Any Residential Household that is displaced or subject to displacement
from a Residential Unit as a result of an order to vacate or an order
requiring the vacation of a Residential Unit by the Enforcement Department
as a result of a violation so extensive and of such a nature that
the immediate health and safety of the residents is endangered, shall
be entitled to receive displacement payments from the Owner.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
means any department, department, division, or political
subdivision of the City of Palm Springs.
means the department head of an Enforcement Department or
the Department Head's designee.
means the required vacating of a Residential Unit by a Residential
Household as a result of an order to vacate or an order requiring
the vacation of a Residential Unit by the Enforcement Department.
means any City Department, including its Department Head,
authorized to ascertain the condition of a Residential Unit and to
issue notices requiring Owners to bring such units into compliance
with applicable building and housing codes that threaten the health
and safety of Residential Households.
means any person, persons, landlord, corporation, or any
entity holding all or any part of the legal title to a property or
their agent, successors or assigns. "Owner" does not include a Residential
Household as defined herein, or any member thereof, that holds legal
title to the Residential Unit in which they reside.
means any person or group of people, whether related or unrelated, entitled to occupy a Residential Unit or portion of real property primarily for living or dwelling purposes under a written or oral rental agreement as tenants, subtenants, lessees or sublessees, including such persons' personal property that is a normally and customarily contained within the Residential Unit. "Residential Household" does not include the Owner of a Residential Unit or members of the Owner's immediate family, except as provided in Section 8.04.805 of this Article.
means a structure or that part of a structure which is used
as a place of permanent or customary and usual abode of a Residential
Household, including but not limited to a room in a single family
home, hotel or motel, rooming house or apartment, single family home,
mobile home or mobile home space, trailer or trailer space. "Residential
unit" does not include any unit occupied pursuant to an innkeeper-guest
relationship.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
At the time of the service of an order to vacate, the Enforcement
Department shall determine if any Residential Household subject to
the order may be entitled to displacement payments. The determination
of entitlement to displacement payments, or the reason that any Residential
Household may not be entitled to displacement payments, shall accompany
the order to vacate. The order to vacate shall also include, or be
accompanied by, a summary of the provisions of this Article and an
itemized accounting of the displacement payment due to the Residential
Household. Failure to provide such summary or itemized accounting
shall not relieve any person of the obligations imposed by this Article.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
The amount of the displacement payment due to the Residential
Household shall be determined as follows:
(a)
The displacement payment shall be made available by the Owner to the eligible Residential Household in an amount equal to two months of the periodically established Fair Market Rent for the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California Metropolitan Statistical Area as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development pursuant to Section 1437f of Title 42 of the United States Code, as amended from time to time. The Fair Market Rent for Residential Households shall be the amount established according to the number of unit bedrooms, except in cases in which the Residential Household owns the Residential Unit as set forth in Section 8.04.805 of this Article, in which case the Fair Market Rent shall be the amount established for manufactured home spaces. In addition, the displacement payment shall include an amount, as determined by the Enforcement Department, sufficient for utility service deposits. The displacement payment shall be paid by the Owner in addition to the return, as required by law, of any security deposits held by the Owner. The displacement payment shall be payable on a per Residential Household basis.
(b)
The
displacement payment shall also include the fixed residential moving
cost established by the Federal Highway Administration as set forth
in Section 24.302 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
amended from time to time.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
In the case of an order to vacate a portion of real property
in which the Residential Household, or any member thereof, hold legal
title to a moveable Residential Unit on the Owner's real property,
the displacement payment shall include the reasonable cost of moving
the Residential Household's Residential Unit to a comparable portion
of real property within the City of Palm Springs, provided such Residential
Unit is not subject to an order to vacate or otherwise not habitable
or not moveable as determined by the Enforcement Department. If such
Residential Unit is not habitable or not moveable and was allowed
by the Owner to be placed upon the real property without the Owner
complying with all applicable land use laws and regulations, then
the Owner shall reimburse the Residential Household for the fair market
value of the Residential Unit. If such Residential Unit is not habitable
or not moveable, and if the Owner is in compliance with all applicable
land use laws for the placing of the Residential Unit on the Owner's
real property, then the Owner shall not be liable for reimbursing
the Residential Household for any portion of the value of Residential
Unit. An Owner's obligation to provide a displacement payment to a
Residential Household that is required to vacate a portion of real
property due to the Owner's conduct, as determined by the Enforcement
Department, is limited only to the extent provided by this Section.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
(a)
The
displacement payment required by this Article shall be paid by the
Owner to the Residential Household within 10 days after the date that
the order to vacate is first mailed to the Owner and posted on the
premises, or at least 20 days prior to the vacation date set forth
in the order to vacate, whichever occurs later.
(b)
If
there are fewer than 10 days between the first posting and mailing
of the order to vacate and the vacation date, the displacement payment
shall be paid by the Owner to the Residential Household within 24
hours after the notice is posted and mailed. The Enforcement Department
shall attempt to provide telephonic or written notice to the Owner
to notify the Owner that the benefits are payable immediately. Failure
to provide the notice as specified in this Section shall not relieve
the Owner of any obligations imposed by this Article.
(c)
Any
Owner who does not make a timely payment shall be liable to the Residential
Household for an amount 1½ times the displacement payments
payable pursuant to 8.04.804 of this Article. No penalty shall apply
when displacement payments are payable fewer than 10 days after the
date the order to vacate is first mailed and posted, if the Owner
makes payment no later than 10 days after the order is first mailed
and posted.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
Any City Department may, at its discretion, advance displacement
payments to displaced Residential Households, and shall be entitled
to recovery of any advanced displacement payments. The Enforcement
Department shall be entitled to recover on any City Department's behalf
all displacement payments that were due and payable to the Residential
Household by the Owner as determined by the Enforcement Department
and were actually paid by the City Department. The Enforcement Department
shall also be entitled to recover from the Owner an additional amount
equal to the sum of one-half the amount so paid, but not to exceed
$10,000, as a penalty for failure to make timely payment to the displaced
Residential Household, and the City's actual costs, including direct
and indirect costs, of administering the provision of displacement
payments to the displaced Residential Household. Any amounts paid
by the City Department and any applicable penalties and actual costs
may also be placed as a lien against the property by the Enforcement
Department by recording the lien in the City Clerk's office. Prior
to instituting any action to collect from the Owner any displacement
payments paid pursuant to this Section, or to impose a lien therefor,
the Enforcement Department shall send to the Owner by first-class
mail, postage prepaid, at the Owner's address as shown on the last
equalized assessment roll, an itemized accounting of all payments
paid by any City Department to the Residential Household, and any
penalties or costs the Enforcement Department is seeking to recover
on the City Department's behalf. Nothing herein shall be construed
as requiring the City or any City Department to pay any displacement
payments to any Residential Household, or assume any obligation, requirement,
or duty of the Owner. Further, nothing herein shall be construed as
limiting the City's remedies for recovering any advanced displacement
payments.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
(a)
If the Owner contends that not all of the payments deemed chargeable to the Owner by the Enforcement Department on the grounds that the intended or actual recipients were not displaced Residential Households, no displacement payments were payable pursuant to this Article, or on other grounds, the Owner shall be entitled to an administrative hearing before the Enforcement Department's Department Head by submitting a written appeal to the Department Head of the Enforcement Department within 20 days after receipt by the Owner of an itemized accounting of displacement payments due the Residential Household or reimbursement due the City for advance displacement payments paid by any City Department to the Residential Household, including any costs and penalties provided herein. After providing at least 10 days written notice to the Owner, the Enforcement Department's Department Head shall hold the administrative hearing for the purpose of determining the amount chargeable to the Owner, including penalties and costs, if any. Notice may be delivered in person or may be mailed to the address listed by the Owner in the request for hearing. In determining the validity of any displacement payments, penalties or costs chargeable to the Owner, the Department Head shall consider whether the violations that led to the order to vacate were created by, or are the responsibility of, the Owner and shall also consider those exceptions set forth in Section 8.04.809 of this Article. In conducting the hearing, the Department Head shall not be limited by the technical rules of evidence. The decision of the Department Head shall be in writing and include notice of a right to appeal the decision to the City Council.
(b)
The
decision of the Department Head may be appealed by filing a written
notice of appeal with the Enforcement Department within 10 days after
mailing the decision. The appeal shall be heard by the City Council
which may affirm, amend or reverse the decision and may take any other
action deemed appropriate. The Enforcement Department's Department
Head shall give written notice of the time and the place of the hearing
to the appellant. In conducting the hearing, the City Council shall
not be limited by the technical rules of evidence.
(c)
The
final decision of the City Council shall be subject to Section 1094.5
of the Code of Civil Procedure. If the Owner fails to obtain a more
favorable decision than that set forth in the itemized accounting,
the Owner shall be liable to the Enforcement Department for the costs
of the administrative hearing and appeal, not to exceed $5,000. The
failure to receive the itemized accounting shall not relieve the Owner
of any obligation under this Article.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
If there are fewer than 10 days between the first posting and
mailing of the order to vacate and the vacation date, and if the City
advances displacement payments to any Residential Household, prior
to the expiration of the 10-day period, the Owner shall not be required
to reimburse the Enforcement Department for a charge identified on
the itemized accounting if the Owner contests the charge within 20
days after the itemized accounting is mailed to the Owner. The Owner
shall pay any charges that were the subject of the appeal within 30
days after an adverse decision by the Enforcement Department on the
appeal is mailed to the Owner. In all other cases, the Owner shall
pay any charge identified on the itemized accounting within 30 days
after the itemized accounting is mailed to the Owner.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
The following exemptions shall apply in the application of this
Article:
(a)
No
Owner shall be liable to any Residential Household or City Department
for displacement payments if the Residential Household or any one
of its members caused or substantially contributed to the condition
giving rise to the order to vacate, nor shall any displacement payments
be payable to a Residential Household if any guest or invitee of the
Residential Household has caused or substantially contributed to the
condition giving rise to the order to vacate.
(b)
No
Owner shall be liable to any Residential Household or City Department
for displacement payments if the unit or structure became unsafe or
hazardous as the result of a fire, flood, earthquake, or other event
beyond the control of the Owner, and the Owner did not cause or contribute
to the condition.
(c)
No
Owner shall be liable to any Residential Household or City Department
for displacement payments provided the Owner provides a habitable
replacement Residential Unit of comparable size and appurtenances
to the vacated Residential Unit and provided the Owner pays all costs
associated with moving the Residential Household to the replacement
unit.
(d)
No
Owner shall be liable to any Residential Household or City Department
for displacement payments if the Residential Household is in default
in payment of rent, unless rent is being lawfully withheld by the
Residential Household.
(e)
No
Owner shall be liable to any Residential Household or City Department
for displacement payments if the vacated unit is operated as an emergency
or temporary shelter for homeless persons (whether such persons have
assigned rooms or beds, and regardless of duration of stay by any
occupant) by a nonprofit organization or public department owning,
leasing, or managing such unit.
(f)
No
public entity, as defined in Government Code Section 7260, holding
all or any part of the legal title to a Residential Unit occupied
by a Residential Household otherwise subject to this Article, shall
be liable for displacement payments.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
Any person who is a member of a Residential Household who is
entitled to displacement payments from an Owner under this Article
shall have the right to file an action for injunctive relief and/or
damages against the Owner. Attorney fees and costs shall be awarded
to the prevailing party in any such action. These remedies shall be
in addition to those provided by any other law.
(Ord. 1787 § 1, 2011)
