SR-8-B (13)
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CA:RMM:r
C~ty Counc~l Meet~ng 3-13-84
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MAR 1 3 \984
Santa MonLca, Californ1a
STAFF REPORT
TO:
Mayor and C1ty Council
FROM:
c~ty Attorney
SUBJECT.
Olymp~cs Perlod Tenant Protect10ns
SUMMARY
On December 13,
1983, the Counc11 d~rected that the City
Attorney
prepare
an
ord~nance
regulat~ng
ev~ct~ons for
res~dential rental un~ts during the Summer Olympics.
The accompany~ng ord1nance 18 patterned after a slffillar one
adopted by the Los Angeles Clty Council and would be effective
for the per~od May I, 1984 to August 31, 1984. It would prohlb~t
most evictions (other than for good cause) and llmlt rent
increases to seven percent dur1ng this period.
RECOMMENDATION
It ~s respectfully recommended that the accompany~ng
ordinance be lntroduced for flrst readlng.
PREPARED BY:
Robert M. Myers, City Attorney
<i?-l)
MAR 1 3 1984
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CA:RMM:rmolym
C~ty Counc~l Meet~ng 3-13-84
Santa Mon~ca, Cal~forn~a
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(City Counc~l 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 eXlsts a shortage of
decent,
safe,
san~tary and affordable houslng ln the C~ty of
Santa Monica result~ng ~n a low vacancy rate; and
WHEREAS, thlS shortage has had a substantial detr~mental
effect on a substantial number of tenants and 1n response to th~s
s~tuat~on, the people of the C~ty of Santa Monica adopted the
Santa Monlca Rent Control Charter Amendment; and
WHEREAS,
the Santa Mon~ca Rent Control Charter Amendment
regulates rent lncreases on most residentlal rental unlts and
l~m~ts the grounds for ev~ct~oni and
WHEREAS, these grounds for ev~ct~on can be div~ded lnto two
classes: (1) those lnvolvlng tenant failure to comply w~th a term
or cond~t~on of the tenancy, such as fa~lure to pay rent, and (2)
those wh~ch do not involve any fault on the tenant, such as
ev~ctlon for owner occupancy~ and
WHEREAS,
the 1984 Summer Olymp~c Games wlll be held in the
Los Angeles metropol~tan area dur~ng the months of July and
August of 1984, and ~t ~s anticlpated that during these months
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and the weeks prlor thereto there w1ll be a tremendous influx of
V~sltors to the City of Santa Monlca need1ng hous1ng
accommodat1ons ~n connection w~th th~s event; and
WHEREAS, this influx of vis~tors can be expected to
exacerbate the present hous~ng shortage resultlng ~n a crit~cally
low vacancy rate; and
WHEREAS, a number of buslnesses
advert~sing for rental un~ts which would
have already begun
be ava~lable for the
Olympic v~sitors, and the rental 1ncome antic~pated from such
rentals 1S In many cases four or flve t~mes the rental amount
currently being charged for these unlts; and
WHEREAS, the Clty Council of the C~ty of Santa Monica flnds
that there ~s a substantial r~sk that ln the months prior to the
Summer Olymplc Games tenants may be faced with substant~al rent
~ncreases or ev~ct~ons; and
WHEREAS, the tenants faced w~th such large rent increases
or ev~ctlons would face the ~mposs~ble task of flndlng affordable
replacement houslng durlng the perlod of the Summer Olypm~c
Games; and
WHEREAS, the pressure on the housing market ln the Clty of
Santa Mon~ca may be great because the C~ty of Los Angeles, by the
adoptlon of Ordlnance Number 158544, has placed a morator~um on
certain eVlctlons ln anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games;
and
WHEREAS, this ord~nance is necessary to protect the publlC
health, safety, and welfare,
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NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Sect~on 4811 ~s added to the Santa Mon~ca
Municlpal Code to read as follows:
Sectlon 4811. 1984 Summer Olympl~
Games.
(a) Th~s Section shall apply to all
resldentla1 rental units ~n the Clty of Santa
Monica, including those residentlal rental
unlts exempt from the provisions of Artlcle
XVIII pursuant to C2ty Charter Section
180l(c).
(b) No landlord shall eVlct a tenant of
a resldentla1 rental unit durlng the period
commenclng on May 1, 1984, and endlng on
August 31, 1984, unless the landlord
establlshes one of the grounds for evictlon
set forth in subd~Vls~ons (a) through (g) of
C2ty Charter Sect~on 1806. As used in thlS
subdivision,
eVlctlon shall mean any action
to recover possesslon of a residentlal rental
un~t, includ~ng serv~ce of not~ce of
termlnation of tenancy, whenever served, to
be effect~ve dur~ng the time per~od covered
by this subdivlsion. Nothing ln thlS
subdiv~sion shall proh~bit a landlord, to the
extent otherwise permitted by law, from
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serving a notice of term~nat1on of tenancy
durlng the
t~me per~od
covered by th~s
after August 31,
subd~v~sion
to take effect
1984,
the
or from evictlng a tenant pursuant to
terms of a written lease, other than one
for a month-to-month tenancy, Wh1Ch exp1res
by 1ts own terms durlng the tlme period
covered by this subdlv~sion, or from ev~ctlng
a tenant where notlce of termination of
tenancy 18 both served and is to be effective
pr10r to May lr 1984.
(c) For any res~dent~al rental unlt
not subJect to ArtiCle XVIII of the City
Charter, no landlord may lncrease the rent or
other charges for the residentlal rental un1t
during the period from May 1, 1984 to August
31, 1984, by an amount greater than seven
percent of the rent in effect on Apr~l 30,
1984. Noth1ng ~n th~s subd~vislon shall
proh1b1t a landlord from servlng a notlce of
~ncreased rent to take effect after August
31, 1984. Nothing ln this subdlvislon shall
prohibit a landlord from establishing the
rent for a res1dentlal rental un~t f1rst
rented after May I, 1984; provlded that, once
rented, thlS subdlv~sion shall apply.
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(d) A tenant May raise any violation
of th~s Section as an afflrMative defense to
any actlon flIed by a landlord to recover
possess~on of a residential rental un~t
occup~ed by that tenant.
SECTION 2. Any provislon of the Santa Monica Hun~clpal
Code or appendlces thereto inconsistent w~th the prOVls~ons of
this ordinance, to the extent of such lnconslstenc~es and no
further, are hereby repealed or modifled to that extent necessary
to affect the provlsions of this ordinance.
SECTION 3.
If any section, suhsectlon, sentence, clause,
or phrase of t};is ordinance is for an'"' reason held to be invalid
or unconstltutlonal bv a declsion of any court o~ any competent
]urlsdictlon, such dec~slon shall not affect the validity of the
renaining portions of the ordinance. The City CauDell hereby
declares that ~t would have passed thlS ordinance and each anrt
every sectlon, subsectlon, sentence, clause or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstl tut~onal without regard to whether
any portlon of the ord~nance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstltutional.
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SECTION 4.
The Mayor shall sign and the Clty Clerk shall
attest to the pas saae of th~s ordinance.
The c~ ty Cle rk shall
cause the saMe to be publlshed once in the officlal newspaper
wlthin 15 days after lts adoption.
The ordlnance shall become
effective after 30 days fro~ its adoption.
APPR0VED AS TO FO~M:
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Robert M. Myers
C~ty Attorney
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