Vallejo Municipal Code Ch. 1.10 Code Enforcement and Relocation

The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide for owner-paid relocation payments and assistance to residential tenants who are displaced during the city of Vallejo's code enforcement activities.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1(part), 1993.)

This chapter is enacted in recognition of the following facts and for the following reasons:

A. Some residential rental units in Vallejo have been found to have severe code violations which threaten the life and safety of occupants. In some circumstances, the hazardous living conditions have required that tenants vacate the structure to allow for extensive repairs or demolition.

B. These code violations often are caused by negligence, deferred maintenance, or the illegal use of the structure as a residency by the property owner. These code violations typically constitute a violation of the owner's legal responsibility to the tenants. For example, they may be a breach of the owner's implied warranty of habitability, and could constitute constructive eviction of the tenants from their residence.

C. The difficulty of finding affordable replacement housing and the burden of incurring moving-related expenses creates a financial hardship for tenants, particularly those who are low-income. Financial hardship arises because the tenants generally need a large sum of money to relocate, often including first and last month's rent, deposits, moving expenses and utility deposits. Low-income tenants are generally unable to obtain such sums and, as a result, are at great risk of becoming homeless.

D. Relocation benefits and assistance are necessary to ensure that displaced tenants secure safe, sanitary and decent replacement housing. The level of payments provided for in this chapter is reflective of actual relocation costs likely to be incurred by displaced households. This is consistent with and in furtherance of the city's Housing Element in its General Plan.

F. In the past, affected tenants have turned to local, state and national governmental entities for financial assistance in obtaining alternative housing. However, the resources available to those entities with which to assist these tenants have become increasingly constrained.

G. It is fair for property owners who fail to properly maintain residential rental properties or create residential units illegally to bear responsibility for the hardship their actions or inaction create for tenants. Relocation is a necessary element of code enforcement that should be the responsibility of the property owner, and the city should be reimbursed by the responsible owner for all costs that it incurs in the code enforcement process.

H. Delayed payment of relocation benefits may impose extreme hardship upon tenants who then must obtain the large sums necessary to relocate. Delayed payment may also require the city to expend funds to provide tenants with financial assistance for relocation. Any requirement to pay relocation benefits should contain disincentives for delayed payment in the form of appropriate penalties.

I. It is the intent of this chapter to ensure that adequate relocation assistance is available to lawful tenants who face displacement through no fault of their own. It is also the intent to provide assistance in a manner that is as equitable as possible to the tenant, the property owner, and the public at large. The requirement for owners to pay relocation costs under this chapter will facilitate the correction of code violations and protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the residents of the city of Vallejo.

J. This chapter is in the public interest for the reasons stated above. Additionally, it furthers the public interest by helping to remove a potential impediment to code enforcement: the chilling effect of retaliatory eviction and uncompensated, sudden dislocation tenants may face. The city finds that this chapter also is fair, in that it imposes reasonable costs and penalties on owners who operate without good faith. Such owners otherwise might profit from the detriment their activities cause the community and their tenants.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

For purposes of this chapter, certain terms, phrases, words and their derivatives shall be construed as specified in this section.

A. "City manager" shall mean the city manager of the city of Vallejo, or his or her designee.

B. "Code enforcement activity" shall mean activity the city initiates to determine the condition of a building and require the property owner to make necessary repairs; to vacate the building; or to take other action to bring the property into compliance with applicable state or local zoning, building or housing standards.

C. "Comparable replacement dwelling" shall have the same meaning as that specified in California Government Code section 7260, et seq.

D. "Day" shall mean calendar day.

E. "Notice to vacate" shall mean an official notice issued by the city of Vallejo, however denominated, requiring that a substantial building be vacated after a determination that the building is hazardous, unsafe or otherwise not in legal compliance with applicable building or zoning standards. The term notice to vacate shall include a notice to occupants to vacate.

F. "Property owner" shall mean a person, corporation, or any other party holding fee title to the subject real property.

G. "Relocation" shall mean the required vacating of a residential unit or room by a tenant household to further the city's code enforcement activity.

H. "Rental unit" shall mean a dwelling space containing a separate bathroom, kitchen, and living area, including a single family dwelling or unit in a multifamily or multi-purpose dwelling; or, it shall mean a unit in a condominium or cooperative housing project, which is hired, rented, or leased to a household within the meaning of California Civil Code Section 1940.

I. "Room" shall mean a habitable unsubdivided portion of the interior of a residential building which is used for the purpose of sleeping, and is occupied by a tenant for at least thirty consecutive days. This includes a single room occupancy (SRO) living space.

J. "Substandard building" shall mean a structure that has been found to be hazardous, unsafe, or otherwise not in conformance with applicable state or local zoning, building or housing standards, including but not limited to standards contained in the Vallejo Municipal Code. For the purposes of this chapter, substandard buildings shall mean only those buildings that contain rental units or rooms as defined herein.

K. "Tenant household" shall mean one or more individuals who: (1) have a valid landlord-tenant relationship with the property owner, by renting or leasing a rental unit or room in a substandard building; and, (2) can demonstrate a valid relationship by leases, cancelled rent checks, rent receipts, or any other evidence of property owner consent to rent or lease premises.

L. "Vallejo Municipal Code" shall mean all ordinances, rules, and regulations of the city of Vallejo regulating maintenance, sanitation, ventilation, light, location, use or occupancy of residential buildings.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1(part), 1993.)

A tenant household shall be eligible for relocation assistance and payments under this chapter when tenants in the household are displaced from their rental units or rooms during code enforcement activity. However, this shall be true only when the tenant household is not directly responsible for the substandard building condition.

If there is a dispute between the owner and tenant household over responsibility for the condition, or if responsibility is shared between the owner and tenant household, the city official who issues the notice to vacate may decide factual issues subject to appeal to the city council. Any relocation costs ordered to be paid after such a determination may be discounted to reflect fairness to the parties.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

As part of the city's code enforcement activity, the city manager will decide whether repairs or other actions to abate substandard buildings can be reasonably accomplished without relocation.

If relocation is necessary to abate a substandard building, the responsible city official shall mail or hand deliver a notice to vacate to the property owner and each affected tenant household. At the same time, the notice will contain information regarding any relocation benefits and assistance, to which the tenant household may be entitled. The notice also shall inform the property owner that failure to make required payments and referrals within ten days may result in the city making payments on behalf of the owner, and that failure to reimburse the city for all payments made and other costs and penalties incurred shall result in a lien being placed on the property.

The issuance of a notice to vacate shall not relieve the property owner of any legal obligations, including any obligation to provide any notice imposed by any provisions of federal, state, or local laws or ordinances.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

Upon the receipt of the notice to vacate, the property owner shall provide a written notice to the tenant household setting forth the reasons for the need to vacate, the tenants' rights to relocation assistance and benefits, the tenants' rights to reoccupancy following completion of repairs (if the property is to be repaired), and the estimated date for reoccupancy. If the substandard building is to be demolished or removed from service rather than repaired, the notice shall so state. The owner's notice shall be accompanied by a complete description of this chapter and any administrative rules concerning relocation adopted hereunder. The owner shall send a copy of all tenant notices to the city official from whom the owner received the notice to vacate.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

The property owner shall provide tenant household relocation payments when code enforcement activity requires that household to move. The owner shall provide those payments directly to the household to be displaced or already displaced. The property owner also shall be responsible for making referrals to a comparable replacement dwelling. The owner shall make required payments and referrals within ten days after the notice is issued, unless the city manager determines that special circumstances require payment and referrals sooner. The tenant household shall not be required by the property owner to vacate the premises until relocation payment is made, unless the chief building official or code enforcement officer determines that vacation must be immediate.

The property owner shall also be responsible for reimbursing the city for any relocation payments it makes or costs it incurs under this chapter. As noted above, the property owner shall not be liable for relocation payments or referrals to a tenant household to the effect that a tenant household or its guests or invitees are responsible for substandard building conditions. However, while any dispute is pending concerning responsibility for substandard building conditions, that shall not relieve the landlord for its responsibility to make timely payments under this chapter.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

Any owner who does not make timely payment shall be liable to the tenant household for an amount equal to one and one-half times the relocation benefits payable to that household. This provision shall not apply when: (A) relocation benefits are payable fewer than ten days after the date the notice to vacate is first mailed or delivered to the owner; and, (B) the owner makes the payments within ten days after the notice to vacate is first mailed or delivered to the owner.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

A. The city may assist tenant households to be relocated during code enforcement activity by providing information, referral, monitoring, and other advisory assistance. Any assistance the city offers does not absolve property owners from their responsibility to make referrals to comparable replacement dwellings. Any tenant household interested in city assistance should contact the city manager for relocation information within ten days of receipt of a notice to vacate. Failure by tenant households to contact the city within the ten-day period will not relieve property owners from their responsibility to provide relocation benefits and assistance.

B. If the owner fails, neglects or refuses to pay a displaced tenant household relocation benefits, the city may pay any relocation benefits necessary to assist the displaced tenant household to relocate, up to the amount payable by the owner under this chapter and any administrative rule adopted under it. Any such payments by the city will be considered a charge against the owner.

For the city to consider such payments, the tenant household must make a request to the city manager or his or her designee within thirty days after the owner fails, neglects or refuses to make such required payments.

C. If the city makes relocation payments that the property owner does not reimburse, it may bill the property owner for the amount of payment, plus a penalty equal to one-half the relocation payment, plus any administrative or other costs it would not have incurred but for the failure of the owner. The owner shall reimburse the city within ten working days of billing.

The failure of any person to pay the amounts to the city set forth in this chapter within the time specified constitutes a debt to the city. To enforce that debt, the city manager or his or her designee may file a claim with the Small Claims Court; impose an assessment lien as set forth below; or pursue any other legal remedy to collect such money.

A special assessment may be imposed against the property that is the subject of the debt. If that is done, a notice of lien shall be recorded in the Office of the County Recorder. When so made and confirmed, the cost shall constitute a lien on that property for the amount of the assessment. After confirmation and recordation, a copy may be turned over to the tax collector for the city.

At that point, it will be the duty of the tax collector to add the amounts of the respective assessments to the next regular tax bills levied against the lots and parcels of land for municipal purposes. Those amounts shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as ordinary municipal taxes are collected, and shall be subject to the same penalties and procedures under foreclosure and sale in the case of delinquency as provided for with ordinary municipal taxes. Alternatively, after recording, the lien may be foreclosed by judicial or other sale in the manner and means provided by law.

The notice of lien for recordation shall be in the form substantially as follows:

"NOTICE OF LIEN (Claim of the City of Vallejo)

Under authority vested by provision of Chapter 1.10 of the Vallejo Municipal Code, the City Manager of the City of Vallejo did on or about the _______ day of _______, 199___, assess the cost of abatement on the real property hereinafter described; and the same has not been paid nor any part thereof; and the City of Vallejo does hereby claim a lien for such abatement, to wit: the sum of _______ dollars. The same shall be a lien on the real property until it has been paid in full and discharged of record.

The real property hereinafter mentioned, upon which a lien is claimed, is that certain parcel of land in the City of Vallejo, County of Solano, State of California, more particularly described as follows:

DATED this _______day of _______, 199___.

___________ (Name) ___________ City of Vallejo (Job Title)"

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

The city manager may authorize immediate city payment of relocation benefits to tenant households if he or she determines that immediate vacation of the substandard building is necessary. The city manager's determination shall be in writing and mailed or hand delivered, along with the notice to vacate, to the property owner and the tenant household. The determination shall set forth the owner's responsibilities for, and the tenant household's rights to, relocation assistance and benefits. The tenant household must sign a request for relocation assistance from the city manager in order to receive immediate relocation payments. Those payments and other related costs shall be a charge against the property owner, and the owner shall reimburse the city for these relocation costs. Additionally, those costs may be collected, if need be, as outlined above in Section 1.10.090.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

Eligible tenant households shall receive monetary relocation payments equal to three times the monthly rent they would be paying at the time of relocation. The city manager may require additional relocation payments when unusual circumstances indicate that the usual payment amounts are insufficient to relocate the tenant household. Payments for relocation shall not be considered as income or assets for any government benefits program.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

A displaced tenant household shall have the option of moving back into the rental unit or room from which it was required to move. If this is not possible, it shall have the option of moving into an equivalent unit or room in the same building, as soon as it is ready for occupancy. If a household wishes to avail itself of this option, it must inform the owner in writing of its current address at all times during the period of displacement.

The property owner shall notify a displaced tenant household at least thirty days in advance by certified mail of the availability of the unit or room. If a shorter notice is given and the tenant household indicates that it wishes to move back, the unit or room must be held vacant at no cost to the household for a period of thirty-five days after the mailing of the notice of availability. Within ten days of receipt of notice of availability of the unit or room, a household wishing to move back must so notify the owner in writing.

If a tenant household wishing to move back into the unit or room is required to pay a security deposit, the household must be permitted sufficient time to do so. In no event may that time exceed sixty days.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

It shall be unlawful for a property owner or landlord to increase the amount of rent for any substandard building once a tenant household exercises its move-back option for six months after move-back. It also shall be unlawful for a property owner or landlord to increase the amount of rent for any substitute residence that he or she has provided until one hundred eighty days after completion of any repairs on the vacated unit. If the vacated unit has been demolished, the one hundred eighty day period will start to run from the date the tenant household moves into the replacement unit.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

Any property owner or tenant household may contest a city decision regarding eligibility, relocation payment amounts or any other determination or claim made under this chapter. To do so, the party shall file a written request for a hearing with the city council within five working days of the decision, determination or claim. The city council shall hold a hearing at its earliest opportunity under the procedures Chapter 2.02 outlines in this code. The council's decision shall be in writing and final. That decision, as well as all notices from the city council, shall be sent to both the property owner and all tenant households erected by the appeal.

Nothing in this chapter shall in any way preclude or limit any aggrieved party from seeking judicial review after it has exhausted the administrative remedies provided herein.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

Any person violating any provision or failing to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction. In addition to any fine imposed for a violation of this chapter, any person violating or causing or permitting the violation of this chapter shall reimburse the city for any administrative costs or expenses the city incurs in administering this chapter. Those amounts may include any provisional relocation assistance provided to tenants, such as temporary housing, moving expenses, relocation payments, public health assistance, transportation, storage or other related services.

Amounts collected under this chapter shall be maintained in an interest-bearing account for the use of the city manager to respond to the temporary housing, moving expenses, public health, transportation, storage and other needs of displaced tenants, in his or her sole discretion.

The remedies and penalties provided for in this section and chapter shall be in addition to any other available remedies and penalties provided for by the Vallejo Municipal Code or other law.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

Any person or organization who believes that provisions of this chapter or any administrative rule adopted under it have been violated shall have the right to file an action for injunctive relief and/or actual damages. Whoever is found to have violated this chapter shall be subject to appropriate injunctive relief and shall be liable for damages, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. Treble damages shall be awarded for willful failure to comply with the payment obligation established under this chapter.

Nothing herein shall be deemed to interfere with the right of a property owner to file an action against a tenant or nontenant third party for the damage done to that person's property. Nothing herein is intended to limit the damages recoverable by any party through a private action.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

The city manager for the city of Vallejo is hereby authorized to create an administrative rule and amend that rule when need be, so long as any such rule is consistent with this chapter.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)

If any provision of this chapter is held to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of this chapter shall not be invalidated.

(Ord. 1284 N.C.(2d) § 1 (part), 1993.)