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CA:RMM:rrn4811
City Council Meeting 3-27-84
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 1301 (ees)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ESTABLISHING A FOUR MONTH MORATORIUM
ON CERTAIN EVICTIONS AND RENT INCREASES
WHEREAS, there has been and currently exists a shortage of
decent, safe, sanitary and affordable housing in the City of
Santa Monica resulting in a low vacancy rate: and
WHEREAS, this shortage has had a substantial detrimental
effect on a substantial number of tenants and in respOnse to this
situation, the people of the City of Santa Monica adopted the
Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment: and
WHEREAS, the Santa Monica Rent Control Charter Amendment
regulates rent increases on most residential rental units and
lim~ts the grounds for eviction; and
WHEREAS, these grounds for ev~ction can be divided into two
classes: (1) those involving tenant failure to comply with a term
or condition of the tenancy, such as failure to pay rent, and (2)
those which do not involve any fault on the tenant, such as
eviction for owner occupancy; and
WHEREAS, the 1984 Summer Olympic GaMes will be held in the
Los Angeles metropol~tan area during the months of July and
August of 1984, and it is anticipated that during these months
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and the weeks prior thereto there will be a tremendous influx of
visitors to the C1ty of Santa Monica needing housing
accommodations in connect1on with this event; and
WHEREAS, this influx of visitors can be expected to
exacerbate the present hous1ng shortage resulting in a critically
low vacancy rate; and
WHEREAS, a number of businesses have already begun
advertising for rental units which would be available for the
Olymp1c viS1tors, and the rental income anticipated from such
rentals 1S in many cases four or five times the rental amount
currently being charged for these units; and
WHEREAS, the C1ty Council of the City of Santa Monica finds
that there is a substantial risk that in the months prior to the
Summer Olympic Games tenants may be faced with substantial rent
increases or evictions; and
WHEREAS, the tenants faced with such large rent increases
or evictions would face the impossible task of finding affordable
replacement hou sing dur ing the per iod of the Summer Olypmic
Games; and
WHEREAS, the pressure on the housing market in the City of
Santa Monica may be great because the City of Los Angeles, by the
adoption of Ordinance Number 158544, has placed a moratorium on
certain evictions in anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games;
and
WHEREAS, this ordinance is necessary to protect the public
health, safety, and welfare,
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4811 is added to the Santa Monica
Municipal Code to read as follows:
Section 4811. 1984 Summer Olympic
Games.
(a) Th1S Section shall apply to all
residential rental units in the City of Santa
Monica, l.ncluding those residential rental
units exempt from the provisions of Article
XVIII pursuant to City Charter Section
1801 (c).
(b) No landlord shall evict a tenant of
a residential rental unit during the period
commencing on May 1, 1984, and ending on
August 31, 1984, unless the landlord
establi shes one of the grounds for eviction
set forth in subdivisions (a) through (g) of
City Charter Section 1806. As used in this
subdiv1.s1.on, eviction shall mean any action
to recover possession of a residential rental
unit, 1ncluding service of notice of
termination of tenancy, whenever served, to
be effective during the time period covered
by this subd1vision. Nothing in this
subdivision shall prohibit a landlord, to the
extent otherwise permitted by law, from
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serving a notice of termination of tenancy
dur~ng the time period covered by this
sUbdivision to take effect after August 31,
1984, or from evicting a tenant pursuant to
the terms of a written lease, other than one
for a month-to-month tenancy, which expi res
by its own terms during the time period
covered by th~s subdivision, or from evicting
a tenant where notice of termination of
tenancy is both served and is to be effective
prior to May 1, 1984.
(c) For any residential rental unit
not sub) ect to Article XVI II of the City
Charter, no landlord may increase the rent or
other charges for the res~dential rental unit
during the period from May 1, 1984 to August
31, 1984, by an amount greater than seven
percent of the rent in effect on April 30,
1984. Noth~ng in this subdivision shall
prohibit a landlord from serving a notice of
increased rent to take effect after August
31, 1984, or froM establishing the rent for a
residential rental unit firs t rented after
May 1, 1984i provided that, once rented, this
SUbdivision shall apply.
(d) A tenant may raise any violation
of this Section as an affirMat~ve defense to
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any action filed by a landlord to recover
possession of a residential rental unit
occupied by that tenant.
(e) For purposes of this Section, the
tem "landlord" includes any sublessor and
the term "tenant" includes any subtenant.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendices thereto incons istent with the provisions of
this ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no
further, are hereby repealed or modif1ed to that extent necessary
to affect the provisions of this ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid
or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent
juriSdiction, such decision shall not affect the validlty of the
remainlng portions of the ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each and
every section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether
any portlon of the ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstltutional.
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SECTION 4.
The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall
attest to the passage of thlS ordinance.
The City Clerk shall
cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper
Wlthin 15 days after its adoption.
The ordinance shall become
effective after 30 days from its adoption.
TO FORM:
Robert M. Myers
City Attorney
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ADOPTED AND APPROVED THIS
27th
DAY
OF
),tarch
, 1984.
MAYOR
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING ORDINANCE,
(CCS)~ WAS DULY AND REGULARLY INTRODUCED AT A
NO. 1301
MEETING OF THE CITY COUNcrL ON THE 13th
DAY OF Harch
1984; THAT THE SAID ORDINANCE WAS THEREAFTER DULY ADOPTED
AT A MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE 27th DAY OF March
1984 BY THE FOLLOWING COUNCIL VOTE:
AYES:
COUNCILMEMBERS: Conn, EpsteIn, Jennings, Press,
Reed, Zane and Mayor Edwards
NOES:
COUNCIlMEMBERS: ~one
ABSENT:
COUNC I LMEMB ERS: None
ABSTAIN:
COUNCILMEMBERS: None
A TTES-T:
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CITY CLERK