This chapter may be referred to as the "Rental Property
Inspection and Tenant Relocation Ordinance".
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
The city council finds and determines as follows:
A. Some
rental units in Roseville have
Health and Safety Code violations (including,
without limitation, violations of the Roseville Municipal Code, the
Building Code, Fire Code, and Housing Code) that breach the owner's
implied warranty of habitability, threaten the health and safety of
both the tenants and neighbors, and which tend to blight the surrounding
neighborhood. Often such code violations require the rental units
to be vacated to allow for extensive repairs.
B. Rental
units with safety code violations commonly exhibit a much higher incidence
of nuisance abatement requests, graffiti violations and police and
fire calls (other than for medical purposes) than do other rental
units.
C. Tenants
of substandard rental units suffer financial and other hardship when
required to vacate their housing because the owner fails to correct
the substandard conditions. Financial hardship arises because the
tenant generally needs a large sum of money to relocate, often including
first and last month's rent, deposits, moving expenses and utility
deposits for a new residence. Low-income tenants are generally unable
to obtain such sums and, as a result, are at risk of becoming homeless.
D. It
is appropriate to require the owner of the substandard rental unit
to partially mitigate the tenant's hardship, since the hardship
arises from the owner's failure to comply with the law and fulfill
a landlord's obligations to the tenants.
E. The
level of relocation benefit payments provided in this chapter is reflective
of, but less than, actual relocation costs likely to be incurred by
displaced tenants.
F. Delayed
payment of relocation benefits may impose extreme hardship upon tenants
who themselves must obtain the large sums necessary to relocate. Delayed
payment may also result in the city expending city general funds or
other funds to provide tenants with financial assistance for relocation.
It is therefore appropriate to provide disincentives for delayed payment
of relocation benefits.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
It is the purpose of this chapter to assure tenants their rental units are habitable and comply with the standards of all applicable codes. It is also the purpose of this chapter to provide relocation assistance to tenants from the owner if tenants are required to vacate their housing because the owner fails to maintain a rental unit in a habitable condition. Relocation assistance is not available where a tenant relocates pursuant to Roseville Municipal Code Chapter
16.07.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
apply:
"Displaced"
means a tenant is displaced, or ordered to move out of a
rental complex by an order to vacate.
"Notice and order to vacate"
means a written notice sent by an authorized city official
to the owner and posted on the affected property declaring that, due
to failure to repair or maintain, the individual dwelling unit or
rental complex shall be vacated.
"Owner"
means the owner of the rental unit(s) at the time an order
to vacate is issued, as shown on the last equalized assessment roll,
and any successor in interest.
"Rental unit"
means any dwelling, apartment, dwelling unit, or room, including
but not limited to, any single-family residence, duplex, apartment
complex, residential hotel and condominium for which rent is paid.
This term shall also include mobile and manufactured homes whether
rent is paid for the home and the land upon which the home is located,
or the rent is paid for the land alone.
"Tenant"
means any resident of an affected rental unit who is a tenant
as that term is used in Chapter 2 of Title 5 of Part 4 of the California
Civil Code (§§ 1940, et seq.).
"Vacate date"
means the date by which a tenant is required to vacate a
unit or structure, pursuant to an order to vacate.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
If a substandard condition is found during any inspection of a rental unit, the chief building inspector may issue a compliance order pursuant to Chapter
2.52.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993; Ord. 3722 § 7, 2001)
If any notice and order issued under the Uniform Housing Code
or Uniform Code of Abatement of Dangerous Buildings requires the displacement
of a tenant from a rental unit, that tenant shall be paid relocation
benefits by the owner of the rental unit as provided by this chapter.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
The relocation benefits shall be a sum equal to twice the established
monthly rental rate for the dwelling unit being vacated by the displaced
tenant. The relocation benefits shall be paid in addition to the return,
as required by law, of any deposit held by the owner.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
Any owner who does not make timely payment as specified in Section
16.05.080 shall be liable to the tenant for an amount equal to one and one-half times the relocation benefits payable pursuant to Section
16.05.090.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
The remedies hereunder are cumulative and in addition to any
other remedies available under law.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
In any action brought by a tenant or the city to recover benefits
payable hereunder, the court shall also award reasonable attorney
fees.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
Any order to vacate issued to an owner or tenant shall be accompanied
by a summary of the provisions of this chapter. Failure to provide
a summary shall not relieve any person of the obligations imposed
by this chapter.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
The provisions of this chapter shall not apply to property owned
by the City of Roseville, the Roseville redevelopment agency, the
Roseville housing authority, the County of Placer, the State of California
or any other governmental agency.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in this
chapter is intended to impose a mandatory duty pursuant to Government
Code Section 815.6 upon the chief building inspector or any other
public official.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)
If any section, sentence, clause, phrase, part, or portion of
this chapter is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional
by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. It is declared
that this chapter and each section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase, part, or portion thereof, would have been adopted or passed
irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, sentences,
clauses, phrases, parts, or portions be declared valid or unconstitutional.
(Ord. 2715 § 1, 1993)