Oakley Municipal Code Art. 4 Enforcement

(a) Unless otherwise exempt under this chapter, every rental property shall be subject to periodic inspection to determine whether any substandard condition exists at a rental dwelling or its premises, to determine whether there is a violation of this code or the checklist, and to ensure compliance with the requirements described in this chapter.

(b) If a rental dwelling unit or its premises fails to pass an inspection, the Director or designee will provide the Property Owner with written notice of any deficiencies noted during the inspection and/or re-inspection of the dwelling unit or its premises.

(c) A rental dwelling unit shall be subject to re-inspections as frequently as necessary to ensure that all deficiencies are corrected.

(d) Inspections by the City pursuant to this program shall be exterior inspections only, unless an interior inspection is authorized by the owner or tenant. Nothing herein shall prevent the City from obtaining an inspection warrant for an interior inspection without the consent of the owner or tenant, nor from conducting an emergency inspection under exigent circumstances. Nothing herein shall prevent the City from conducting any other property inspection or taking any other enforcement action authorized by federal, state, or local law.

(Ord. 16-14, 10/14/2014)

(a) If any substandard condition or violation exists, the Director or designee may provide the property owner with a written "Notice and Order to Correct" that describes the substandard condition or violation. The notice will provide a reasonable period of time for correction, depending on the severity of the condition, from 24 hours to 60 days from the date of the notice.

(b) If the property owner applies in writing to the Director for an extension within the original correction period, the Director may extend the period for correction if the Director determines that the property owner has established that the correction has been diligently pursued but could not be completed within the original correction period.

(c) The Notice and Order shall be mailed first class mail to the property owner at the property owner’s last address as it appears on the latest equalized tax assessment roll of Contra Costa County.

Before beginning any correction of the substandard condition or violation, the property owner shall obtain all necessary permits and pay all required fees for the permits, including, without limitation, any penalty imposed by this Code by reason of any repair, improvement, or maintenance which had been done in the past without a required permit, inspection or final approval.

One or more re-inspections may be conducted to verify that the substandard condition(s) or violation(s) identified in the Notice and Order have been corrected. Following the expiration of the correction period and any extensions, the property owner shall pay a reinspection fee and associated penalties, if any, and arrange with the Director for re-inspection of the property. If the owner does not contact the Director, the City may cause a reinspection to be made at its own discretion. The property owner shall pay any re-inspection fees and/or costs, including attorneys’ fees for the City if legal services were utilized, for the re-inspection(s). Any substandard condition or violation not discovered in the initial inspection but discovered during a re-inspection may be the subject of a subsequent Notice and Order.

If it becomes necessary in the opinion of the Director to vacate any rental dwelling unit because of an unsafe or unsanitary condition, or to carry out the correction of any Notice and Order, the costs and expenses of any tenant shall be the responsibility of the property owner. The owner may appeal such costs and expenses to the City Manager, whose decision shall be final.

Failure to correct the substandard condition or violation after a Notice and Order within the time specified in the Notice and Order, may result in the issuance of administrative citations, abatement of any nuisances using any remedy allowed under this Chapter, this Municipal Code, uniform codes adopted by reference, state law, a proceeding in equity, criminal and/or civil penalties, recordation of a notice of pending action, and/or any other enforcement method permitted by law. Remedies may include the City notifying the state Franchise Tax Board of the Property Owner’s noncompliance for the purposes of disallowing state income tax deduction of interest, depreciation, taxes or amortization deductions, pursuant to California Revenue and Taxation Code Sections 17274 and 24436.5, and related statutes. Conducting the business of renting dwelling units in violation of this Chapter or without making corrections shall also constitute an unfair business practice subject to enforcement provisions authorized by state law.

The Property Owner may appeal any determination of the Director or designee in the same manner as an appeal is taken from the issuance of an administrative citation as described in this Code.