§ 8.22.010. Findings and purpose.

A.

The City Council finds that a shortage of decent, safe, affordable and sanitary residential rental housing continues to exist in Oakland. This shortage is evidenced by a low vacancy rate among such units throughout the city and a continually increasing demand for such housing. Many residents of Oakland pay a substantial amount of their monthly income for rent. The present shortage of rental housing units and the prevailing rent levels have a detrimental effect on the health, safety, and welfare of a substantial number of Oakland residents, particularly senior citizens, persons in low and moderate income households, and persons on fixed incomes. Stability in their housing situation is important for individuals and families in rental housing. In particular, tenants desire to be free from the fear of eviction motivated by a rental property owner's desire to increase rents. Rental property owners desire the ability to expeditiously terminate the tenancies of problem tenants.

B.

Further, the welfare of all persons who live, work, or own residential rental property in the City depends in part on attracting persons who are willing to invest in residential rental property in the city. It is, therefore, necessary that the City Council take actions that encourage investment in residential housing while also protecting the welfare of residential tenants.

C.

Among the purposes of this Chapter are providing relief to residential tenants in Oakland by limiting rent increases for existing tenants; encouraging rehabilitation of rental units, encouraging investment in new residential rental property in the city; reducing the financial incentives to rental property owners who terminate tenancies under California Civil Code Section 1946 ("Section 1946") or where rental units are vacated on other grounds under state law Civil Code Sec. 1954.50, et seq. ("Costa-Hawkins") that permit the city to regulate initial rents to new tenants, and allowing efficient rental property owners the opportunity for both a fair return on their property and rental income sufficient to cover the increasing cost of repairs, maintenance, insurance, employee services, additional amenities, and other costs of operation.

D.

The City Council also wishes to foster better relations between rental property owners and tenants and to reduce the cost and adversarial nature of rent adjustment proceedings under This chapter. For these reasons, This chapter includes options for rental property owners and tenants to mediate rent disputes that would otherwise be subject to a hearing process, and to mediate some evictions.

E.

Terminations of Tenancies. On November 5, 2002, Oakland voters passed the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance (Measure EE). The enactment of the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance by the electorate makes unnecessary the need for the eviction restrictions in This chapter, Article I (Rent Adjustment Ordinance) for a tenant whose tenancy is terminated by California Civil Code Section 1946 and also overrides portions of the Rent Adjustment Ordinance.

F.

The City Council believes that the relationship between landlords and tenants in smaller owner-occupied rental properties involve special relationships between the landlord and the tenants residing in the same smaller property. Smaller property owners also have a difficult time understanding and complying with rent and eviction regulation. The Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance recognizes this special relationship and exempts from its coverage owner-occupied properties divided into a maximum of three units. For these reasons, the City Council believes owner-occupied rental properties exempt from the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance should similarly be exempt from the Rent Adjustment Program so long as the property is owner-occupied. In order to permit tenants to adjust to the possibility of unregulated rents and to address the potential for abuse of the owner-occupancy exemption by landlords who are motivated to move into a property to gain an exemption just to increase rent and not to reside in the property, this exemption should not take effect for one year after the amendment to This chapter exempting these rental units is adopted, or one year after the landlord begins owner-occupancy, whichever is later.

G.

The City Council desires to provide efficient and effective program services to rental property owners and tenants. The City Council recognizes there must be an adequate funding source in order to accomplish this objective. To provide adequate funding for the program and services provided to rental property owners and tenants under This chapter, an annual fee has been established, as set out in the Master Fee Schedule. The funds provided from this fee shall be dedicated to the administrative, public outreach, enforcement, and legal needs of the programs and services set out in This chapter and not for any other purposes. This fee is to be paid by the rental property owner not as the owner of real property, but instead as the operator of the business of renting residential units, with a reimbursement of fifty (50) percent of the fee from the tenant as provided in This chapter. The fee will sunset after two years unless the City Council acts to extend it. With the enactment of the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance, the City Council desires to extend the Rent Program Service Fee to all residential rental units covered by either Residential Rent Adjustment Program or the Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and, therefore, moves the section of Article I pertaining to the fee to a new Chapter 8.22, Article IV.

(Ord. 12538 § 1 (part), 2003; Ord. 12399 (part), 2002)