Office of Tenants' Rights and Protections.

Existing law regulates terms and conditions for the hiring of real property and provides certain protections for tenants, including by prescribing statewide limits on the application of local rent control with regard to certain properties and by prohibiting an owner of residential real property from terminating a tenancy without just cause, as provided. Existing law makes it unlawful for the owner of any housing accommodation to discriminate against or harass any person based on certain personal characteristics. Existing law provides that there is in state government, in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, the Civil Rights Department under the direction of an executive officer known as the Director of Civil Rights, who is appointed by the Governor. Among other responsibilities, the department is required to issue publications that in its judgment will tend to promote goodwill and minimize or eliminate discrimination in housing, as specified. This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establish the Office of Tenants' Rights and Protections in the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency, administered by a director appointed by the Governor, and would require that office to create and maintain an up-to-date, digestible, and language-inclusive list of statewide tenants' rights and protections.