Existing law requires landlords seeking to remove tenants from their property for specified reasons to terminate the leases by notice, as specified. Existing law also outlines requirements for civil actions for unlawful detainer filed by landlords to remove tenants from their properties. Existing law also requires plaintiffs to ensure service of a summons and complaint to defendants in civil suits, as specified.
This bill would require landlords to provide notices to terminate leases and complaints in unlawful detainer actions in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, as well as in English, if the lease was originally negotiated in one of those non-English languages or if the landlord was previously notified by the tenant or anyone acting on the tenant's behalf that Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean is the tenant's primary language. The bill would require a plaintiff who is required to provide notices in a required language to include both versions of the documents with an unlawful detainer complaint. The bill provides that a failure to do so, the existence of material differences between the documents, and a failure to serve a copy of the complaint or notice in a required language, are all affirmative defenses to specified actions. The bill would also require that summonses in those civil cases be in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, as well as in English, if the lease was originally negotiated in one of those languages or if the landlord was previously notified by the tenant or anyone acting on the tenant's behalf that Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean is the tenant's primary language, and if a copy of the summons in that language is available on the California Courts website. The bill also provides that, if a landlord fails to provide a summons in a required language in addition to providing an English version of the summons, that failure is an affirmative defense in specified actions.