The two forms it takes
California housing regulations recognize two theories, and a case can involve either or both.
Quid pro quo
An unwelcome request or demand to engage in conduct where your submission is made a condition of housing — of getting the unit, keeping it, getting a repair, having the rent reduced, having a notice withdrawn, getting the deposit back. It does not have to be said out loud in so many words. It rarely is.
Hostile environment
Unwelcome conduct sufficiently severe or pervasive that it interferes with the availability, use, or enjoyment of your home. Comments, unwanted touching, entries into your unit, texts at night, photographs, watching. Importantly, the regulation makes clear that a single sufficiently severe incident can be enough — a pattern is not required.
2 Cal. Code Regs. § 12120; Gov. Code § 12955(a)
Who can be held responsible
People often assume the only person who can be sued is the individual who did it. Under California law the net is wider.
- The owner — broadly defined. Government Code § 12927(e) defines “owner” to include the lessee, sublessee, assignee, managing agent, real estate broker or salesperson, and anyone with a legal or equitable right of ownership or possession or the right to rent or lease. A property manager or resident manager is an owner for these purposes.
- Anyone who aided or abetted. Government Code § 12955(g).
- The landlord, for a third party’s conduct. Federal regulation 24 C.F.R. § 100.7 imposes direct liability on a housing provider who knew or should have known about discriminatory conduct — including by another tenant — and had the power to correct it and failed to. The same regulation imposes vicarious liability for an agent or employee regardless of what the owner knew. And it says the corrective action “may not include any action that penalizes or harms the aggrieved person, such as eviction.”
The statutes that apply
Government Code § 12955(a) — FEHA
Makes it unlawful for the owner of any housing accommodation to discriminate against or harass any person because of sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation. Government Code § 12927(c)(1) confirms that “discrimination” includes harassment in connection with housing.
Civil Code § 51.9
Reaches sexual harassment in a business, service, or professional relationship — and “landlord or property manager” is named in the statute itself, at § 51.9(a)(1)(D). The conduct must be unwelcome and pervasive or severe, and must have caused economic loss or disadvantage or personal injury, including emotional distress.
Remedies run through Civil Code § 52(b): actual damages, exemplary damages in an amount set by the trier of fact, and attorney’s fees. Note that the $4,000 statutory minimum you may have read about belongs to a different subdivision and does not apply to § 51.9 claims.
Federal Fair Housing Act
HUD’s harassment rule, 24 C.F.R. § 100.600, codifies both quid pro quo and hostile environment harassment in housing. Claims run principally under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b) — the terms, conditions, privileges, and services of a rental — and § 3617 for coercion, intimidation, threats, and interference.
What the law provides
A FEHA housing case brought in court can recover actual and punitive damages, and Government Code § 12989.2 sets no dollar cap on either. Injunctive relief is available. The same is true federally under 42 U.S.C. § 3613(c)(1).
We will be straight with you about one thing that marketing copy usually skips: the fee provisions in these statutes run to the prevailing party in the court’s discretion, in either direction. Courts apply a demanding standard before awarding fees against a civil-rights plaintiff, but the statutes themselves are reciprocal, and you deserve to hear that from your lawyer rather than discover it later.
The deadlines — and one that trips people up
Housing is one year. Not three.
A FEHA housing complaint must be filed with the California Civil Rights Department within one year of the date the violation occurred or ended (Gov. Code § 12980(b)). FEHA employment complaints get three years. Different article, different clock. People conflate these constantly, and it costs them cases.
- CRD complaint: one year from the act or its termination.
- Civil lawsuit: two years from the occurrence or termination of the practice, not counting time an administrative proceeding was pending (Gov. Code § 12989.1(a)).
- You do not have to go to CRD first. Government Code § 12989.1(b): you may sue “whether or not a complaint has been filed.” One caution — if CRD obtains a conciliation agreement with your consent, that generally forecloses a separate suit on the same practice.
- HUD complaint: one year. A federal civil action: two years.
If they retaliate after you complain
Retaliation is its own violation. Government Code § 12955.7 makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with anyone for exercising fair housing rights or for helping someone else do so. Government Code § 12955(f) separately prohibits an owner from harassing, evicting, or discriminating against a person where the owner’s dominant purpose is retaliation. Federally, 42 U.S.C. § 3617 covers the same ground.
If the notices start arriving after you said no, or after you filed, that timing is evidence — and it usually strengthens the case rather than weakening it.
What talking to us is like
The call is free, and it is confidential. You are not committing to anything by making it, and no attorney–client relationship is created by the conversation or by filling out a form on this site.
We will ask what happened, when, who else knew, and what you still have — texts, voicemails, photos, notes you wrote to yourself, names of neighbors. If you are not ready to talk through all of it, that is fine; we can start with enough to tell you whether there is a claim worth pursuing.
What we will not do is pressure you. Some clients want a lawsuit. Some want the person gone and their lease left alone. Some want to know their options and then think about it. All of those are reasonable, and the decision is yours.
What you may be able to recover
What a particular case is worth depends on the facts, the conduct, the harm, and the defendant. We will not quote you a number on a phone call, and you should be skeptical of any firm that does.
This page is general information about California law, current as of August 2026, and is not legal advice. Statutes and local ordinances change, deadlines vary by claim, and several of the fee provisions discussed above run to the prevailing party in either direction. Reading this page does not create an attorney–client relationship. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer.