The apartment was the plan. Now the apartment is the problem, and the lease runs until next August. California answered this one in the Civil Code, and the answer includes your therapist.
The short answer: yes. Under Civil Code §1946.7, a tenant who is — or whose household member or immediate family member is — a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder or dependent adult abuse, or a crime involving bodily injury, a deadly weapon or force, may end the tenancy by written notice.¹ The notice must be given within 180 days of the act, of a protective order, or of a police report, and must attach one of four things: a court order, a police report, a statement on the statutory form signed by a "qualified third party" — which includes a psychologist, a licensed clinical social worker, an LMFT or an LPCC — or any other documentation that reasonably verifies the act.¹ After that, the tenant is "responsible for payment of rent for no more than 14 calendar days following the giving of the notice," cannot be made to forfeit the security deposit or advance rent, and "shall not be considered for any purpose, by reason of the termination, to have breached the lease."¹ The landlord may not disclose what you gave them, and may not refuse to rent to you later because you used this section.¹
Who can use it
The tenant, where the tenant, "a household member," or "an immediate family member" was the victim of one of the listed acts.¹ One condition applies to the last group: where the victim is an immediate family member who did not live with you, and the act did not happen in or within 1,000 feet of the unit, the notice must also include your written statement that you intend to relocate for your own safety or well-being.¹ The list is long on purpose: domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, human trafficking, elder abuse, dependent adult abuse, and "a crime that caused bodily injury or death," or one in which a firearm or other deadly weapon was used or exhibited, or in which force or a threat of force was used against the victim.¹ The person responsible need not have been arrested, charged or convicted; the documents that unlock the section are about what happened to you, not about what happened to them.
The four documents
Written notice, with any one of these attached:¹
- A court order — a temporary restraining order, emergency protective order, or other protective order issued under the Family Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Penal Code or the Welfare and Institutions Code, protecting the tenant, household member or family member.
- A police report — a copy of a written report by a peace officer stating that the tenant, household member or family member "has filed a report alleging" that they are a victim of one of the listed acts.
- A qualified third party's statement, on the form set out in the statute, signed by the tenant and by the third party. "Qualified third party" means "a health practitioner, domestic violence counselor, as defined in Section 1037.1 of the Evidence Code, a sexual assault counselor, as defined in Section 1035.2 of the Evidence Code, or a human trafficking caseworker, as defined in Section 1038.2 of the Evidence Code." And "health practitioner" means "a physician and surgeon, osteopathic physician and surgeon, psychiatrist, psychologist, registered nurse, licensed clinical social worker, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed professional clinical counselor, or a victim of violent crime advocate."
- Any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the act occurred.
Route 3 is the one most people do not know exists. If you are already seeing a therapist, the therapist can sign. The form asks the third party to confirm what you told them, "based on information received by that third party while acting in the third party's professional capacity," indicating that you are "seeking assistance for physical or mental injuries or abuse resulting from" the act: "The person who signed the Statement By Tenant above stated to me that the person, or a member of the person's household or immediate family, is a victim of" the act, and stated when it occurred.¹ It is a statement of what you told a professional you were seeking help from, not a diagnosis. The perpetrator's name is asked for only "if known and safe to provide."¹
The clock
Notice must be given "within 180 days of the date that any order described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) was issued, within 180 days of the date that any written report described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) was made, within 180 days of the date that an act or a crime described in subdivision (a) occurred," or within the ordinary notice period for a periodic tenancy.¹ Three separate starting points, and the latest one available to you is the one that counts in practice — a police report filed six months after the act restarts the clock from the report.
What you owe after notice
Rent "for no more than 14 calendar days following the giving of the notice," and then the tenant is "released without penalty from any further rent or other payment obligation."¹ If you have already paid beyond that, the landlord owes it back. The landlord may not keep the security deposit or advance rent as the price of leaving.¹ And the tenant "shall not be considered for any purpose, by reason of the termination, to have breached the lease or rental agreement"¹ — which is the sentence to quote if a later landlord's screening report says otherwise.
What happens to the others on the lease
The section releases the victim-tenant and "members of that tenant's household," and nobody else: "This section does not relieve a tenant, other than the tenant who is, or who has a household member or immediate family member who is, a victim ... and members of that tenant's household, from their obligations under the lease or rental agreement."¹ If the person who harmed you is a co-tenant, they stay bound; you leave.
What the landlord may and may not do
"A landlord shall not disclose any information provided by a tenant under this section to a third party unless" the tenant consents in writing or the disclosure "is required by law or order of the court"; checking the documentation with the qualified third party who signed it is not a disclosure.¹ An owner or an owner's agent also "shall not refuse to rent a dwelling unit to an otherwise qualified prospective tenant or refuse to continue to rent to an existing tenant solely on the basis that the tenant has previously exercised the tenant's rights under this section."¹ A landlord who violates the section is liable for actual damages plus statutory damages "of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) and not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000)" — except that statutory damages are not available where the only documentation given was the fourth, catch-all kind.¹
If you want to stay, not leave
The same body of law works the other way too. A landlord must "change the locks of the eligible tenant's dwelling unit upon written request" within 24 hours of receiving the same kind of documentation,² and "shall not terminate a tenancy or fail to renew a tenancy based on an act of abuse or violence" against the tenant or a household member, provided the person responsible does not live in the unit and the documentation is supplied.³ Both are different sections with their own conditions and are worth a legal-aid consultation before you act. This page is about the door out.
The therapy piece
A therapist signing the statutory form is not testifying and is not breaking confidentiality — the tenant signs first and hands the form to the landlord. What the therapist confirms is narrow: that, in their professional capacity, you told them you were seeking help for injuries or abuse from the act, and when you said it happened. Expect a clinician to want that conversation in session rather than by email, and to keep a copy in your record. Is therapy confidential? → · Time off work after domestic violence →
Q&A
Q: Do I have to give 30 days' notice? A: No. Written notice with one of the four documents ends the tenancy, and the rent obligation stops 14 calendar days after the notice is given.¹
Q: My therapist is an associate, not licensed. Can they sign? A: The "health practitioner" definition lists licensed clinicians and psychologists; an associate's supervisor can sign, and so can a domestic violence counsellor, sexual assault counsellor, victim advocate or human trafficking caseworker — on their organisation's letterhead, which the statute requires for those signers.¹
Q: Does the abuser have to be named? A: No. The form asks for the name only "if known and safe to provide."¹
Q: It happened a year ago. Am I out of time? A: The 180 days can run from a later protective order or police report, not only from the act.¹ A new restraining order restarts the clock.
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Sources
Cal. Civil Code §1946.7 — subdivision (a), who may terminate and the list of qualifying acts; subdivision (b), the four forms of documentation, the statutory Tenant Statement and Qualified Third Party Statement, and "if known and safe to provide"; the 180-day rule; the 14-calendar-day rent limit, release "without penalty," the security-deposit and advance-rent protection, and the not-a-breach sentence; subdivision (g), other tenants remain bound; subdivision (h), the definitions of "qualified third party" and "health practitioner"; subdivision (c), the relocation statement where the victim is a non-resident family member; subdivision (i), the landlord's confidentiality duty and the verification carve-out; subdivision (j), the bar on refusing to rent; subdivision (k), damages of $100 to $5,000 and the exception for catch-all documentation — california.public.law; definitions and form text also read at law.justia.com.
Cal. Civil Code §1941.5 — the landlord's duty to change the locks "not later than 24 hours after" a written request with documentation from a protected tenant — california.public.law.
Cal. Code of Civil Procedure §1161.3 — "A landlord shall not terminate a tenancy or fail to renew a tenancy based on an act of abuse or violence" against the tenant or a household member, on the stated documentation, where the person responsible is not a tenant of the same unit — california.public.law.
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