Tenancy: termination.

Existing law authorizes a tenant to terminate a tenancy and to be released from any rent payment obligation under the lease or rental obligation without penalty if the tenant provides to the landlord a notice to terminate the tenancy because the tenant or a household member, as defined, was a victim of an act of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, or abuse of an elder or a dependent adult. Existing law requires the notice to terminate the tenancy to be in writing and that the tenant attach to the notice one of the following: (a) a copy of a temporary restraining order or protective order, (b) a report by a peace officer stating that the tenant or household member has filed a report, or (c) documentation from a qualified third party, as defined, indicating that the tenant or household member is seeking assistance for physical or mental injuries or abuse. This bill, among other things, would expand these provisions to authorize a tenant to terminate their tenancy without penalty because an immediate family member, as defined, was the victim of a crime, and would expand the list of eligible crimes to include, among others, a crime that caused bodily injury or death. The bill would additionally authorize a tenant to attach to the notice any form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the qualifying crime or act occurred. This bill would also require a tenant terminating a tenancy when the immediate family member that is the victim of a qualifying crime or act did not live in the same household as the tenant and the crime or act did not occur within 1,000 feet of the tenant's dwelling unit, to provide a written statement to the landlord, as specified. The bill would prohibit a landlord from keeping the tenant's security deposit or advance rent if the tenant exercises these rights, and would specify that a tenant who terminates a rental agreement pursuant to these provisions shall not be considered to have breached the lease or rental agreement. The bill would prohibit an owner or an owner's agent from refusing to rent a dwelling unit to an otherwise qualified tenant solely on the basis that the tenant has previously exercised the tenant's rights under these provisions.