Mountain View Municipal Code Div. 5 Civil Penalties

a. This division applies only to multi-family housing, as defined in this article, Division 1.

b. This division provides for administrative penalties, which are in addition to all other legal remedies, criminal or civil, which may be pursued by the city to address any violation of the City Code, whether in this chapter or any other chapter.

c. Use of this division shall be at the sole discretion of the city and shall be used as a tool of last resort where one or more serious violations as defined in the city's classification system for housing code violations exist and either an emergency situation involving life-threatening conditions exist, or where a Compliance Order has been issued and substantial progress in remedying the violation(s) is not evidenced.

(Ord. No. 4.94, 3/8/94.)

a. Any person who willfully fails to comply with a Compliance Order issued under this article shall be liable for a civil penalty for the violation of any provision of this code in an amount not to exceed a maximum of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) per day for each violation, except that a total civil penalty shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) exclusive of administrative costs, interest and restitution for compliance reinspections or for any related series of violations.

b. In determining whether the civil penalty should be imposed and, if so, the amount of the civil penalty, the court shall take any or all of the following factors into consideration:

1. The duration of the violation;

2. The frequency, recurrence and number of violations, related or unrelated, by the same violator;

3. The seriousness of the violation;

4. The good-faith efforts of the violator to come into compliance;

5. The economic impact of the penalty on the violator;

6. The impact of the violation on the community; and

7. Such other factors as justice may require.

c. Civil penalties imposed by the court shall accrue from the date specified in the Compliance Order and shall cease to accrue on the date the violation is corrected as determined by the court.

d. The court, in its discretion, may suspend the imposition of applicable penalties for any period of time during which:

1. The violator has filed for necessary permits;

2. Such permits are required to achieve compliance; and

3. Such permit applications are actively pending before the city, state or other appropriate governmental agency.

e. Civil penalties assessed by the court are a debt owed to the city and, in addition to all other means of enforcement, may be enforced by means of a lien against the real property on which the violation occurred.

f. If the violation is not corrected as specified in the Compliance Order, civil penalties shall continue to accrue on a daily basis until the violation is corrected subject to the maximum amount set forth in Sec. 25.91(a), above.

(Ord. No. 4.94, 3/8/94.)