The state of California has laws in place to prevent harassment against tenants; landlords cannot verbally or physically harass or threaten tenants or force them to move out. Anti-harassment laws are common throughout the country, but they don’t always stop harassment from happening. Stress on housing and the economy in the years since the pandemic has kept harassment reports elevated in cities along the west coast. Many cities in California have now passed their own laws to further protect tenants from mistreatment and coercion, and several have strengthened those laws again in 2024 and 2025.
One of the first cities to pass a local harassment ban was Los Angeles. Its Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, adopted in 2021, bans any “knowing and willful course of conduct” that is aimed at a specific tenant, has “no lawful purpose”, and causes harm. The ordinance named a number of specific examples of harassment, including:
- Neglecting repairs or maintenance
- Coercing a tenant to leave by offering payment
- Threatening tenants with physical harm
- Eliminating housing services required under lease
- Requesting information that violates tenant privacy
- Doing anything to make the unit unfit for human habitation
- Refusing to accept or acknowledge lawful rent payment
The law also bans any actions that are meant to make a tenant give up their unit and “interfere with or disturb the comfort, repose, peace, or quiet of a tenant”. Los Angeles then strengthened the ordinance again at the end of 2024, adding mandatory damages for tenants who win in court and a new ban on asking renters about their criminal history.
Similar ordinances have been approved in Long Beach, Oakland, Concord, and Richmond, and councilmembers in other cities like Chula Vista and Antioch have weighed similar measures. Most of the newly passed laws have been spearheaded by tenants’ rights organizations, reporting increases in calls concerning landlord harassment in the last few years. They see landlords shutting off utilities, changing locks, or threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement in order to intimidate tenants into leaving their unit.
As the rental market shifted and eviction moratoriums and tenant aid ran out, harassment cases became more common. Shanti Singh, a spokesperson for Tenants Together, explains that the organization’s hotline has been overwhelmed with calls through the pandemic. “Harassment really, really went up during COVID from the beginning, but especially as the rent relief program sort of wore on and people were waiting.”
While proponents of these ordinances argue their necessity to protect tenants in these cities, landlord advocates are pushing back against new policies, claiming that they aren’t needed in addition to the statewide laws already in place. If landlords break state anti-harassment law under California Civil Code 1940.2, a tenant who prevails can be awarded a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation, on top of actual damages and attorney fees. Local bans are adding further penalties on top of that state floor:
- California (Civil Code 1940.2): civil penalty up to $2,000 per violation, plus actual damages and attorney fees
- Los Angeles (Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, strengthened December 2024): civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation, mandatory triple compensatory damages, up to $5,000 more for tenants 65 or older or disabled, plus attorney fees
- Concord (Chapter 19.50): civil penalty of $2,000 to $5,000 per violation, with up to $5,000 more for elderly or disabled tenants
- Oakland (Tenant Protection Ordinance): the greater of triple actual damages or $1,000 in statutory damages, with $2,000 for elderly or disabled tenants
Under the Los Angeles ordinance, tenants may also be awarded attorney fees, damages, rent funds, and other relief should they prevail in court. Additionally, landlords found guilty of harassing someone out of a rent-stabilized apartment may be barred from charging more to the next tenant.
Joshua Howard, member of the California Apartment Association, argues that new ordinances “invite excessive penalties on landlords for making what could be considered an innocent mistake,” criticizing the broad wording of the laws and their overlapping jurisdiction. “So not only could the landlord be sued under state law, but they could also be sued now under the local law. It creates a double penalty and a second mechanism to sue the owner and impose some significant fines, fees, and penalties.”
This article is general information about California’s tenant-harassment rules, not legal advice; ordinances and penalty amounts change, so confirm the current rules for your own city before acting. Tenants weighing their options should read our guide on when a tenant can legally break a lease, and owners who want to stay compliant across the state can hand the day-to-day to a California property management team. The rules also differ sharply from state to state, as our rundown of tenant-landlord ordinances in Reno shows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as landlord harassment in California?
Landlord harassment is a knowing and willful course of conduct aimed at a specific tenant that has no lawful purpose and causes harm. Under state law and city ordinances, it can include neglecting repairs, refusing to accept lawful rent, threatening physical harm, shutting off utilities, changing locks, or threatening to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement to force a tenant out.
What are the penalties for landlord harassment in California?
Under state law, a landlord who breaks California Civil Code 1940.2 can owe a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation, plus damages and attorney fees. Local ordinances add more penalties on top of that: Los Angeles allows up to $10,000 per violation with triple damages, while Concord allows $2,000 to $5,000 per violation, and both add extra amounts for elderly or disabled tenants.
What can tenants do about landlord harassment?
Tenants can bring a civil action, including in small claims court, and may be awarded attorney fees, damages, returned rent, and other relief should they prevail. Tenants’ rights organizations also run hotlines for reporting harassment. In Los Angeles, a landlord found guilty of harassing someone out of a rent-stabilized apartment may be barred from charging more to the next tenant.