Official Summary Text
AB 750, as amended, Quirk-Silva.
Homeless shelters: safety regulations.
The State Housing Law, among other things, requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to adopt, amend, or repeal rules and regulations for the protection of the health, safety, and general welfare of the occupant and the public relating to specified residential structures, as provided, which apply throughout the state. Existing law requires the housing or building department of every city or county, or the health department if there is no building department, to enforce within its jurisdiction the provisions of the State Housing Law, building standards, and the other rules and regulations adopted by the department pertaining to the maintenance, sanitation, ventilation, use, or occupancy of apartment houses, hotels, or dwellings. Existing law authorizes an officer, employee, or agent of an enforcement agency to enter and inspect any building or premises whenever
necessary to secure compliance with, or prevent a violation of, specified law, including the State Housing Law. A violation of the State Housing Law, or of the building standards or rules and regulations adopted pursuant to that law, is a misdemeanor.
Existing law requires a city or county that receives a complaint from an occupant of a homeless shelter, as defined, or an agent of an occupant, alleging that a homeless shelter is substandard to inspect the homeless shelter, as specified. Existing law requires a city or county that determines a homeless shelter is substandard to issue a notice to correct the violation to the owner or operator of the homeless shelter, as specified. Existing law makes the owner or operator of a homeless shelter responsible for correcting any violation cited pursuant to these provisions.
This bill would require a city or county to additionally perform an annual inspection of every homeless
shelter located in its
jurisdiction.
jurisdiction, as prescribed.
The bill would authorize the above-described inspection or annual inspection to be announced or unannounced. The bill would require homeless shelters to prominently display notice of an occupant’s rights, the process for reporting a complaint alleging a homeless shelter is substandard, and prescribed information, including specified contact information. The bill would require the homeless shelter to provide the same notice in writing to new occupants upon intake.
Existing law authorizes a city or county to impose additional civil penalties on an owner or operator that fails to correct a violation within the required time period. Existing law prohibits a city or county from awarding or distributing any state
funding, as defined, to the owner or operator of a homeless shelter for purposes of operating the homeless shelter if, among other things, the owner or operator fails to correct a violation within the required time period. Existing law also authorizes legal action to enforce the requirements of these provisions, as specified.
This bill would entitle a plaintiff who prevails in an above-described legal action to recover reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. The bill would additionally authorize the Department of Housing and Community Development to bring a civil action to enforce these provisions.
Existing law requires each city and county to annually submit a report that provides specified information relating to inspections of homeless shelters, including a list of owners or operators of homeless shelters who received 3 or more violations within any 6-month period. If there are no outstanding violations or violations
corrected during the applicable period, existing law exempts a city or county from submitting that report. Existing law authorizes the Department of Housing and Community Development or the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency to deem an owner or operator of a shelter ineligible for state funding, as defined, for shelter operations based on the information provided in the report.
This bill would, instead, require a city or county to submit a report each year, regardless of whether the city or county received any complaints, and to include in its annual report the number of complaints received by the city or county that year, including if the city or county did not receive any complaints. The bill would require the department to withhold state funding from a city or county that fails to comply with its reporting requirements or fails to take action to correct a violation by a homeless shelter.
By adding to the
duties of local officials with respect to enforcement of the State Housing Law, the violation of which is a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.