Downey Municipal Code Part 3 Recordation, Enforcement and Attorney's Fees

A. Notwithstanding any provision of the Downey Municipal Code to the contrary, if the City determines that any property, building or structure, or any part thereof, is in violation of any provision of the Downey Municipal Code and said violation has not been fully abated or corrected, as determined by the City, in the manner and time provided in a written notice to a responsible person, then the City, in its sole discretion, may record a Notice of Substandard Property with the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office against said premises. As used herein, "fully abated or corrected" includes the procurement of all required City approvals, permits, licenses and the passage of all City required inspections.

B. The City may record a Notice of Substandard Property without the issuance of a Notice of Abatement, provided that a written notice of violation or a written notice of correction to a responsible person previously disclosed that a Substandard Notice may be recorded against a property if a violation is not fully abated or corrected in the manner and time delineated in said notice.

C. A Notice of Substandard Property may be recorded after service of a Notice of Abatement provided that: (1) the Notice of Abatement contained this disclosure, (2) the public nuisance was not, as determined by the City, fully abated or corrected in the manner and time specified in the Notice of Abatement, and, (3) a timely and proper appeal to the Notice of Abatement was not made.

D. The form that constitutes a Notice of Substandard Property shall be approved by the City Attorney or the City Prosecutor.

E. The City shall record a Notice of Rescission of Substandard Property with the Los Angeles County Recorder's Office within 10 business days of its determination that a violation or a public nuisance has been fully abated or corrected.

F. The City shall cause copies of recorded Notices of Substandard Property and Notices of Rescission of Substandard Property to be served on all persons having an ownership interest in the subject real property as shown in the last equalized assessment roll of the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office. Service thereof shall be by first class mail. Failure of any person to receive such notices shall not invalidate any action or proceeding pursuant to this chapter.

(Added by Ord. 1238, adopted 10-28-08)

A. Pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Section 17951, and any successor statute thereto, responsible persons, who cause, allow, permit, suffer, or maintain a violation in, or upon, residential properties, shall be charged fees (hereafter "code enforcement fees") by the City to defray its costs of code enforcement actions, as hereafter defined. Such fees shall not exceed the amount reasonably required to achieve this objective and are chargeable whether the City's code enforcement actions occur in the absence of formal administrative or judicial proceedings, as well as prior to, during, or subsequent to, the initiation of such proceedings.

B. The amount(s) or rate(s) of code enforcement fees for City personnel time and other resources that are used for code enforcement actions shall be established, and may thereafter be amended, by resolution by the City Council.

C. The City Manager, or a designee thereof, is authorized to adopt regulations for the uniform imposition of code enforcement fees, and for related administrative actions pertaining to such fees.

D. The fees imposed pursuant to this section shall be in addition to any other fees or charges that responsible persons may owe in accordance with any other provision of this Code, or which are imposed pursuant to County, State or Federal laws or regulations.

E. Code enforcement fees shall be recoverable in conjunction with any civil, administrative or criminal action to abate, cause the abatement or cessation of, or otherwise remove a violation or a public nuisance.

F. Failure to pay Code enforcement fees shall constitute a debt that is collectible in any manner allowed by law.

(Added by Ord. 1238, adopted 10-28-08)

A. A prevailing party in any administrative, civil or equitable judicial action to abate, or cause the abatement of a public nuisance as defined in this chapter, or in any appeal or other judicial action arising therefrom, may recover reasonable attorney's fees in accordance with the following subsections:

1. Attorney's fees are not recoverable by any person as a prevailing party unless the City Manager, or a designee thereof, or an attorney for, and on behalf of, the City, elects in writing to seek recovery of the City's attorney's fees at the initiation of that individual action or proceeding. Failure to make such an election precludes any entitlement to, or award of, attorney's fees in favor of any person or the City.

2. The City is the prevailing party when an administrative or judicial determination is made or affirmed by which a person is found to be responsible for one or more conditions or activities that constitute a public nuisance. A person is the prevailing party only when a final administrative or judicial determination completely absolves that person of responsibility for all conditions or activities that were alleged, in that action or proceeding, to constitute a public nuisance. An administrative or judicial determination that results in findings of responsibility and non-responsibility on the part of a person for conditions or activities that were alleged in that action or proceeding to constitute a public nuisance, shall nevertheless result in the City being the prevailing party.

B. Provided that the City has made an election to seek attorney's fees, an award of attorney's fees to a person shall not exceed the amount of reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the City in that action or proceeding.

(Added by Ord. 1238, adopted 10-28-08)

A. This chapter does not exclusively regulate the conditions and use of property within the City. This chapter shall supplement other provisions of this Code and other statutes, ordinances or regulations now existing or subsequently enacted by the City, the State or any other entity or agency having jurisdiction.

B. The procedures for abatement set forth in this chapter are not exclusive and are in addition to any other provisions set forth in this Code or by State law for the abatement of public nuisances.

(Added by Ord. 1238, adopted 10-28-08)

If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The City Council declares that it would have adopted this chapter, and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, phrases, or portions be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

(Added by Ord. 1238, adopted 10-28-08)