LAS_Impact_Report_2017

The Impact of Advocacy:
California AB 291 strengthens
protection for tenants
This year, California Assembly Bill 291, The Immigrant Tenant
Protection Act, passed the state legislature, and was signed
into law by Governor Brown in October. The Act strengthens
state law to protect immigrant tenants from intimidation and
retaliation in their homes.
Immigrant tenants live in a climate of increasing fear of
government enforcement action that may be taken against
them at any time. This fear can be held over their heads by
unscrupulous landlords who assume that their immigrant
tenants will be afraid to report abusive actions—extreme rent
increases, threats of illegal eviction, or refusal to maintain the
property in livable conditions—if they are threatened with
being reported to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
"Tenants should not have to live in fear simply because they are immigrants or refugees," says
bill sponsor Assemblymember David Chiu. "Trump's escalating war on immigrants is ripping
apart families, and mass deportations could be our new reality. This bill will deter the small
minority of landlords who unscrupulously take advantage of the real or perceived immigration
status of their tenants to engage in abusive acts."
"We have seen an alarming increase in national origin/immigration status discrimination felt
by tenants since the election," says Legal Aid Housing Project Coordinator Andreina Leon, "a
fear that can be exploited by landlords wishing to pressure tenants to accept rent increases, or
eviction, without formal legal process."
Legal Aid Directing Attorney Shirley Gibson contributed data and testimony in support of
the bill, and she is pleased that these tenant protections have become law: "AB 291 is a
commonsense bill that responds directly to the abuses most commonly reported by Legal Aid
clients. Its safeguards are especially necessary given that most undocumented Californians
are renters."