Residential rental properties: language requirements.

The amendment to Section 1166 of the Code of Civil Procedure was entirely removed. This section had required landlords to attach a copy of the complaint in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean if the lease was negotiated in that language or the tenant's primary language was one of those.

Section 412.20(d) was simplified from a conditional landlord obligation to a universal requirement: the Judicial Council must create a single mandatory summons form in six languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean) for all residential unlawful detainer actions by January 1, 2027, and publish it on its website.

The conditional requirement for landlords to provide a translated summons (in addition to an English version) based on lease negotiation language or tenant's stated primary language was removed from Section 412.20(d).

The affirmative defense provisions were removed. Previously, failure to serve a translated summons or attach a translated complaint would have constituted an affirmative defense to the unlawful detainer action.

All amendments to Section 1161 of the Code of Civil Procedure were removed. The previous version required landlords to provide eviction notices (for holdover, nonpayment of rent, lease violations, and nuisance) in both English and the tenant's primary language if the lease was negotiated in that language or the landlord was notified of the tenant's primary language.

A new subdivision (d) was added to Section 412.20 requiring the Judicial Council to create, by January 1, 2027, a single summons form for mandatory use in unlawful detainer actions that includes the required information in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Korean. The Judicial Council must publish this form on its internet website.

In Section 1166(d)(1)(A), the requirement to attach both a translated notice and an English notice (with material differences constituting an affirmative defense) was removed. It now simply requires attaching a copy of the notice or notices of termination served on the defendant.

In Section 1166(d)(3), the requirement for landlords to attach both a notice and a copy of the complaint in the required language was narrowed to only requiring a copy of the complaint in that language (the notice attachment requirement was removed).

The fiscal committee review designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now requires fiscal committee review, likely due to the new Judicial Council form-creation mandate.

The bill was formally signed into law as Chapter 344 on October 6, 2025, replacing the enrolled version's blank date fields and legislative passage language with the authenticated chaptered format.

Throughout all three amended sections (412.20, 1161, and 1166), the trigger for requiring translated documents changed from 'the landlord has reason to believe' a tenant's primary language is one of the five listed languages to 'the landlord was previously notified by the tenant or anyone acting on the tenant's behalf.' This requires actual notification rather than a reasonable belief, making it more difficult to invoke the translation requirement.

Section 412.20(d) now specifies 'In an action regarding residential property brought pursuant to Section 1161' instead of simply 'In an action brought pursuant to Section 1161,' limiting the summons language requirement to residential eviction cases only.

Section 412.20(d) added the clarifying phrase 'if either of the following applies:' before listing the two conditions that trigger the translated summons requirement, making the structure clearer.

A new subdivision (e) was added to Section 412.20, separating the affirmative defense for failure to serve a translated summons from the main requirements in subdivision (d), and adding the qualifier 'if required under subdivision (d).'

Section numbering was corrected: what was labeled 'SEC. 3' for Section 1166 was renumbered to 'SEC. 2,' and page numbers were updated from 96 to 95 throughout.

The trigger for requiring translated eviction documents changed from 'the landlord has reason to believe' a tenant's primary language is one of the listed languages to 'was previously notified by the tenant or anyone acting on the tenant's behalf.' This means landlords now only need to provide translated notices, summonses, and complaints if the tenant (or their representative) has explicitly told them their primary language, rather than based on any reasonable inference.

References to 'civil actions' were narrowed to specifically 'unlawful detainer actions' in the bill's summary and operative text, making clear the language requirements apply only to eviction proceedings rather than all civil litigation between landlords and tenants.

Assembly Member Haney and Senator Perez were added as coauthors of the bill.

Section 1161(d) now requires landlords to provide an English version of the summons AND a copy in the appropriate language, rather than only requiring the translated summons. Previously the text said 'the landlord shall provide a summons in the appropriate language'; it now says 'the landlord shall provide an English version of the summons and a copy of the summons in the appropriate language.'

The affirmative defense for failure to serve a summons was expanded. Previously it covered only 'failure to serve a translated summons, when required.' It now covers 'failure to serve an English version of the summons and a translated copy of the summons, when required,' making both versions mandatory for the defense to apply.

Changed 'his or her default' to 'their default' in the summons content requirements (Section 1161(a)(4)), adopting gender-neutral language.

Landlords must now provide notices in both the required non-English language (Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean) AND in English, rather than just in the non-English language alone. This applies to all notice types under Section 1161 (expiration of term, rent default, breach of lease conditions, and nuisance).

Section 1166(d)(1)(A) now requires that if a plaintiff was required to provide a notice in a specified language, they must attach copies of the notice in both the required language and in English to the complaint.

Failure to serve a translated summons when required is now an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action (new paragraph (3) in Section 1(d)).

Material differences between the notice in the required language and the English version constitute an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action.

Failure to attach both versions of the notice (required language and English) to the complaint constitutes an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action.

Failure to serve a copy of the complaint in the required language is now explicitly stated as an affirmative defense to an unlawful detainer action (added to Section 1166(d)(3)).

Minor drafting corrections: fixed a typo ('him or her. the defendant' changed to 'the defendant') and updated gendered pronouns ('his or her default' changed to 'their default').