Housing Laws

Your landlord cannot state in your lease that you are unable to call the police. Specifically, your lease cannot include any language that would ban or limit you, another resident, or another person’s right to call law enforcement or emergency assistance for:

• a victim of abuse;
• a victim of crime; or
• a person in an emergency.

The person who calls the police must believe that law enforcement or emergency assistance is needed to:

• prevent or deal with an act of abuse, a crime, or an emergency; or
• stop the heightening or worsening of an act of abuse, a crime, or an emergency.¹

If your landlord does include language in your lease that would keep you from calling law enforcement or emergency assistance, it will be void and unenforceable.¹

¹ Cal.Civ.Code § 1946.8(b)