A recent California Appellate Court decision provided tenants with additional protections when it clarified that local rent control laws applied to a single-family home in which the landlord[1] rented rooms in the home to separate tenants despite the landlord’s belief that single-family homes were excepted from rent control laws. Specifically, in Owens v. City of Oakland Housing, Residential Rent and Relocation Board (“Owens”), Division Three of the First District of the California Court of Appeal clarified that the landlord’s argument that an exception to local rent control laws found in the Costa-Hawkins Housing Act (“Costa-Hawkins”) did not apply.
Continue Reading Make No Mistake – Rent Control Laws Apply To Single-Family Homes
Head’s Up: Changes Made to Civil Code Section 1542
Civil Code section 1542 waivers are commonly included in a myriad of transactional documents and typically coupled with “as is” provisions. In essence, absent an express waiver of Section 1542 in a contract, the releasing party does not release any unknown claims.
Continue Reading Head’s Up: Changes Made to Civil Code Section 1542