Mountain View, CA Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Sec. 52 of the Mountain View City Code, part of Chapter 25's Neighborhood Preservation article on hotel, motel, and multi-family housing inspection, prohibits eviction or retaliation against any resident of single-family housing, multi-family housing, a hotel, or a motel because that person presented a complaint to the city about the habitability of their unit. The protection covers the act of complaining itself, not just formal inspection requests, and applies citywide regardless of building size. It works together with Sec. 51's definition of "cause for inspection," which exists whenever routine inspection standards are met or there is reason to believe a nonconformity exists, a standard broad enough to include a tenant's complaint about a specific unit.

Once a complaint or other cause is established, Sec. 57 lets authorized city inspectors enter with the consent of the owner, occupant, or person in control, or, absent consent, under an inspection warrant obtained under Code of Civil Procedure Sec. on a showing of cause under Sec. 52. Sec. 75 lets the city council set fees to defray the cost of enforcement tied to housing complaints under Health and Safety Code Sec. 17951, and any conditions the inspector finds are measured against the criteria in Sec.

58, which range from structural defects to a lack of hot water, heat, or pest control. A landlord who tries to evict or punish a tenant for reporting one of those conditions to the city is violating Sec. 52 regardless of whether the underlying complaint is later confirmed.