9281.7. - Consumer protection provisions.

In addition to the tenant protection provisions set forth in the Subdivision Map Act, the applicant shall comply with the following provisions, as conditions of any conditional use permit for a condominium conversion project approved pursuant to these sections:

A.

Sales and lease termination. The tenants of the project on the date of application shall be offered the first right of refusal to purchase units. The offer shall run for sixty (60) days. A tenant of any project proposed for conversion on the date of application for each conversion may terminate any lease after giving thirty (30) days' notice.

B.

Relocation assistance. The applicant shall offer to each eligible tenant a plan for relocation to comparable housing, as approved by the city.

The relocation plan shall provide, at a minimum, for the following:

Assistance to each eligible tenant in locating comparable housing, including but not limited to, providing availability reports and transportation, where necessary.

2.

Payment of a relocation fee to each tenant who does not choose to stay. The payment shall be a cash payment of at least one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00). A tenant is not entitled to a relocation fee pursuant to this subsection if the tenant has been evicted for just cause. Cash payment minimums will be adjusted annually, in accordance with the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metropolitan area. In addition, a cash payment of actual deposit costs not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be made for utility deposits and hook-up costs.

3.

In the case of eligible tenants who are senior citizen, handicapped, low income, or single heads of households living with one (1) or more minor children, the following additional provisions must be made:

a.

Payment, not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), of the first two (2) months' rent in the new complex, if required upon moving in; and the transfer to the new complex of all key, utility, and pet deposits to which the tenant is entitled upon vacating the unit. Cleaning and security deposits, minus damages, shall be refunded to the tenant upon vacating the unit.

b.

In lieu of the transfer of deposits to the new complex, the tenant may, at his or her option, elect to be refunded all deposits to which he or she is entitled.

c.

If the amount of deposits and other fees required upon moving into the new complex exceed the amounts refunded to the tenant and transferred to the new complex, plus damages deducted therefrom, the applicant shall pay the difference.

d.

If the amount of damage to any unit exceeds the deposit, the excess may be subtracted from the relocation assistance payment.

e.

Life-term and long-term leases. The applicant shall offer eligible tenants leases for a term of:

i.

Fifty-nine (59) years when the tenant is elderly or handicapped and also qualifies as being low income. Such leases shall provide that annual rent increases shall not exceed the percentage change in HUD's defined fair market rent.

ii.

Fifty-nine (59) years when the tenant is elderly or handicapped with a moderate income or greater. Rents may be increased at the prevailing market rate.

iii.

An annually renewable lease for a term not to exceed five (5) years for low income households when the planning commission finds that comparable units are not available for the relocation of low income persons. Such agreements shall be certified for tenant eligibility each calendar year. Qualification for the federal Section 8 program or its successor shall constitute certification.

4.

The offer to each eligible tenant of a plan for relocation shall be free of any coercion, intimidation, inducement or promise not herein specified and shall not cause the tenant to vacate in advance of, a timetable or schedule for relocation as approved in its application for approval of conversion.

C.

Antidiscrimination. The applicant or owner of any condominium unit within a project shall not discriminate in the sale, or in the terms and conditions of sale, of any dwelling unit against any person who is or was a lessee or tenant of any such dwelling unit because such person opposed, in any manner, the conversion of such building into a condominium. In a like manner, the applicant or owner shall not discriminate in the sale, or in the terms and conditions of sale of any dwelling unit against any person or family based upon age or family size, when family size does not exceed HUD's standard for overcrowding of one and onefourth (1.25) persons per room. This antidiscrimination section shall be included in the conditions, covenants and restrictions for the project.

D.

Preconversion protection. From the date of application for a conditions use permit to convert, or until relocation takes place or the application is denied or withdrawn, but in no event for more than two (2) years, no tenant shall be unjustly evicted and no tenant's rent shall be increased (1) more frequently than once every six (6) months, nor (2) in an amount greater than the annual increase in utility costs and insurance costs, plus increased operating costs not to exceed two (2) percent per year. This limitation shall not apply if rent increases are expressly provided for in leases or contracts in existence prior to the filing date of the conditional use permit for the conversion.

E.

Appliance warranties. The applicant shall provide free of charge to the first individual purchaser of each unit a one-year warranty on each built-in appliance contained in the unit, whether new or used.