(a)Section 51 shall be construed to prohibit a business establishment from discriminating in the sale or rental of housing based upon age. Where accommodations are designed to meet the physical and social needs of senior citizens, a business establishment may establish and preserve that housing for senior citizens, pursuant to Section 51.3, except housing as to which Section 51.3 is preempted by the prohibition in the federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
(Public Law 100-430) and implementing regulations against discrimination on the basis of familial status. For accommodations constructed before February 8, 1982, that meet all the criteria for senior citizen housing specified in Section 51.3, a business establishment may establish and preserve that housing development for senior citizens without the housing development being designed to meet physical and social needs of senior citizens.
(b)This section is intended to clarify the holdings in Marina Point, Ltd. v. Wolfson (1982) 30 Cal.3d 72 and O’Connor v. Village Green Owners Association (1983) 33 Cal.3d 790.
(c)This section shall not apply to the County of Riverside.
(d)A housing development for senior citizens constructed on or after January 1, 2001, shall be presumed to be designed to meet the physical and
social needs of senior citizens if it includes all of the following elements:
(1)Entryways, walkways, and hallways in the common areas of the development, and doorways and paths of access to and within the housing units, shall be as wide as required by current laws applicable to new multifamily housing construction for provision of access to persons using a standard-width wheelchair.
(2)Walkways and hallways in the common areas of the development shall be equipped with standard height railings or grab bars to assist persons who have difficulty with walking.
(3)Walkways and hallways in the common areas shall have lighting conditions which are of sufficient brightness to assist persons who have difficulty seeing.
(4)Access to all common areas and
housing units within the development shall be provided without use of stairs, either by means of an elevator or sloped walking ramps.
(5)The development shall be designed to encourage social contact by providing at least one common room and at least some common open space.
(6)Refuse collection shall be provided in a manner that requires a minimum of physical exertion by residents.
(7)The development shall comply with all other applicable requirements for access and design imposed by law, including, but not limited to, the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601 et seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.), and the regulations promulgated at Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations that relate to access for persons with disabilities or handicaps. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit or reduce any right or obligation applicable under those laws.
(e)Selection preferences based on age, imposed in connection with a federally approved housing program, do not constitute age discrimination in housing.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
20
cases (
3 in the last 5 years), 1986–2024 · leading case:
Stevenson v. Superior Court, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6918 (Cal. 1997).
Stevenson v. Superior Court, 97 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 6918 (Cal. 1997).
· cites it 4× “, Civ. Code, § 51.2 [housing]; Gov. Code, § 11135 [state-funded programs]; id.”
Harris v. Capital Growth Investors XIV, 805 P.2d 873 (Cal. 1991).
· cites it 2× “" (Civ. Code, § 51.2, subd. (b).) The only exception the Legislature made in adopting the holdings of Marina Point and O'Connor was to allow for senior citizen housing in Civil Code section 51.”
Travis v. Cnty. of Santa Cruz, 94 P.3d 538 (Cal. 2004).
· cites it 2× “They further contend the Ordinance's occupancy restrictions violate, or command the property owner to violate, statutory guarantees of nondiscrimination in housing found in the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ.Code, § 51.2), Government Code section 65008, and the Fair Employment and…”
Gibson v. Cnty. of Riverside, 181 F. Supp. 2d 1057 (C.D. Cal. 2002).
· cites it 2× “See Cal. Civ. Code § 51.2 (stating that the intent of section 51.”
Huntington Landmark Adult Cmty. Ass'n v. Ross, 213 Cal. App. 3d 1012 (Cal. Ct. App. 1989).
· cites it 2× “" (Civ. Code, § 51.2, subd. (a).) A senior citizen was defined as "a person 62 years of age or older, or 55 years of age or older in a senior citizen housing development.”
Costa Serena Owners Coalition v. Costa Serena Architectural Comm., 175 Cal. App. 4th 1175 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009).
“8 Without explaining the relevance of the issue, the Coalition raises a question in its brief on appeal as to the legality of the age restriction in the DoR, suggesting that Costa Serena’s age restriction may be illegal under the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Civ. Code, § 51.2)…”
Garcia v. City of Merced, 637 F. Supp. 2d 731 (E.D. Cal. 2008).
“California Civil Code § 51.2(b) permits an individual whose “exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the .”
Rose v. City of Los Angeles, 814 F. Supp. 878 (C.D. Cal. 1993).
“Code § 526a, which provides: An action to obtain a judgment, restraining and preventing any illegal expenditure of, waste of, or injury to, the estate, funds, or other property of a county, town, city or city and county of the state, may be maintained against any officer…”
Llanos v. Est. of Coehlo, 24 F. Supp. 2d 1052 (E.D. Cal. 1998).
“” California Civil Code § 51.2(a). 8 . "Although they are administrative decisions, HUD is the federal agency charged by Congress with interpreting and enforcing the Act, and it has special expertise in housing discrimination.”
Colony Cove Assocs. v. Brown, 220 Cal. App. 3d 195 (Cal. Ct. App. 1990).
· cites it 3× “Most significantly, the amendments to the Unruh Act which address age-based discrimination in housing, Civil Code sections 51.2 and 51.3, 3 reflect a legislative intent specifically to exclude mobilehome parks from the reach of the act.”
Taylor v. Rancho Santa Barbara, 206 F.3d 932 (9th Cir. 2000).
· cites it 2× “California’s Mobi-lehome Residency Law (MRL) authorizes management of a mobile home park to limit residence on the basis of age, provided that the age restriction complies with the FHA.”
— Cal. Civil Code § 51.2(a) — 1 case
Llanos v. Est. of Coehlo, 24 F. Supp. 2d 1052 (E.D. Cal. 1998).
“” California Civil Code § 51.2(a). 8 . "Although they are administrative decisions, HUD is the federal agency charged by Congress with interpreting and enforcing the Act, and it has special expertise in housing discrimination.”
— Cal. Civil Code § 51.2(b) — 2 cases
Garcia v. City of Merced, 637 F. Supp. 2d 731 (E.D. Cal. 2008).
“California Civil Code § 51.2(b) permits an individual whose “exercise or enjoyment of rights secured by the .”
Rose v. City of Los Angeles, 814 F. Supp. 878 (C.D. Cal. 1993).
“Code § 526a, which provides: An action to obtain a judgment, restraining and preventing any illegal expenditure of, waste of, or injury to, the estate, funds, or other property of a county, town, city or city and county of the state, may be maintained against any officer…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.