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C~ty Councll ~ltg. 411-11-79
Santa Mo4ltca, Callfornla
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DEe 1 1 1979
TO:
,
Mayor and City CounCll
FROM: City Attorney
SUBJECT: Proposed Ordlnance Prohlbltlng "Unralr
Housing Practlces" or Fraud upon Clty Agencles
Introduct~on
Thls report trans~lts a recommendatlon that the
CounCll dlrect the Clty Attorney to prepare an ordlnance
prohlbltlng fraud, false statements or lntimldat~on In con-
nectlon wlth Clty laws intended to protect housing rights, or
alternatlvely proh~blt such practlces In connectlon wlth any
C~ty regulatory law. The Counc~l is requested to schedule a
publ~c hear~ng on the problem at an early date.
Analys~s
In recent weeks, the C~ty Attorney has been adv~sed
of numerous false statements made in connectlon w~th appllcatlons
made to the Rent Control Board. We have also rece~ved compla~nts
of harassment and int~mldation agalnst lntended exercise of
rlghts guaranteed by the city's Rent Control Law.
The Rent Control Law does not speciflcally prohlblt
false statements on appllcatlons, although the Rent Control forms
are all deslgned to be signed under penalty of perJury. All forms
of perJury, including the giving of false lnformatlon to a publlc
agency, are punishable as felonles under Tltle 7, Chapter 5 of the
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Penal Code, Sect10n 118 et seq., and, therefore, must be prosecuted
by the Distr1ct Attorney. There 1S no lesser 1ncluded m1sdemeanor
that could be prosecuted by the C1ty.
While the D1str1ct Attorney has not refused to prose-
cute cases of false rent control appl1cat1ons, the1r workload 15
cons1derable, and the1r prior1t1es understandably favor the
prosecut1on of cr1mes of v10lence and other matters of county-
w1de rather than local 1mportance. Th1S of~ice believes 1t 1S
deS1reable to have an effect1ve cr1mlnal deterrent to the pract1ces
of defraud~ng regulatory agenc~es or intim~datlng persons from
exerC1s~ng r1ghts under C1ty law.
Since there lS already a state law prohibit1ng
perjury, a Clty Ord1nance prov1ding a lesser pun1shment for the
same exact offense would be subJect to challenge on the grounds
that 1t 15 preempted by state law. There 1S a substant1al proba-
bil1ty that such a challenge would be upheld.
Th1S office bel1eves that any City regulat10n
address1ng the problem should focus on the element of 1nter-
ference w~th rights guaranteed by mun1c1pal laws. There are
two baS1C alternat1ve ways to approach the problem F1rst, the
essence of the wrong could be the 1nterference w1th the rlght
to hous1ng guaranteed by Chapter 46 (Rent Control) and 47 (Fa1r
Hous1ng) of the Mun1c1pal Code, as well as prov1s1ons of the
Houslng Code 1ntended to safeguard the health and safety of
occupants. Any such 1nterference by false statement, fraud, or
1ntlmldatlon would be des1gnated a "unfalr hous1ng pract1ce" and
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pun~shable as a m~sdemeanor. Second, the C1ty could proh~b~t
~nterference w~th the process of any local regulatory agency,
~nclud~ng the Counc~l and all C1ty Boards and Cornm~ss~ons, or with
the r~ghts of persons protected by such agenc~es. Th~s second
al ternat1ve ..muld be ~nclusive of "unfa1r hous1ng pract~ces 11 but
would be broader ~n ~ts scope.
Th~s off~ce recogn~zes that it lS highly unl~kely
that a court would ~mpose slgn1f~cant Ja~l sentences on v~olators
of this proposed ordinance 1n all but the most flagrant cases.
Therefore, 1t ~s suggested that the Counc~l cons~der a prov~s~on
that would perm~t a court to ~mpose, as a sentence, prescrlbed
community serv~ce, such as the cleanlng up of bllghted areas or
other activit~es appropr~ate to the crlme lnvolved.
Alternat~ves
1. The Councll may rely on eXlslng perJury laws,
prosecuted by the District Attorney, to deal wlth the problem
of false statements before Clty agenc~es.
2. The Counc1l may d~rect the City Attorney to
prepare an ordlnance proh~blt~ng false statements d~rectly, and
r~sk that a court will hold that such statute 1S not preenpted
by the Penal Code.
3. The Councll may dlrect the C1ty Attorney to prepare
an ordlnance prohlblt~ng the lnterference wlth rlghts guaranteed
by (a) laws relat1ng to rental housing or (b) laws enforced by
any C~ty regulatory agency.
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Recommendat~on
It is respectfully recowmended that the C~ty Counc~l
adopt alternat~ve three, and d~rect the C~ty Attorney to draft
ordinances addressing both alternat~ves (a) and (b), or e~ther
one as the Counc~l d~rects, and to hold a publ~c hear~ng at an
early date.
Prepared by: R~chard L. Kn~ckerbocker
Stephen S. Stark
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