Landlord and tenant.

(1) Existing law provides that it is unlawful for a lessor to increase rent, decrease services, cause a lessee to quit involuntarily, bring an action to recover possession, or threaten to do any of those acts, for the purpose of retaliating against the lessee because he or she has lawfully organized or participated in a lessees' association or an organization advocating lessees' rights or has lawfully and peaceably exercised any rights under the law. This bill would, with respect to that provision, notwithstand another law that provides that, if a lessor retaliates against a lessee of a dwelling for exercising his or her rights or because of a complaint to an appropriate agency as to tenantability and the lessee is not in default as to the payment of rent, the lessor may not recover possession, cause the lessee to quit involuntarily, increase the rent, or decrease any services within 180 days of the occurrence of specified events. (2) Existing law governs unlawful detainer proceedings. Existing law requires a court, in an unlawful detainer proceeding involving residential premises, as specified, and in which the tenant has raised as an affirmative defense a breach of the landlord's obligations, as provided by law, or of any warranty of habitability, to determine whether a substantial breach of these obligations has occurred. This bill would clarify that, in unlawful detainer proceedings involving residential premises, the jury, or the court, if the proceeding is tried without a jury, shall determine whether a substantial breach of the obligations has occurred.