The Council finds and declares that requiring the registration of rental housing not subject to the City's Rent Control law and its registration requirements will assist the City in ensuring the tenant protections in Article XXIII (Housing Policies) of the Santa Monica City Charter, Chapters 4.27 (Tenant Protections), 4.28 (Tenant Relocation Assistance), 4.36 (Housing Anti-Discrimination), 4.56 (Tenant Harassment), and 4.57 (Buyout Offers and Agreements) of the Municipal Code, Sections 1946.2 and 1947.12 of the California Civil Code and Section 396 of the California Penal Code are followed and enforced; monitor and enforce affordable housing deed restriction requirements; and enable the City to gauge the effectiveness of these protections to protect tenants and promote housing stability.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
For purposes of this Chapter, the following words or phrases shall have the following meanings:
"Owner"
means any person who, alone or with others, has legal or equitable title to a rental housing unit. A person whose interest in a dwelling unit is solely that of a tenant, subtenant, lessee, or sublessee under an oral or written rental housing agreement shall not be considered an owner.
"Person"
includes a natural person, joint venture, joint stock company, partnership, association, club, company, corporation, business trust, or organization of any kind.
"Property"
means a parcel or lot that contains at least one rental housing unit as defined by this Section, or contiguous parcels or contiguous lots under common ownership that contain at least one rental housing unit as defined by this Section.
"Rent"
means all periodic payments and all nonmonetary consideration, including, but not limited to, the fair market value of goods or services rendered to or for the benefit of the landlord under an agreement concerning the use or occupancy of a rental unit and premises including all payment and consideration demanded or paid for parking, pets, furniture, subletting and security deposits for damages and cleaning.
"Rental housing agreement"
means an agreement, oral, written or implied, between a landlord and tenant for use or occupancy of a rental unit and for housing services.
"Rental housing unit"
means any dwelling space in the City that is not subject to Article XVIII of the City Charter, in which a tenant resides pursuant to a rental housing agreement. "Rental housing unit" includes all of the following when used as rental housing, provided the unit is not subject to Article XVIII of the City Charter:
(1) 
A dwelling unit, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.52.020, except that a dwelling unit for purposes of this Chapter may be less than three hundred seventy-five square feet in size;
(2) 
An accessory dwelling unit, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.51.020A.1;
(3) 
A junior accessory dwelling unit, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.51.020A.2;
(4) 
A unit in single-room occupancy housing, as defined by Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 9.51.020B.11.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
The requirements of this Chapter shall not apply to the following:
(a) 
Hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes and rooming and boarding houses which are rented primarily to transient guests for a period of less than fourteen days.
(b) 
Hospitals, convents, monasteries, extended medical care facilities, asylums, non-profit homes for seniors, or dormitories owned and operated by an institution of higher education.
(c) 
Rental housing units and properties which a government unit, agency or authority owns, operates, manages, or in which governmentally subsidized tenants reside only if applicable Federal or State law or administrative regulation specifically exempt such units from municipal control.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
(a) 
For every property in the City, the owner(s) shall file with the City a property registration statement on the following occasions:
(1) 
Annually by a date established by regulations adopted pursuant to Section 4.25.080; and
(2) 
Within sixty days after a change in ownership or management of the property.
(b) 
The property registration statement required by subsection (a) shall be completed on a form provided by the City and shall include at a minimum the following information:
(1) 
Property address;
(2) 
Name, mailing address, email address, and phone number of every owner of the property;
(3) 
Name, mailing address, email address, and phone number of a person responsible for managing the property;
(4) 
Information relevant to determining whether the property and each rental housing unit is subject to Civil Code Section 1946.2 or 1947.12, Article XXIII of the City Charter, or any affordable housing deed restriction;
(5) 
For each rental housing unit, the following information:
(A) 
Complete address, including unit number or other unit specification;
(B) 
Number of bedrooms;
(C) 
Number of bathrooms; and
(D) 
Whether the unit is tenant-occupied;
(6) 
For each rental housing unit at the property that is tenant-occupied, the following information:
(A) 
Rent amount;
(B) 
Date tenancy began;
(C) 
Whether the tenant is paying rent with a housing voucher;
(D) 
Amenities provided;
(E) 
Whether utilities are paid for by owner or tenant and on a submeter or direct meter basis; and
(F) 
When the prior tenant vacated the unit and why;
(7) 
Name of the natural person filing the property registration statement, and if not a person identified as an owner on the registration statement, evidence of authorization to file the registration statement on behalf of the owner(s);
(8) 
All other information as required by the City.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
(a) 
Within thirty days of receipt of a complete property registration statement and payment in full of any required property registration fees, the City shall issue to the owner a property registration certificate certifying compliance with the requirements of Section 4.25.040(a) of this Code. The property registration certificate shall expire at the time the next annual property registration certificate is issued or would be issued if an annual property registration statement is filed, or thirty-one days after a change in management or ownership if no updated property registration statement has been timely filed, whichever comes first.
(b) 
If, upon review of a filed property registration statement, the City determines that statement is not complete, the City shall issue a written notice of deficiency to the owner. The owner shall have fifteen days after the City issues such notice of deficiency to file a complete statement without penalty.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
(a) 
For every property for which a property registration statement is required to be filed, the owner shall display in a conspicuous place at the property, or provide to the tenant of each rental housing unit on the property, a copy of the non-expired property registration certificate issued by the City.
(b) 
No owner shall demand or accept rent for a rental housing unit at a property for which a property registration statement is required to be filed without first complying with subsection (a). This subsection shall become effective January 1, 2027.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
(a) 
A fee for the registration of property pursuant to this Chapter may be established by resolution of the City Council. Such fees are intended to recover the City's reasonable costs associated with the administration and enforcement of this Chapter and laws to protect tenants and promote housing stability. Fees shall be due at the time of filing a property registration statement and paid no more than once per year.
(b) 
Subject to subsections (c) and (d), an owner who has paid a property registration fee pursuant to this Chapter may pass through fifty percent of the fee to all tenants at the property, unless otherwise prohibited by any State, local, or Federal law. The owner shall divide the fifty percent pass through fee equally among all rental housing units at the property for which pass through fee is permitted, whether vacant or occupied, and shall charge each tenant no more than one-twelfth of the rental housing unit's pass through fee per month. Such pass through fee shall not be considered rent and shall be separately denominated on any rent ledger or tenant account balance statement.
(c) 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, no owner of a rental housing unit restricted by deed, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document as affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low, or moderate income, may pass through any portion of the property registration fee to a tenant of such a restricted rental housing unit.
(d) 
No owner may pass through any portion of the property registration fee to a tenant without first complying with Section 4.25.060.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
The City Manager or designee may promulgate administrative regulations to implement the provisions of this Chapter, including, but not limited to, regulations related requiring additional relevant information to be provided on registration statements, registration deadlines, and the form of registration statements. No person shall fail to comply with any such regulations.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)
(a) 
It shall be an affirmative defense to an action by owner to recover possession of a rental housing unit subject to Article XXIII of the City Charter that, at the time the action was filed, the owner failed to comply with Section 4.25.060 of this Chapter.
(b) 
Any person who violates this Chapter shall be subject to injunctive relief and be liable to the City in a civil action for a civil penalty in the amount of two hundred dollars per unregistered rental housing unit per month, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs as determined by the court. The civil penalty amount may be adjusted upward by City Council resolution.
(c) 
Any person violating this Section shall be subject to administrative fines and administrative penalties pursuant to Chapter 1.09 of this Code.
(d) 
Any person who is convicted of violating this Chapter shall be guilty of an infraction, which shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed two hundred and fifty dollars, or a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not greater than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the County Jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(e) 
Failure to comply with the requirements of this Chapter shall be considered a strict liability defense; accordingly, the prosecution shall not be required to prove criminal intent or that the violator meant to violate any provision of this Chapter.
(f) 
Any person convicted of violating any provision of this Chapter shall be required to reimburse the City its full investigative costs.
(g) 
Nonexclusive Remedies and Penalties. The remedies provided in this Chapter are not exclusive, and nothing in this Chapter shall preclude any person from seeking any other remedies, penalties, or procedures provided by law.
(Added by Ord. No. 2835CCS, 11/18/2025)