O2005
f:\atty\muni\laws\mjm\tenharass2d-1, wpd
City Council Meeting 4-24-01
Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER 2005 (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF SANTA MONICA AMENDING SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE SECTIONS 4,56.020 AND 4,56,040 RELATING
TO TENANT HARASSMENT
WHEREAS, the State-mandated vacancy decontrol for rent-controlled apariments
in the qity became fully effective January 1, 1999; and
WHEREAS, full implementation of vacancy decontrol created a huge financial
incentive for landlords to harass tenants into leaving their controlled units to that those
units could be re-rented at high market rates; and
WHEREAS, Santa Monica adopted an ordinance to protect tenants against such
harassment in 1995; and
WHEREAS, the number of tenant complaints to the City of harassment by
apartment owners has increased substantially in each of the years since the adoption of
the ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the increase in complaints, the experience of City personnel in
investigating and prosecuting those complaints, and the experience of tenants asserting
harassment claims, all indicate that the existing Tenant Harassment Ordinance should be
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strengthened to protect tenants against malicious conduct by owners undertaken to
maximize profits by illegally coercing tenants into vacating their homes,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4,56.020 is amended to read
as follows:
Section 4.56.020 Prohibition.
No landlord shall, with respect to property used as a rental housing
unit under any rental housing agreement or other tenancy or estate at will,
however created, do any of the following with malice:
(a) Interrupt, terminate orfail to provide housing services required by
contract or by State, county or local housing, health or safety laws;
(b ) Fail to perform repairs and maintenance required by contract or by
State, county or local housing, health or safety laws;
(c) Fail to exercise due diligence in completing repairs and
maintenance once undertaken;
(d) Abuse the landlord's right of access into a rental housing unit as
that right is specified in California Civil Code Section 1954;
(e) Abuse the tenant with words which are offensive and inherently
likely to provoke an immediate violent reaction;
(f) I nfluence or attempt to influence a tenant to vacate a rental housing
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unit through fraud, intimidation or coercion;
(g) Threaten the tenant, by word or gesture, with physical harm;
(h) Violate any law which prohibits discrimination based on race,
gender, sexual preference, sexual orientation, ethnic background, nationality,
religion, age, parenthood, marriage, pregnancy, disability, AIDS or
occupancy by a minor child;
(i) (1) Take action to terminate any tenancy including service of any
notice to quit or other eviction notice or bring any action to recover
possession of a rental housing unit based upon facts which the landlord has
no reasonable cause to believe to be true or upon a legal theory which is
untenable under the facts known to the landlord.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to any attorney who in good
faith initiates legal proceedings against a tenant on behalf of a landlord to
recover possession of a rental housing unit;
U) Interfere with a tenant's right to quiet use and enjoyment of a rental
housing unit as that right is defined by California law;
(k) Refuse to acknowledge receipt of a tenant's lawful rent payment;
(I) Interfere with a tenant's right to privacy,
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SECTION 2, Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4,56,040 is amended to read
as follows
Section 4.56.040 Enforcement and penalties.
(a) Criminal Penalty, Any person who is convicted of violating this
Chapter shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be
punished by a fine of not greater than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000,00) or
by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or by both
such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Civil Action, Any person, including the City, may enforce the
provisions of this Chapter by means of a civil action, The burden of proof in
such cases shall be preponderance of the evidence. A violation of this
Chapter may be asserted as an affirmative defense in an unlawful detainer
action,
(c) Injunction, Any person who commits an act, proposes to commit
an act, or engages in any pattern and practice which violates Section
4,56,020 may be enjoined therefrom by any court of competent jurisdiction,
An action for injunction under this subsection may be brought by any
aggrieved person, by the City Attorney, or by any person or entity who will
fairly and adequately represent the interest of the protected class,
(d) Penalties and Other Monetary Awards, Any person who violates
or aids or incites another person to violate the provisions of this Chapter is
liable for each and every such offense for the actual damages suffered by
any aggrieved party or for statutory damages in the sum of One Thousand
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Dollars ($1,000,00), whichever is greater, and shall be liable for such
attorney's fees and costs as may be determined by the court in addition
thereto, The court may also award punitive damages to any plaintiff,
including the City, in a proper case as defined by Civil Code Section 3294.
The burden of proof for purposes of punitive damages shall be clear and
convincing evidence,
(e) Nonexclusive Remedies and Penalties, The remedies provided in
this Chapter are not exclusive, and nothing in this Chapter shall preclude any
person rom seeking any other remedies, penalties or procedures provided
by law,
SECTION 3, Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to
effect the provisions of this Ordinance,
SECTION 4, 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 competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portions ofthis 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 portion of the ordinance
would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 5, The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of
this Ordinance, The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
newspaper within 15 days after its adoption This Ordinance shall become effective 30
days from its adoption
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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Adopted and approved this 24th day of April, 2001
State of California )
County of Los Angeles) ss.
City of Santa Monica )
I, Maria M. Stewart, City Clerk of the City of Santa Monica, do hereby certify that the
foregoing Ordinance No, 2005 (CCS) had it's introduction on April 1 0, 2001, and was
adopted at the Santa Monica City Council meeting held on April 24, 2001, by the
following vote:
Ayes:
Council members: O'Connor, McKeown, Genser, Katz, Mayor Pro
Tem Bloom, Mayor Feinstein
Noes:
Council members: None
Abstain: Council members: None
Absent Council members: Holbrook
ATTEST
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