AB 863 (Kalra D) Residential rental properties: language requirements.

Current Text: Amended: 7/3/2025 
Last Amend: 7/3/2025
Status: 7/16/2025-From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 2.) (July
15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Location: 7/16/2025-S. APPR.
Summary: Would require a landlord in an action for unlawful detainer to remove a tenant from a
residential property to attach to the complaint a copy of the complaint in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog,
Vietnamese, or Korean if (1) the parties negotiated the lease agreement in one of those languages, or
(2) the landlord was previously notified by the tenant or anyone acting on the tenant’s behalf that the
tenant’s primary language is one of those languages. The bill would also require that summonses in
those civil cases be in one of those languages if either of those conditions is true, and if a copy of the
summons in that language is available on the California Courts website. The bill also provides that, if a
landlord fails to attach a copy of the complaint in a required language or to provide a summons in a
required language in addition to providing an English version of the summons, either of those failures
is an affirmative defense in specified actions.