Sec. 4-254. - Applicability — Sonoma County Municipal Code

(a)

Applicability of this article. This article applies to all residential rental units in the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County except for those units that are exempted by the Act and not expressly made non-exempt by this Section 4-254(b) hereof. It shall further apply more broadly where enumerated in Section 4-258.

(b)

Limitation on exemptions from the Act. Within the unincorporated areas of Sonoma County, the following rental units, exempted from the just cause protections of the Act by Civil Code Section 1946.2(e) are hereby made non-exempt, except where the application of this article to a rental unit would violate law, regulation, or contractual requirements of the federal government or the state of California applicable to such rental unit:

Housing restricted by deed, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document as affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code, or subject to an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low, or moderate income, as defined in Section 50093 of the Health and Safety Code or comparable federal statutes.

(c)

Commencement of Protections. For any tenancy within the applicability of this article for which just cause protections would otherwise commence upon the completion of the periods of lawful and continuous occupation as set forth in Civ. Code Section 1946.2(a), such protection shall commence upon the commencement of lawful occupation of a rental unit pursuant to a rental agreement. Nothing in this Section 4-254(c) shall be construed to apply to any occupation that is "transient" as such term is defined in Section 12-10 of the Sonoma County Code or Civil Code Section 1940.

(d)

Expansion of Relocation Payments. Any tenant who is entitled to protections under this Section 4-254(b) and (c) hereof shall be entitled to relocation set forth in Section 1946.2(b)(2) to the full extent of the terms of Civil Code Section 1946.2(d), as augmented by Section 7, below.

(Ord. No. 6496, § 4, 9-17-2024)