SR-092507-7B~r
~;tYof City Council Report
Santa Monica
City Council Meeting: September 25, 2007
Agenda Item: ~ ~J
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Marsha Jones Moutrie, City Attorney
Subject: Proposed Ordinance To Clarify the Timing of Permanent Relocation
Benefits Increases
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that Council adopt the attached proposed ordinance to clarify certain
provisions of the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance.
Executive Summary
The proposed ordinance would clarify that periodic increases to the amount of
permanent relocation benefits that are effective on or before the date a tenant actually
vacates a rental housing unit, are payable to the tenant even when certain filings or
proceedings related to the relocation predated the effective date of the increase. Thus,
for example, when the amounts of permanent relocation benefits increase on July 1 of a
given year, a tenant who vacates on July 15 of that year is entitled to the new amount,
even if the landlord is completing an Ellis Act eviction that was begun prior to the
effective date of the increase. Adoption of the proposed ordinance will have no impact
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on the General Fund. The relocation benefits referred to in the ordinance are the
obligation of the landlord only.
Discussion
The Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance provides that landlords must comply with
the relocation law in effect when a tenant vacates even if the tenant was served with a
termination notice prior to the effective date of the amendment to the ordinance
(S.M.M.C. §4.36.110(a), (b)). This provision effectuates the basic purpose of the
ordinance which is to afford tenants the assistance necessary to replace their lost
housing. Thus, the landlord must pay the amount in effect when the tenant vacates and
moves.
A few property owners have taken the position that this section applied only to the 1990
amendments to the ordinance, and not to subsequent periodic benefits increases, since
it employs the term "the ordinance amending this chapter," rather than "~ ordinance
amending this chapter." However, the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance has
always provided that tenants in possession of their units were entitled to any adjustment
in benefits established by law, effective as of the date the tenant vacates the unit,
regardless of the timing of prior filings or service of termination notices.
(The ordinance since 1990 has provided for periodic increases in the benefit amounts
by Council resolution.) The use of "the" instead of "any" in section 4.36.110(a) and (b)
does not alter the meaning of the law.
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In light of the existing dispute in some cases and the possibility that Council's intent
could be misunderstood, staff recommends that Council adopt the proposed ordinance
to clarify its existing intent regarding the timing and effectiveness of permanent
relocation benefits increases.
Budget/Financial Impact
Adoption of the proposed ordinance would have no direct financial impact.
Prepared by:
Adam Radinsky, Head, Consumer Protection Unit
\\Csmfsl\City Attomey6~dunicipalLan\ConsumerProtedion\Relccation\Z00] ordinance\clarilcation SR 090402doc
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Approved: Forwarded to Council:
\\CSmfsl\City AttomeyVdunicipalLaw\ConsumerPmtedionVielocation\200] ordinance\clanfca~ion ord X9040?doc
City Council Meeting: , 2007 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA AMENDING SECTIONS 4.36.040 AND 4.36.110 OF THE SANTA
MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO CLARIFY THE COUNCIL'S INTENT WITH RESPECT
TO THE TIMING OF PERMANENT RELOCATION BENEFITS INCREASES
WHEREAS, on June 12, 2007, the City Council adopted Ordinance Number
2234 (CCS) amending Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.36, the Tenant
Relocation Assistance Ordinance, in part to provide for annual adjustments of the
amounts of permanent relocation benefits due tenants; and
WHEREAS, certain property owners have taken the position that they need not
pay tenants the adjusted amounts despite the fact that the tenants had not yet vacated
their units by the effective date of the increase, since the owners had previously
escrowed relocation moneys or otherwise begun relocation proceedings before the
effective date; and
WHEREAS, the Tenant Relocation Assistance Ordinance has always provided
that tenants in possession of their units are entitled to the benefits established by the
ordinance, effective as of the date the tenant vacates the unit, regardless of the timing
of prior filings or service of termination notices; and
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WHEREAS, the existing requirement of paying the tenant the amount in effect
when the tenant vacates effectuates the purpose of the ordinance which is to afford the
tenant assistance necessary to acquire replacement housing; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 2234 (CCS) was not intended to modify this aspect of
the law; and
WHEREAS, the clarifications of this ordinance are declaratory of existing law,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 4.36.040 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 4.36.040. Amount of relocation fee.
The amount of the permanent relocation fee payable pursuant to the
provisions of this Chapter shall be established in accordance with the following
formula: 1990 relocation fee adjusted for inflation by the percentage change in
the Rent of Primary Residence component of the CPI-W Index for the Los
Angeles/Riverside/Orange County area, as published by the United States
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, between March 1990 and the
July 1 preceding the date of vacancy rounded to the nearest fifty dollars. This
amount shall be updated annually commencing on July 1st, 2007 and on July 1st
of each year thereafter.
(a) The 1990 relocation fee established pursuant to Ordinance 1515CCS
and determined according to the size of the retail housing unit, was as follows:
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Housing Unit Size Relocation Fee
Bachelor or Single $3,000.00
One Bedroom 3,750.00
Two Bedroom .4,250.00
Three Bedroom 5,250.00
Four or more Bedrooms 5,500.00
(b) If a tenant is evicted from more than one rental housing unit on a
property, the tenant shall not be entitled to receive separate relocation fees for
each rental housing unit. The tenant shall receive a single relocation fee based
on the combined total number of bedrooms in the rental housing units from which
the tenant is being evicted. If one of the rental housing units is a bachelor or
single unit, it shall be counted as a one bedroom unit for purposes of determining
the amount of the relocation fee (e.g., a tenant who is evicted from a bachelor
rental housing unit and a one bedroom rental housing unit would receive
relocation benefits for a two bedroom unit).
(c) If the rental housing unit from which the tenant is being evicted is
furnished, two hundred fifty dollars shall be deducted from the amount set forth in
subsection (a) of this Section. For purposes of this subsection, a rental housing
unit shall be considered to be furnished if the landlord has provided substantial
furnishings in each occupied room of the rental housing unit.
(d) If one or more of the displaced tenants is a senior citizen or disabled
person, or is a tenant with whom a minor child resides, and the displaced
tenant(s) occupied the rental housing unit on or before November 17, 1999, an
additional one thousand dollars shall be added to the amount set forth in
subsection (a) of this Section. The amount added pursuant to this subsection
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shall be adjusted annually pursuant to the formula specified above commencing
on July 1, 2007, and each July 1st thereafter.
(e) Any tenant still in possession of a rental unit after the relocation
amounts have been updated pursuant to this Section 4.36.040 shall be entitled to
the updated relocation amounts even if the landlord commenced the termination
of the tenancy prior to the update. In the event that a landlord has already
complied with the provisions of Section 4.36.060 based on the relocation
amounts previously in effect but has not vet received a written request from a
tenant for distribution of the fee pursuant to Section 4.36.070, the landlord shall
place in escrow the additional amount of relocation fee required by Section
4 36.040 within five working days of the effective date of the updated amount.
SECTION 2. Section 4.36.110 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Section 4.36.110. Applicability of relocation assistance
requirements as provided in this Chapter.
_~_.._
A +h fF +' rl + f +h .J' rJ' +h'c ('h°.~+°r
.. ~., .,.._ ....... ......... _. ..._ _. _..._..__ _. u .__ ___, -_ ,
fF +' rl + f +V. ~' °nr7inn th'c ('h^n+°r nrJ hoc nn# ~r~
o r
^^^+°,~ +h° ,^;+. A tenant shall be entitled to the relocation benefits
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established by this Chapter in effect on the date that the tenant vacates
the rental housing unit.
(b) The landlord shall comply with the requirements contained in
Sections 4.36.030, 4.36.040, 4.36.050, and 4.36.060 within five days of
the effective date of t+~e ~ ordinance amending this Chapter or any
update of the fee amount pursuant to Section 4.36.040 in the event that a
notice to terminate tenancy for one of the reasons set forth in Section
4.36.020(a) has already been served on a tenant or a notice to terminate
tenancy pursuant to Section 4.36.020(b) has already been served on a
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landlord +„ +h„ ~{se,.+;.,e ,~.,+o ~++ho ~~a,..~.,,.o ~...~..,+~.,.. +h.~ rti.,.,+e.
In the event that on the effective date of this-Sestieff any such amendment
or update, a landlord has complied with the provisions of Section 4.36.060
previously in effect, but has not yet received a written request from a
tenant for distribution of the fee pursuant to Section 4.36.070, the landlord
shall place in escrow the additional amount of relocation fee required by
Section 4.36.040 within five working days of the effective date of ##is
~ee#iea the amendment or update.
(c) Nothing in this Chapter shall limit the amount of the relocation
fee that the City Council may require under Government Code Section
65863.7.
SECTION 3. This ordinance is declarative of existing law.
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SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 of this 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.
SECTION 6. 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.
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APPROVED AS TO FORM: