Unlawful detainer: Tenant Protections for Immigrant Families Act of 2026., the official text

An act to amend and repeal Sections 1785.20.4 and 1942.9 of, and to add and repeal Section 1946.6 of, the Civil Code, and to add and repeal Section 1788.65 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to civil actions.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law provides that a tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer if the tenant continues to possess the property without permission of the landlord after the tenant defaults on rent or fails to perform a condition or covenant of the lease under which the property is held, among other reasons. Existing law requires a tenant to be served a 3 days’ notice in writing to cure a default or perform a condition of the lease, or return possession of the property to the landlord, as specified.
This bill, the Tenant Protections for Immigrant Families Act of 2026 (Act), would, until January 1, 2030, prohibit an owner of residential real property, as defined, from initiating or continuing an unlawful detainer action to evict a tenant whose income, ability to obtain income, or financial support is impacted by immigration enforcement activities until no sooner than 90 days after the tenant or household member’s detention-related hardship ends, as specified. The bill would require a court to stay the proceeding of a pending unlawful detainer action against a covered tenant if certain conditions are satisfied, including that the tenant provides the court with specified documentation, such as a signed declaration of detention-related hardship that includes a specified statement, that the tenant or household member suffered a detention-related hardship that prevented them from paying the unpaid rent alleged in the unlawful detainer action. Any person who knowingly provides false information in the declaration of detention-related hardship would be subject to a civil fine of up to $1,500. Under the bill, if a tenant has raised detention-related hardship as an affirmative defense, an owner of residential real property may request an evidentiary hearing regarding the tenant’s detention-related hardship stay of the unlawful detainer action, at which the tenant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence their detention-related hardship. The bill would prohibit the owner from charging or collecting any late fees, interest, or other penalties related to the nonpayment of rent by a tenant subject to these provisions. Within 90 days after the end of the detention-related hardship, the bill would require the tenant to either pay all past due rent or enter into a mutually agreed upon payment plan with the owner of the residential real property.
For purposes of the Act, this bill would define “immigration enforcement activities” to include any efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal immigration law, including any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person’s presence in, entry or reentry to, or employment in, the United States. The bill would define “detention-related hardship” to mean, among other things, loss of income or financial support by the tenant or household member due to detention, arrest, or ordered removal of a tenant or household member by any federal law enforcement agency.
This bill would prohibit a landlord from charging a tenant subject to these provisions fees assessed for the late payment of that rental debt. The bill would prohibit a person from selling or assigning any unpaid debt as a result of detention-related hardship. The bill would prohibit a housing provider or tenant screening company from using an alleged debt as a result of detention-related hardship as a negative factor for the purpose of evaluating a prospective housing application or as the basis for refusing to rent a dwelling unit to an otherwise qualified prospective tenant. The bill would delete similar provisions related to debts as a result of COVID-19 rental debt.
The bill would require the Judicial Council to review its existing forms and develop new forms to effectuate these provisions.
The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2030.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) California is home to more than 10 million immigrants, the nation’s largest by population and proportion, including nearly 2 million undocumented residents, who enrich our communities, strengthen our economy, and contribute to the cultural and social fabric of the Golden State.
(b) United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the United States Department of Homeland Security have targeted grocery stores, car washes, business vendors, construction sites, and garment factories in predominantly Latino communities.
(c) United States citizens, based on their skin color and appearance, have been unlawfully harassed, handcuffed, arrested, and deported.
(d) Californians have experienced and documented countless instances of federal agents targeting and harassing residents based on the color of their skin, regardless of immigration status.
(e) Since June 6, 2025, ICE, along with armed federal agents, has conducted military style immigration raids and arrests at work sites, homes, and public spaces, creating a climate of fear among immigrants dropping their children off at school, going to work, attending faith services, seeking medical or emergency services, or shopping for essential needs.
(f) Since June 6, 2025, over 33,000 individuals have been arrested in the indiscriminate raids at work sites, homes, and public spaces across Southern California. Nationally, there are over 131,000 individuals in detention, one of the highest numbers of detained individuals in our nation’s history. As a result, many residents are unable to move freely due to the threat of harassment, violence, and abduction, forcing them to shelter-in-place and impacting their ability to work, access critical medical care, and provide for their families.
(g) In addition to the threat of violence and abduction, many families are also grappling with the fear of eviction due to an inability to safely go to work.
(h) California immigrants are more likely to be rent burdened than their native-born counterparts. Undocumented renters of multi-unit housing spend an additional seven hundred dollars ($700) on housing per year because of their undocumented status.
(i) In 2023, 62 percent of undocumented renters in California were burdened by housing costs compared with 57 percent for all California immigrant renters. Thirty-one percent of all immigrant renters and 34 percent of undocumented renters were severely rent burdened, paying more than 50 percent of their household income on rent.
(j) In addition to deportations, ICE raids drive “widespread income loss, housing insecurity, and the looming threat of mass displacement” for California’s immigrant renters.
(k) Los Angeles County immigrant renters’ average weekly earnings fell from seven hundred ninety-nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($799.25) before the raids to three hundred four dollars and fifty-seven cents ($304.57) afterward, a 62 percent drop. Since the raids, renters reported spending 91 percent of their income on rent, on average, putting them at dire risk of eviction.

SEC. 2.
Section 1942.9 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1942.9.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a landlord shall not, with respect to a tenant who has rental debt as a result of detention-related hardship, as that term is defined in Section 1946.6 of the Civil Code, do either of the following:
(1) Charge a tenant, or attempt to collect from a tenant, fees assessed for the late payment of that rental debt.
(2) Increase fees charged to the tenant or charge the tenant fees for services previously provided by the landlord without charge.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 3.
Section 1946.6 is added to the Civil Code, to read:
1946.6.
(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Tenant Protections for Immigrant Families Act of 2026.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Covered tenant” means a person who lives in California and whose income, ability to obtain income, or financial support, is impacted by immigration enforcement activities.
(2) “Detention-related hardship” means the loss of income or financial support by the tenant or household member due to detention, arrest, or ordered removal of a tenant or household member by any federal law enforcement agency.
(3) “Household member” means a member of the tenant’s household who lives in the same residential unit as the tenant.
(4) “Immigration enforcement activities” includes all of the following:
(A) Any efforts to investigate, enforce, or assist in the investigation or enforcement of any federal immigration law, including any federal criminal immigration law that penalizes a person’s presence in, entry or reentry to, or employment in, the United States.
(B) The detention, arrest, or removal of any person by any federal law enforcement agency, regardless of the individual’s immigration status or United States citizenship status, whether naturalized or born in the United States, during an immigration enforcement action.
(5) “Owner” includes any person, acting as principal or through an agent, having the right to offer residential real property for rent, including a predecessor in interest to the owner, and includes the owner or operator of a mobilehome park or their agent.
(6) “Residential real property” means any dwelling or unit that is intended for human habitation, including any dwelling or unit in a mobilehome park.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law:
(1) An owner shall not charge or collect any late fees, interest, or other penalties related to the nonpayment of rent by a covered tenant during the covered time period.
(d) A covered tenant of residential real property may assert detention-related hardship as an affirmative defense in any unlawful detainer proceeding for nonpayment of rent pursuant to Section 1161 of the Code of Civil Procedure. A tenant who asserts detention-related hardship as a defense shall provide to the court any of the following:
(1) Documentation from a third party, based on information received by that third party, that the covered tenant or household member suffered a detention-related hardship that prevented the covered tenant from paying the unpaid rent alleged in the unlawful detainer action.
(2) Documentation that reasonably verifies that the detention-related hardship prevented the tenant from paying the unpaid rent alleged in the unlawful detainer action.
(3) A signed declaration of detention-related hardship.
(e) A declaration of detention-related hardship shall include the following statement:
“I am/The covered tenant is currently unable to pay my rent or other financial obligations under the lease in full because of the loss of income or financial support resulting from the arrest, detention, or ordered removal of myself or a member of my household by federal immigration enforcement authorities.
Any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, unemployment assistance, state disability insurance (SDI), or paid family leave, that I have/the covered tenant has received since the start of the detention-related hardship does not fully make up for my loss of income and/or increased expenses.
Signed:_____
Name:_____
Dated:_____
If not the covered tenant, Relationship to Covered Tenant:_____”
(f) Any person who knowingly provides false information in the signed declaration of a detention-related hardship to the owner shall be subject to a civil fine in an amount up to one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), in addition to other remedies available to the owner.
(g) (1) If the tenant provides the evidence required by subdivision (d), the court shall stay the unlawful detainer action until no sooner than 90 days after the tenant or household member’s detention-related hardship ends.
(2) If a tenant has raised detention-related hardship as an affirmative defense, the landlord may request an evidentiary hearing regarding the tenant’s detention-related hardship stay of the unlawful detainer action. If an evidentiary hearing is requested by the landlord, the tenant must prove at the hearing by a preponderance of the evidence that they have a detention-related hardship.
(h) This section does not relieve a covered tenant of the obligation to pay rent, but may prevent the court from issuing a judgment of possession or a writ of execution in favor of the owner in an unlawful detainer action.
(1) Within 90 days after the end of the detention-related hardship, a tenant shall do either of the following:
(A) Pay all past due rent.
(B) Enter into a mutually agreed upon payment plan with the owner of the residential real property.
(i) Notwithstanding any other law, an owner shall not do any of the following:
(1) Disclose or threaten to disclose a tenant’s immigration status to any person or entity for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, or retaliating against the tenant pursuant to Section 1940.3 of the Civil Code.
(2) Threaten to disclose a tenant’s immigration status to influence a tenant or tenant’s household to vacate a dwelling pursuant to Section 1940.2 of the Civil Code.
(3) Ask about a tenant’s or household member’s, citizenship or immigration status.
(j) Each unlawful detainer action covered under this section shall remain sealed and masked pursuant to Section 1161.2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(k) (1) If an owner fails to comply with any provision of this section, any written termination of the lease shall be rendered as void.
(2) An owner who attempts to recover possession of a residential unit in violation of the section shall be liable to the tenant in a civil action for any and all of the following:
(A) Actual damages.
(B) Reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
(C) Upon a showing that the owner has acted willfully or with oppression, fraud, or malice, up to three times the actual damages. The court may also award punitive damages for the benefit of the tenant against the owner.
(l) The Attorney General, in the name of the people of the State of California, and the city attorney or county counsel in the jurisdiction in which the rental unit is located, in the name of the city or county, may seek injunctive relief based on violations of this section.
(m) Any waiver of the rights under this section shall be void as contrary to public policy.
(n) This section does not enlarge or diminish any ability of local government to impose or enforce any local laws or requirements upon an owner that provide greater protection to a tenant.
(o) The Judicial Council shall review its forms that may be used by a party to assert in the responsive pleading the grounds set forth in this section as an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action and, by January 1, 2028, make any changes to those forms that the Judicial Council deems necessary to conform them to this section.
(p) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 4.
Section 1785.20.4 of the Civil Code is amended to read:
1785.20.4.
(a) A housing provider, tenant screening company, or other entity that evaluates tenants on behalf of a housing provider shall not use an alleged debt as a result of detention-related hardship, as defined in Section 1946.6 of the Civil Code, as a negative factor for the purpose of evaluating a prospective housing application or as the basis for refusing to rent a dwelling unit to an otherwise qualified prospective tenant.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.

SEC. 5.
Section 1788.65 is added to the Code of Civil Procedure, to read:
1788.65.
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a person shall not sell or assign any unpaid debt as a result of detention-related hardship, as defined in Section 1946.6 of the Civil Code.
(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2030, and as of that date is repealed.