get help

The best way to defend yourself against predatory landlords is to join the union and organize with your neighbors!

Below you’ll find quick tips for common issues. Also check out the tenant tools for more resources.

To organize with your neighbors and fight to secure safe and dignified homes, reach out to SVTU for support!

get help

The best way to defend yourself against predatory landlords is to join the union and organize with your neighbors! Below you’ll find quick tips for common issues. Also check out the tenant tools for more resources. To organize with your neighbors and fight to secure safe and dignified homes, reach out to SVTU for support!

QUICK TIPS FOR COMMON ISSUES:

NOTE: We are not lawyers, and this information is not legal advice.

All evictions must go through the court process, and even after a court decision against you, the ONLY person who can physically remove you from your home is the sheriff, not the landlord.Prior to a sheriff’s lockout, your landlord is never allowed to personally change your locks, move your belongings outside of your home, or cut off your utilities. Doing any of these things is a criminal offense.

If you receive a Summons & Complaint, you must file an answer within 10 days or you may automatically lose your case. Use the Tenant Power Toolkit, either on the website or with volunteer support at an SVTU meeting. The court also has an Unlawful Detainer Advisory Clinic that can assist with filling out answer paperwork.

There are many different types of notices depending on where you are in the eviction process and how the landlord is trying to evict you. Check out the Eviction Process section in our Tenant Handbook or the California Court’s Eviction Process for Tenants to learn more. If you’re not sure whether an eviction has been filed against you, you can call the court to check at (916) 875-7746.

Landlords are required by state law to provide habitable premises, which means everything works, no mold, no pests. Landlords usually can’t charge you for most repairs. If you are dealing with bad conditions, your neighbors probably are, too. Ask them about it and try to file complaints at the same time. You are more likely to get results by working together.

Notify your landlord in writing whenever you need a repair. Take pictures and document the problem early and often.

If the landlord does not fix the problem after you have notified them, you can file a complaint with the city or county by calling 311 or online:

City of Sacramento

County of Sacramento (must register for account)

An inspector should call you to schedule an inspection (but sometimes you need to follow up a few times). SVTU recommends having a neighbor or friend with you during the inspection for support.

In some cases, you are entitled by law to β€œrepair and deduct,” meaning pay for repairs yourself and then deduct the costs from the rent. You are also entitled to withhold rent if the landlord will not make repairs. Both these tactics are risky, so proceed with caution and consider asking for organizing support from the union or legal help from a lawyer (try Legal Services of Northern California).

Landlord harassment is very common, especially when landlords are trying to sell a home for as much money as possible, demolish homes for redevelopment, avoid making necessary repairs, or clear out a building and charge even more rent. Tenant harassment is illegal. In Sacramento, there is no specific government office that enforces against landlord harassment, but you should still document all incidents of harassment (you could keep a journal, text/email a friend after an incident, or write down what happened right after it happens in some other way). To actually make the harassment stop, tenants need to organize as a group. Join the union.

The amount a landlord can raise the rent is limited in many rental homes in Sacramento to 5% plus the California Consumer Price Index (CPI). The City of Sacramento updates a list of the maximum allowable rent increase on July 1 each year. The maximum allowable percent increase is the same for both the City and County of Sacramento. You can check the current and past maximum percent increases on the City’s Tenant Protection Program website.

Some properties that are generally not covered include single family homes and condos, If you determine that your home is covered by either the California Tenant Protection Act (Sacramento County) or the Sacramento Tenant Protection Act (City of Sacramento), and that the rent increase is more than allowed, you should check with your neighbors to see if they also got rent increases, and work together. SVTU volunteers may be able to help you draft a letter to the landlord, or you can use the Tenants Together draft letter template to start (note this is for tenants who live outside of the City of Sacramento, but it can be easily adapted to the City’s ordinance). The City of Sacramento technically has a local enforcement office, the Tenant Protection Program, but as of 2026 their intake form doesn’t work very well, and we’ve heard from some tenants that they are not very helpful :(

Check out Tenants Together’s guide to Breaking a Lease.

After you move out, your landlord has 21 days to either return all of your security deposit, or return the security deposit minus any deductions along with an itemized statement that lists what was deducted and why. Landlords cannot deduct money from your security deposit for cleaning or repairs related to normal wear and tear. In 2025, a new requirement was added to Civil Code section 1950.5 for landlords to take photos documenting the cleaning or repairs they are deducting from a security deposit.

Check out the California Courts Guide to security deposits in California, which includes a tool to generate a letter to your landlord demanding return of your security deposit. Tenants Together also has a Sample Letter Demanding Return of Your Deposit and a Sample Letter Contesting Deductions to your Deposit. Sacramento Superior Court has a Small Claims Advisory Clinic that can also assist with filing a small claims case if your landlord does not return your deposit after you send a letter.

SVTU does not mediate conflicts between tenants who are not organizing with their neighbors as part of the union.

If you have a conflict with your neighbor, we recommend that you first try to speak to your neighbor directly. If they don’t respond, you can try to speak to other tenants and approach them as a group.

If the issue is very serious and cannot be resolved amicably, and you report the neighbor to the manager or landlord, your neighbor could face eviction. As a tenants’ union, we do not help tenants get other tenants evicted.

SVTU does not have rental assistance money to offer, but we can help you understand your rights and options. You may be able to find groups to help you pay your rent by calling 211 or visiting https://www.211sacramento.org/211/ or http://www.findhelp.org.

Depending on the reason you can’t pay, you may be able to request a reasonable accommodation to pay your rent late or establish a payment plan. You should get documentation in writing of any payment plans or agreements related to paying back your rent.

If you can’t pay, your landlord may issue a 3-day notice to β€œpay or quit”. This notice must be in writing and state the address and names of all adult tenants, how much rent is owed (cannot include late fees or other fees like utilities), and where and how to pay the back rent. Your landlord must accept your rent if you attempt to pay the full amount owed in the 3 day window. If you can’t pay in the three day window, you do not have to move out on the fourth day. You can only be forced to leave your home by the sheriff, and that can only happen after losing an unlawful detainer (eviction) case in court.

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DOWNLOAD THE SVTU HANDBOOK

get the Know YOUR RIGHTS HANDBOOK

In this SVTU handbook, you will find an overview of the legal rights you have as a tenant to seek repairs, fight evictions, contest rent increases, organize with your neighbors, and more.

When the law failsβ€”β€”as it often doesβ€”β€”organizing with neighbors and comrades gives us the power to stop landlord harassment, win our fair demands, and secure safe homes for ourselves and all of our neighbors.

A better world is possible, one free from landlord exploitation, and together we can build it.

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