Cal. Gov. Code § 12981
Housing Discrimination
Redline — January 1, 2011 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2025
As of January 1, 2011
(a) In the case of failure to eliminate a violation of Section 12955, 12955.1, or 12955.7 that has occurred, or is about to occur, through conference, conciliation, and persuasion, or in advance thereof if circumstances warrant, the director shall cause to be issued in the name of the department, notwithstanding Section 12971, a written accusation, in the same manner and with the same powers as provided in Section 12965, except that where the provisions of this article provide greater rights and remedies to an aggrieved person than Section 12965, the provisions of this article shall prevail. An accusation alleging an unfair housing practice shall be issued within 100 days after the filing of a complaint unless it is impracticable to do so. The accusation shall require the respondent to answer the charges at an administrative hearing or civil trial as elected by the parties pursuant to Section 12989. Any aggrieved person may intervene as a matter of right in the proceeding, and the appeal or other judicial review of that proceeding.
(a) (1) In the case of failure to eliminate a violation of Section 12955, 12955.1, or 12955.7 that has occurred, or is about to occur, through conference, conciliation, mediation, or persuasion, or in advance thereof if circumstances warrant, the director shall bring a civil action in the name of the department, acting in the public interest, on behalf of the aggrieved person as a real party in interest, notwithstanding Section 12971, in the same manner and with the same powers as provided in Section 12965, except that where the provisions of this article provide greater rights and remedies to an aggrieved person than Section 12965, the provisions of this article shall prevail.
(2) Prior to filing a civil action pursuant to paragraph (1), the department shall require all parties to participate in the department’s mandatory dispute resolution division free of charge to the parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without litigation.
(3) A civil action brought pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be filed within 100 days after the filing of a complaint unless it is impracticable to do so. This deadline to file a civil action pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be tolled during a mandatory or voluntary dispute resolution proceeding commencing on the date the department refers the case to its dispute resolution division and ending on the date the department’s dispute resolution division closes its mediation record and returns the case to the division that referred it.
(4) Any aggrieved person may intervene as a matter of right in the proceeding, and the appeal or other judicial review of that proceeding.
(b) If the department determines that an allegation concerns the legality of any zoning or other land use law or ordinance, the department or the Attorney General shall take appropriate action with respect to the complaint according to the procedures established in this part for other complaints of housing discrimination.
(b) If the department determines that an allegation concerns the legality of any zoning or other land use law or ordinance, the department or the Attorney General shall take appropriate action with respect to the complaint according to the procedures established in this part for other complaints of housing discrimination.
(c) The commission shall hold hearings on accusations issued pursuant to subdivision (a) in the same manner and with the same powers as provided in Sections 12967 to 12972, inclusive, except that where the provisions of this article provide greater rights and remedies to an aggrieved person than do Sections 12967 to 12972, inclusive, the provisions of this article shall prevail. The commission shall make final administrative disposition of a complaint alleging unfair housing practices within one year of the date of filing of the complaint, unless it is impracticable to do so. If the department is unable to make final administrative disposition of a complaint within one year, it shall notify the complainant and the respondent, in writing, of its reasons for not doing so.
(c) Within one year of the effective date of every final order or decision issued pursuant to this part, the department shall conduct a compliance review to determine whether the order or decision has been fully obeyed and implemented.
(d) Whenever the department has reasonable cause to believe that a respondent has breached a conciliation agreement signed by the department, the department shall initiate a civil action to enforce the agreement.
(f) If the time for judicial review of a final commission order or decision has lapsed, or if all means of judicial review have been exhausted, the department may apply to the superior court in any county in which an action could have been brought under subdivision (b) of Section 12965 for the enforcement of the order or decision or order as modified in accordance with a decision on judicial review. If, after a hearing, the court determines that an order or decision has been issued by the commission and that either the time limits for judicial review have lapsed, or the order or decision was upheld in whole or in part on judicial review, the court shall issue a judgment and order enforcing the order or decision or order as modified in accordance with a decision on judicial review. The court shall not review the merits of the order or decision. The court’s judgment shall be nonappealable and shall have the same force and effect as, and shall be subject to all the provisions of law relating to, a judgment in a civil action.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.