republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20212022/ab-849.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Skilled nursing facilities: intermediate care facilities: liability."
description: "Existing law authorizes a current or former resident or patient of a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, as defined, to bring a civil action against the licensee of a facility who violates any of specified rights of the resident or patient or any other right provided for by federal or state law or regulation. Existing law makes the licensee liable for up to $500. Existing case law interpreting that provision held that the $500 limit on civil damages applies to each action and not to each violation."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20212022"
identifier: "AB 849"
citation: "California AB 849 (20212022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Skilled nursing facilities: intermediate care facilities: liability."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Reyes"]
version_count: 6
action_count: 19
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2021-02-17"
last_action: "2021-10-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/025ad18f-708c-4231-a7cb-6598f22eb870"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849"
source_hash: "3771ba62c18bed0bc1f91ac22dbc7f2a785bf2b8cf392f068bf63b402baf2578"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 849 (20212022) — Skilled nursing facilities: intermediate care facilities: liability.

Existing law authorizes a current or former resident or patient of a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, as defined, to bring a civil action against the licensee of a facility who violates any of specified rights of the resident or patient or any other right provided for by federal or state law or regulation. Existing law makes the licensee liable for up to $500. Existing case law interpreting that provision held that the $500 limit on civil damages applies to each action and not to each violation.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/17/21 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849&version=20210AB84999INT)
2. **06/24/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849&version=20210AB84998AMD)
3. **08/16/21 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849&version=20210AB84997AMD)
4. **10/04/21 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849&version=20210AB84995CHP)
5. **AB849** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849)
6. **09/09/21 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB849&version=20210AB84996ENR)

## Votes

- 3rd Reading AB849 Reyes et al. By Laird — **29–7** (pass) · upper
- AB 849 Reyes Assembly Third Reading — **51–14** (pass) · lower
- Do pass as amended — **9–2** (pass) · upper
- AB 849 Reyes Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **54–6** (pass) · lower
- Do pass. — **8–3** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Reyes — primary (person)
- Stern — principal coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-02-17** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2021-02-18** From printer. May be heard in committee March 20.
- **2021-02-25** Referred to Com. on HEALTH. `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** Re-referred to Com. on JUD. pursuant to Assembly Rule 96. `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-13** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 8. Noes 3.) (April 13). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-14** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-04-26** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 51. Noes 14. Page 1182.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-04-27** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2021-05-12** Referred to Com. on JUD. `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-23** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 9. Noes 2.) (June 22). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2021-06-24** Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-08-16** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-08-17** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2021-09-02** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 7. Page 2334.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2021-09-02** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after September 4 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.
- **2021-09-07** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 54. Noes 6. Page 2829.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-09-13** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.
- **2021-10-04** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-10-04** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 471, Statutes of 2021. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/025ad18f-708c-4231-a7cb-6598f22eb870`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).