(a) Any ordinance, resolution, regulation, or administrative action adopted by a city, county, or city and county in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect tenants from eviction is subject to all of the following:

(1) Any extension, expansion, renewal, reenactment, or new adoption of a measure, however delineated, that occurs between August 19, 2020, and June 30, 2022, shall have no effect before July 1, 2022.

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(2) Any provision which allows a tenant a specified period of time in which to repay COVID-19 rental debt shall be subject to all of the following:

(A) If the provision in effect on August 19, 2020, required the repayment period to commence on a specific date on or before August 1, 2022, any extension of that date made after August 19, 2020, shall have no effect.

(B) If the provision in effect on August 19, 2020, required the repayment period to commence on a specific date after August 1, 2022, or conditioned commencement of the repayment period on the termination of a proclamation of state of emergency or local emergency, the repayment period is deemed to begin on August 1, 2022.

(C) The specified period of time during which a tenant is permitted to repay COVID-19 rental debt may not extend beyond the period that was in effect on August 19, 2020. In addition, a provision may not permit a tenant a period of time that extends beyond August 31, 2023, to repay COVID-19 rental debt.

(b) This section does not alter a city, county, or city and county’s authority to extend, expand, renew, reenact, or newly adopt an ordinance that requires just cause for termination of a residential tenancy or amend existing ordinances that require just cause for termination of a residential tenancy, consistent with subdivision (g) of Section 1946.2, provided that a provision enacted or amended after August 19, 2020, shall not apply to rental payments that came due between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2022.

(c) The one-year limitation provided in subdivision (2) of Section 1161 is tolled during any time period that a landlord is or was prohibited by any ordinance, resolution, regulation, or administrative action adopted by a city, county, or city and county in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect tenants from eviction based on nonpayment of rental payments from serving a notice that demands payment of COVID-19 rental debt pursuant to subdivision (e) of § 798.56 of the Civil Code or paragraph (2) of Section 1161.

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that this section be applied retroactively to August 19, 2020.

(e) The Legislature finds and declares that this section addresses a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair as that term is used in § 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. Therefore, this section applies to all cities, including charter cities.

(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that the purpose of this section is to protect individuals negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that this section does not provide the Legislature’s understanding of the legal validity on any specific ordinance, resolution, regulation, or administrative action adopted by a city, county, or city and county in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect tenants from eviction.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 13, Sec. 2. (AB 2179) Effective March 31, 2022. Repealed as of October 1, 2025, pursuant to Section 1179.07.)