Los Angeles Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance: An Owner Guide

Los Angeles rental owners need to pay attention to how a tenancy is managed, including repairs, entry, rent payments and communication. The City's Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance addresses a landlord's bad faith conduct directed at particular residents that causes harm. Its reach includes property managers and representatives, as well as owners.

The ordinance took effect August 6, 2021. Amendments effective December 29, 2024 expanded its protections and changed civil remedies. This article updates the original 2021 report using the current City code and official guidance reviewed in October 2026. The original publication date remains above.

Which properties and people does the City ordinance cover?

The City's definitions in LAMC section 45.32 cover residential rental housing within the City of Los Angeles, including apartments, rented single-family homes and condominiums. Coverage is broader than the City's rent-stabilized housing inventory. A Los Angeles mailing address alone doesn't establish that a property is within the City; confirm its jurisdiction before applying local rules.

This is a City residential ordinance. A commercial lease, a rental in another incorporated city, or a property in unincorporated Los Angeles County needs its own applicable-law review. The City and County have different rules.

What conduct can constitute tenant harassment?

LAMC section 45.33 defines bad faith as willful, reckless or grossly negligent conduct. The definition requires conduct directed at a specific resident or residents that causes detriment or harm. The section's examples include:

• Withdrawing required housing services, or failing to complete legally required repairs and maintenance. The service provision has exceptions for specified court orders, laws and additional housing; repair work also has applicable standards for limiting harmful exposure to building materials.
• Abusing access, photographing areas outside a lawful entry's scope, or interfering with use, quiet enjoyment or habitability.
• Threatening physical harm, coercing a move-out through payments, misrepresenting a duty to leave, or using tenancy-termination allegations without reasonable grounds to believe them.
• Refusing lawful rent or rental-assistance payments, including the facilitation required by the provision.
• Immigration-status inquiries or disclosures, prohibited discrimination, interference with resident organizing, and privacy violations. The privacy provision preserves information requests authorized by law.
• Imposing new material tenancy terms outside the section's specified exceptions, or repeated significant interference intended or likely to make a resident surrender tenancy rights.

Read the full section before applying an example to an actual dispute. It contains conditions that a short list cannot replace, including a favorable-termination requirement for liability under the provision concerning an action to recover possession. A disagreement or complaint alone doesn't establish a violation.

Entry notices need a real purpose and a workable time window

California Civil Code section 1954 limits the purposes for entering a dwelling and prohibits using access to harass. Written notice is generally required, with statutory exceptions. It should state the date, approximate time and purpose. Twenty-four hours is generally presumed reasonable in the absence of contrary evidence; it isn't a substitute for the section's other requirements.

The City's amended ordinance also addresses specific entry practices, such as stating the actual justification, reasonably coordinating with the resident's schedule, avoiding an excessive time window, notifying the resident of a cancellation, and limiting requests to what the stated reason reasonably supports. The 2024 amending ordinance provides those details.

For example, a scheduled kitchen-plumbing repair needs a record of the reported problem, the authorized purpose of entry and the arrangement with the contractor. If the appointment is canceled, tell the resident. Keep photographs relevant to the repair. This is a practical illustration, not a finding about a particular visit.

Civil remedies and criminal penalties have different conditions

Under LAMC section 45.35, a resident who prevails in court is awarded three times compensatory damages, reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and civil penalties between $2,000 and $10,000 per violation, depending on severity. Applicable housing-service rent refunds, relocation and other court-ordered relief may also be included. The $10,000 figure is not an automatic fine for every complaint.

If the prevailing resident was older than 65 or disabled when the conduct occurred, the court may impose additional civil penalties up to $5,000 per violation. For a civil or small-claims case alleging the repair or maintenance violation in section 45.33.2, section 45.35 generally requires written notice and failure to remedy within a reasonable time. Its exception removes the waiting period for intentional conduct showing willful disregard for residents' comfort, safety or well-being. That condition does not create a general right to delay repairs.

Section 45.36 separately allows infraction or misdemeanor prosecution. A misdemeanor conviction can carry up to $1,000 per offense, up to six months in County jail, or both, as determined by the court. Criminal consequences require the applicable process; an allegation alone is not a conviction.

Section 45.34 also provides an affirmative defense in qualifying possession and other actions involving harassment. Section 45.39 preserves lawful evictions through appropriate legal means. Neither provision resolves an individual notice or case from a blog description.

The old County COVID moratorium is separate

The original article referred to a County eviction-moratorium extension through September 30 during the pandemic. That reference should not be used as today's deadline. The County's official COVID protections guidance states that its resolution expired March 31, 2023, while explaining protections that survived for specified circumstances. Expiration did not remove every permanent or surviving protection. Check the property, relevant dates and applicable City, County and state rules.

There is also a newer development-related consequence to review. LAHD's landlord and developer guidance describes an Anti-Harassment Violators Database with an operative date of August 20, 2026. Qualifying final judgments or citations can lead to beneficial-owner designation and demolition or approval restrictions, subject to the governing thresholds and exceptions. Owners planning development should read that separate guidance rather than assume every complaint triggers a permit restriction.

Keep a usable record of the management work

A repair file should let someone reconstruct what happened. Preserve the resident's original report, its date, the condition described, access arrangements, contractor findings, work performed and remaining follow-up. A completion note should explain the result. Coastline's habitability guide explains the separate condition standards and repair-remedy qualifications.

Suppose a resident reports a recurring ceiling leak. A photo of fresh paint won't tell the next manager whether the leak source was repaired. Keep the inspection findings and repair scope, then record the follow-up observation and communication. If access or a part is still unresolved, show that in the file. Don't label an open problem complete.

For a payment dispute, retain the ledger, the attempted payment information and the response given. For a proposed change in tenancy terms or a move-out discussion, preserve the actual communication and applicable agreement. Someone taking over the account should be able to see the facts without relying on a staff member's memory. These are operating recommendations; they don't decide liability or authorize a notice, payment concession or tenancy change.

Match the next step to your role

Owners who need help coordinating repairs, resident communication and property records can request a property management review. Bring the property's jurisdiction and the issue you need help organizing. Residents looking into a harassment concern can start with the City code and LAHD guidance linked above. A specific claim, defense or deadline needs review of the actual facts and applicable rules.