Woodlake Municipal Code Ch. 8.50 Rental Housing Policy

This chapter shall be known as the "Rental Housing Policy."

For purposes of this chapter, unless the particular provision or the context otherwise clearly requires, the definitions in this section shall govern the construction, meaning and application of words and phrases used in this article:

A. "Director" shall mean the Community Development Director or his or her designee.

B. "City" shall mean the City of Woodlake and/or any agent hired to implement this chapter.

C. "Health and Safety Standards" shall mean the standards set forth in California Civil Code 1941.1.

D. "Owner" means the person or entity identified and listed as having title by the latest property tax assessment roll, maintained by the Fresno County Assessor.

E. "Property" or "Residential Rental Property" means any lot or parcel of land containing residential rental units, and all improvements thereon, including common areas.

F. "Residential Rental Unit" means any structure or part of a structure that is used or may be used by one or more persons as a home, residence, dwelling, or sleeping place for longer than thirty (30) days, including single family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, or multi-family (four (4) units or more) residential buildings, which is not an owner occupied unit, including rooming houses, boarding houses, apartment units, condominium units, and single room occupancies, but excluding:

1. Hotels, motels, and bed and breakfasts used for transient lodging;

2. Any rental units in a state licensed hospital, hospice, community care facility, intermediate care facility, or nursing home;

3. Rental housing units owned, managed or operated by an educational, religious, or medical institution, or by a third party for an educational, religious, or medical institution, when units are used for the sole purpose of housing employees, students, clergy, patients, or others directly related to the institution.

G. "Tenant's Affirmative Obligations" shall mean the standards set forth in California Civil Code 1941.2. An Inspector's determination that a tenant is or is not in substantial violation of tenant's affirmative obligations, or the cause of the existence of a dilapidation or violation or interferes substantially with the owner's obligation to effect necessary maintenance or repairs is not intended as evidentiary proof of the condition of the unit, and shall be used only for purposes of implementing and enforcing this chapter.

(Ord. No. 639, § 2, 11-8-2021)

The provisions of this article shall apply to all residential rental units located within the city. Provisions of this article shall be supplementary and complementary to all of the provisions of this Code, and any local, state or federal law. Nothing herein shall be construed or interpreted to limit any existing right or power of the city to abate and prosecute any and all nuisances or to enforce any other conditions in violation of state or local laws, including but not limited to any building, housing, property maintenance and public nuisance laws.

(Ord. No. 639, § 2, 11-8-2021)

A. Baseline Inspection: All residential rental properties in the city shall be subject to a baseline inspection upon application for a city business license. The director, or his or her designee, hereinafter referred to as the inspector, is authorized to inspect all residential rental units upon application, to determine whether such residential rental units meet minimum Health and Safety Standards. If violations are found during the initial inspection, the owner is given thirty (30) days to make the corrections. If all violations are not corrected before the 30-day progress inspection, a business license shall not be issued. A reasonable fee may be charged for inspections, as set forth in the Fee Schedule. The city will give a 72-hour notice to tenant prior to inspections.

B. Compliance with Codes and Standards: Residential rental units shall be required to be in conformance and maintained in accordance with the code standard that was in effect at the time the residential rental unit was constructed, substantially altered, or remodeled, erected, or converted, except for any additional requirements mandated by this Code or state law. Tenants have the right to request an inspection by the inspector to determine compliance.

(Ord. No. 639, § 2, 11-8-2021)

If, after a correction notice has been issued, the owner fails to abate the violations, the city may proceed with all remedies available under law to compel compliance, including but not limited to issuing administrative citations, abatement proceedings, civil injunction, and/or criminal prosecution, or any combination of remedies, so long as violations are not caused by tenant's breach of Tenant's Affirmative Obligations. In any action or proceeding brought by the city to enforce this article, the city shall be entitled to recover its attorney's fees when it is the prevailing party. The city attorney may, at his or her discretion, charge any violation of this ordinance as either an infraction or a misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 639, § 2, 11-8-2021)