Rental property: electric vehicle charging stations.

Existing law generally regulates the hiring of real property. This bill would, for any lease executed, renewed, or extended on and after July 1, 2015, require a lessor of a dwelling to approve a written request of a lessee to install an electric vehicle charging station at a parking space allotted for the lessee in accordance with specified requirements and that complies with the lessor's approval process for modification to the property. The bill would except from its provisions specified residential property, including a residential rental property with fewer than 5 parking spaces and one subject to rent control. The bill would require the electric vehicle charging station and all modifications and improvements made to the property comply with federal, state, and local law, and all applicable zoning requirements, land use requirements, and covenants, conditions, and restrictions. The bill would also require a lessee's written request to make a modification to the property in order to install and use an electric vehicle charging station include his or her consent to enter into a written agreement including specified provisions, including compliance with the lessor's requirements for the installation, use, maintenance, and removal of the charging station and installation of the infrastructure for the charging station. The bill would also require the lessee to maintain in full force and effect a $1,000,000 lessee's general liability insurance policy, as specified. Existing law regulates the terms and conditions of residential and commercial tenancies. Existing law defines and regulates common interest developments and voids any condition affecting the transfer or sale of an interest in a common interest development that prohibits or unreasonably restricts the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station in a designated parking space in the development, as specified. This bill would void any term in a lease renewed or extended on or after January 1, 2015, that conveys any possessory interest in commercial property that either prohibits or unreasonably restricts, as defined, the installation or use of an electric vehicle charging station in a parking space associated with the commercial property. The bill would prescribe requirements for lessor approval of a lessee request to install or use an electronic vehicle charging station and would require that a lessor approve a request to install a charging station if the lessee agrees in writing to do specified acts, including paying for various costs associated with the charging station and maintaining insurance naming the lessor as an insured.