SR-8-C (61)
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CIty Council Meeting 4-13-99
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Santa Momca, California
TO Mayor and City Council
FROM City Attorney
SUBJECT Ordinance Amending Sections 4 36090 and 436 100 ofthe Municipal Code
Specifying an Owner's Relocation Obligations When the Owner Must Obtam
Temporary Possession of A Rental Housmg Umt to Comply with Health,
Safety or BUilding Laws and Legal Remedies and Declanng the Presence of
an Emergency
Introduction
City staff IS currently workIng on a comprehenSive proposal addreSSing a range of Issues
related to protecting tenants In apartment bUlldmgs undergomg substantial rehabilitation
Meanwhile, In order to proVide baSIC protections until that proposal IS made, staff
recommends adopt/on of the attached emergency ordmance It clanfies relocatIon
obligations and establishes additional remedies
DISCUSSion
A signifIcant number of apartment bUlldmg owners In the City are opting to substantially
rehabilitate their properties In order to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by
state-mandated vacancy decontrol I n many Instances, the rehabIlitation work renders the
premises unmhabltable, and the tenants must be temporarily relocated Current local law
requIres that the landlord assume responsIbilIty for relocatIon under these circumstances.
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However, current law leaves unclear the extent of the landlord's obligations and falls to
provide adequate remedies
Recent expenence shows that current law IS unclear and madequate In one situation, a
controversy arose when tenants had to be relocated on very short notice when City safety
personnel determined that the construction work rendered the bUilding unsafe for
habitation In another case, substantial controversy has ansen about the legality of the
relocation arrangements made by the landlord Both of these controversies might have
been aVOIded If the MUnicIpal Code had more clearly speCified the landlord's obligatIons
and proVided effective remedies Moreover, additional controversies are likely to arise In
the near future because of the volume of rehabIlitation bemg undertaken
To ensure that all aspects of such Situations are addressed, planning staff Will propose
recommendations which would create a mechanism Within the bUilding permit review and
inspection process to ensure that tenant safety IS protected dunng construction, establish
a review process for mitigation of construction nUisances, and expand noticing
reqUirements to ensure that tenants are aware of their nghts dUring construction and
receive complete Information about the scope and schedule of the proposed project It IS
anticipated that these recommendations Will be presented In the next two months
The temporary proposal encompassed In the attached ordinance baSically c1anfies eXisting
law and establishes new remedies The proposed ordinance would c1anfythatthe landlord
must pay all actual and reasonable moving costs and also proVide temporary hOUSing
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which IS comparable to the tenant's unit The tenant would be responsible for paYing his
or her regular rental payment, and If the cost of the temporary housmg exceeded that
amount the landlord would pay the difference The proposed ordinance would also
establish a cIvil remedy for violation of local relocation laws which would be available to
any person, mcludlng the City, and would make pUnitive damages available
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Council adopt the attached emergency ordinance
PREPARED BY
Marsha Jones Moutne, City Attorney
Barry Rosenbaum, Senior Land Use Attorney
Suzanne Frick, Director of Plannmg and Community
Development
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f \atty\mum\law\barry\tempreI02 ord wpd
City CouncIl Meeting 4-13-99
Santa Momca, Callforma
ORDINANCE NUMBER 1939 CCS
(CIty Council Senes)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
AMENDING SECTIONS 4 36 090 AND 4.36 100 OF SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL
CODE SPECIFYING AN OWNER'S RELOCATION OBLIGATIONS WHEN
THE OWNER MUST TEMPORARILY OBTAIN POSSESSION OF A RENTAL
HOUSING UNIT TO COMPLY WITH HOUSING, HEALTH. BUILDING.
OR SAFETY LAWS AND LEGAL REMEDIES, DECLARING THE
PRESENCE OF AN EMERGENCY
WHEREAS. as a result of State-mandated vacancy decontrol and the robust local
economy, there has been a significant Increase In the numberof apartment bUlldmgs In the
City that are undergOing substantial repairs, rehabilitation, and upgrades, and
WHEREAS, such construction work can pose a senous threat to the health and
safety of tenants occuPYing these properties dunng construction, and
WHEREAS, there have been two recent Instances In which construction has posed
a threat to the safety of tenants of such Immediacy that all work on the projects had to
cease until tenants were relocated to other accommodatIons, and
WHEREAS, gIven the finanCial Incentive to upgrade apartment bUildings, other
tenants Will likely be forced by construction to temporarily vacate their Units until
construction IS completed, and
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WHEREAS, the forced relocation of tenants can be highly disruptive to their lives
and costly, and
WHEREAS, local law governing relocation currently requires a landlord to bear the
reasonable cost of temporary accommodations for tenants when the landlord IS required
to recover possession of rental housmg Units to comply with housing. health, or safety laws
of the State of California or the City or when a tenant IS required to vacate a unit upon
order or any governmental offiCial or agency; and
WHEREAS, It IS necessary to amend the City'S relocation law to clarify the scope
of relocation assistance that a land lord must proVide when a tenant is forced to temporarily
vacate his/her Unit due to housing, health, or safety law violations.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCil OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOllOWS
Section 1 Section 4 36 090 of the Santa MOnica MUnicipal Code IS hereby
amended to read as follows
4.36.090 Remedies.
(a) If any action by a landlord to recover possession of a rental
housmg Unit for one of the reasons set forth In Section 4 36.020, the landlord
shall allege and prove compliance With thiS Chapter
(b) Any landlord who falls to prOVide relocation assistance as
required by Sections 4 36.040, 4.36050, 4.36070, and 4 36 100 of thiS
Chapter shall be liable In CIVil action to the tenant to whom such assistance
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IS due for damages In the amount of the relocation fee the landlord has faIled
to pay, a cIvil penalty In the amount of five hundred dollars and reasonable
attorney's fees and costs as determmed by the court The court may also
award pUnitive damages m a proper case as defined by Civil Code Section
3294 Any person, Including the City, may enforce the provIsions of thiS
Chapter by means of a cIvil action
(c) Any person violating any of the provISions or failing to comply
With the requirements of thiS Chapter shall be gUilty of a misdemeanor
(d) No landlord shall attempt to secure from a tenant any waIVer
of any proVIsion of thiS Chapter Any agreement, whether wntten or oral,
whereby any proVIsion of thiS Chapter IS waived, shall be deemed agamst
public policy and shall be VOid.
Section 2 Section 4 36 100 of the Santa MOnica MUnicipal Code IS hereby
amended to read as follows:
4.36.100 Temporary relocation mandatedforcodecomplianceorby
government order.
(a) If a landlord IS required to temporanly recover possession of a
rental housing unit In order to comply with hOUSing, health, bUlldmg, or safety
laws of the State of California or the City of Santa Monica, or If a tenant IS
reqUired to vacate a Unit upon the order of any government officer or agency,
the landlord shall prOVide relocation benefits to the displaced tenant In the
event that the tenancy of such person IS subsequently termmated for one of
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SECTION 6 The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of
this Ordmance The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once In the official
newspaper within 15 days after Its adoption This Ordmance shall become effective upon
Its adoptIon
APPROVED AWO FORM.
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MARSHA Jo1*ES MOUTRI E -
City Attorney
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l Pam O'Connor, Mayor
State of Cahforma )
County of Los Angeles ) S5
Cny of Santa MOllica )
L Mana M Stewart, CIty Clerk of the Clty of Santa MOnIca. do hereby certIfy that the
foregomg Emergency Ordmance No 1939 (CCS) had ItS fIrst readIng and was adopted on
Apnl 13. 1999 by the followmg vote
Aves
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CouncIl members
FemsteIn, Genser. Holbrook. McKeown. O'Connor,
RosensteIn
Noes
CouncIl members
None
AbstaIn
CouncIl members
None
Absent
Council members
None
ATTEST
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Mana M Stewart. (jIty Clerk