define the ellis act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Ellis Act is a provision in California Law (Government Code section 7060-7060.7) that provides landlords in California with a legal way to go out of business short of selling the property to another landlord. It is named after Republican State Senator (1981-1988) James Jim L Ellis representing San Diego. The Ellis Act was adopted by the California Legislature in 1985 after the California Supreme Court ruled that landlords do not have the right to evict tenants to go out of the business of being a landlord.