say that too, and point you toward someone who can.
If we take your case, you don’t pay attorney fees out of pocket. You may still be responsible for case costs, which we spell out in a written agreement we walk through with you before you sign.
“Landlords harass tenants because they think no one will stop them. Most of the time, they’re right. We exist to change that.”
Common questions
Probably the only honest answer to this on a website is: we don’t know yet, and you don’t have to either. Some things are clearly harassment. A landlord shutting off your water on purpose, threatening to report you to immigration, refusing to make repairs while pressuring you to leave. Other situations are closer to the line. A conversation with us is the fastest way to find out.
You don’t have to know the law to call us.
Calls are free. Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Or send us a noteContinued reading
The laws that protect tenants from housing discrimination in LA, in plain English. Who they cover and what they can do for you.
The Know Your Rights guide. What counts, how to document it, what to do next.
Most LA buildings are covered. Harassment cases often start with a rent-stabilized unit.
