A San Francisco ordinance that allowed school-age tenants and teacher tenants a defense to non-default eviction actions during the school year was not preempted by state law.  The ordinance was based on findings that no-fault evictions for such things as owner repairs, owner move-ins or withdrawal of units from the rental market disrupted children’s education.  The ordinance was not preempted by the state’s unlawful detainer statutes since they dealt with procedure whereas the ordinance created a new temporary substantive defense to certain types of evictions.

 California Court of Appeal (Simons, J.); February 14, 2018; 2018 WL 852086.