La Habra, CA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Section 15.32.010, adopted by Ordinance CC 2025-12 on November 3, 2025 in place of the repealed Ordinance 1848 chapter, makes the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code the property maintenance code of the city, "regulating the maintenance of buildings and structures within the city." Section 15.32.020 amends the adopted code's Section 602.3, Heat supply, to require that "every owner and operator of any building who rents, leases or lets one or more dwelling units or sleeping units" furnish heat, whether promised expressly or implied in the tenancy, "during the period from October 1 of each year to May 1 of the following year to maintain a temperature of not less than 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) in all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms." The same amendment section revises Section 304.14, Insect screens, requiring approved, tightly fitting screens of at least 16 mesh per inch on every door, window, or other outside opening needed for ventilating habitable rooms between March 1 and November 15 each year, with any screen door used for insect control fitted with a working self-closing device; the code allows an exception where other approved means such as air curtains or insect repellent fans are used instead.

Section 15.32.020 also deletes Section 303 outright and substitutes "California Building Code" and "La Habra Zoning Code" for the model code's generic references throughout. Separately, La Habra Municipal Code Section 15.20.010 adopts the 1997 Uniform Housing Code in its entirety as the city's housing code, and Section 8.16.030 declares that maintaining "any substandard building as defined by the Uniform Housing Code" is a public nuisance, giving code enforcement two overlapping tools against a rental unit that fails these habitability standards.