California Assembly Bill (AB) 2093 officially went into effect as of the New Year, requiring landlords to state on every lease whether or not a property has been determined to meet all accessibility standards per a Certified Access Specialist (CASp). The new update now requires additional disclosure language, amending the existing disability access law Senant Bill (SB) 1186.
In summary, the new law does the following:
- Requires a commercial property owner to provide the tenant with a current disability access inspection certificate and inspection report, or a copy of a CASp inspection report, if such a report has been issued, indicating that the property meets applicable standards.
- If the property has not been issued a disability access inspection certificate, the bill requires a statement on the lease form stating that, upon request of the tenant, the property owner may not prohibit a CASp inspection and that the parties must mutually agree on the arrangements for the time and manner of the inspection, the payment of the inspection fee, and the cost of making repairs.
- Establishes a presumption that making repairs necessary to correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards that are noted in a CASp report is the responsibility of the commercial property owner unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties to the lease.
- Grants a prospective tenant the opportunity to review any CASp report prior to execution of the lease, and if the report is not provided at least 48 hours prior to execution of a lease, the bill grants a prospective tenant the right to rescind the lease, based upon information in the report, for 72 hours after execution.
It is important to note that AB 2093 does not require a CASp inspection, only seeks to clearly provide the language and framework regarding how accessibility concerns should be addressed between the owner/landlord and tenant, so that future lawsuits can be avoided.
Summary points as provided by Hamill Law & Consulting.