Unlawful detainer proceedings.

Under existing law, a dwelling is deemed untenantable, as specified, if it substantially lacks certain affirmative standard characteristics including floors, stairways, and railings maintained in good repair. Existing law authorizes a landlord, after giving a tenant reasonable written notice, to enter a dwelling for certain purposes, including to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements. This bill would also authorize a landlord to enter a dwelling to comply with the obligation that the dwelling have certain affirmative standard characteristics, as described above, necessary for the dwelling to be deemed tenantable. Existing law provides that a tenant of real property for a term less than life, or the executor of his or her estate, is guilty of unlawful detainer if, among other things, he or she continues in possession, in person or by subtenant, of the property or any part of the property, after the expiration of the term for which it is let to him or her, except as specified. Existing law requires a complaint filed in an unlawful detainer proceeding to include certain information and requires a defendant to answer the complaint, as specified, within 5 days of being served with a summons and the complaint, unless the court orders otherwise for good cause shown. This bill would require a defendant in an unlawful detainer action, if he or she asserts an affirmative defense of breach of the implied warranty of habitability, to indicate on the appropriate Judicial Council answer form if he or she has lodged a complaint or complaints regarding the uninhabitability of the premises before the filing of the action, and would require the defendant to include information about who the complaint or complaints were lodged with. The bill would require the Judicial Council, on or before July 1, 2017, to revise the appropriate answer form to include spaces to input the information, as described above. Existing law provides that the proper location for the trial of an unlawful detainer action is the location of the court in which unlawful detainer actions are tried that is nearest or most accessible to where the real property that is the subject of the action is situated. This bill would prohibit a plaintiff or defendant in an unlawful detainer action from requesting a change in court location if the court location for trial of the action is the nearest to where the real property that is the subject of the action is situated. The bill would provide that this prohibition only applies if that court location has been designated as a proper court location for the trial and allows for a jury trial.