By Vanguard Staff
OAKLAND, CA — As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) steps up enforcement actions in California, Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a stark warning to landlords across the state: housing discrimination against immigrant tenants is illegal and will not be tolerated.
Bonta’s consumer alert comes amid rising fears among immigrant communities, as the federal government continues its campaign of mass deportation. The Attorney General emphasized that no one, regardless of immigration status, should be denied safe housing or be threatened with eviction due to their nationality, language, or legal status.
“Families across the country are experiencing fear and uncertainty as a result of President Trump’s inhumane immigration agenda,” Bonta said. “Today, I remind landlords that it is illegal in California to discriminate against tenants or to harass or retaliate against a tenant by disclosing their immigration status to law enforcement.”
Under California law, it is unlawful for landlords to treat tenants differently based on protected characteristics such as national origin, primary language, or citizenship status. That includes refusing to rent to someone because they speak Spanish or Chinese, falsely claiming a unit is unavailable, charging higher rents, or issuing eviction notices for discriminatory reasons. The law also prohibits landlords from threatening to report tenants to ICE or from disclosing immigration status to coerce them into moving out.
Bonta further reminded landlords that they are required to provide tenants with written leases in a language the tenant can understand if they negotiated the rental in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean. This includes leases that last longer than a month and documents that substantially change the terms, such as rent increases. Violations of these protections can result in serious penalties, including damages of up to twelve times the monthly rent for retaliatory disclosure of immigration status.
The Attorney General’s office also offered guidance to landlords about how to respond if approached by immigration authorities. Bonta clarified that landlords are not obligated to comply with ICE unless agents present a federal court warrant signed by a judge. Administrative ICE warrants or subpoenas are not sufficient to compel disclosure of tenant information without further legal review. However, landlords were cautioned not to physically interfere with immigration enforcement activities.
The alert comes on the heels of Bonta’s lawsuit against a group of property management and real estate companies owned by Mike Nijjar and members of his family. According to the lawsuit, the Nijjar group controls over 22,000 rental units in low-income communities across California and has been accused of systemic legal violations. Those include renting out unsafe units, refusing to rent to voucher-holders, inflating rent, using deceptive lease agreements, and failing to provide required lease translations. Tenants were allegedly misled about their rights and intimidated into staying silent.
Tenants familiar with Nijjar properties may recognize management company names such as PAMA Management, I E Rental Homes, Bridge Management, Golden Management, Equity Management, Hightower Management, Legacy Management, Mobile Management, Pro Management, and Regency Management. The Attorney General’s office is actively encouraging current or former tenants with relevant information to share their experiences by submitting complaints online at oag.ca.gov/report.
California tenants concerned about their rights or facing eviction are urged to seek legal assistance. Free or low-cost legal aid may be available through local nonprofit organizations.
Bonta reaffirmed his office’s commitment to protecting vulnerable Californians during a period of national instability and fear. “California tenants — no matter their immigration status — have a right to safe housing and to access housing documents in a language they can understand,” he said. “I will use the full force of my office to go after those who seek to take advantage of California tenants during an already challenging time.”
