HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-30 Ordinance 5033follows:
Ordinance No. 5033
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending
Section 9.72.070 of Chapter 9.72 [Mandatory Response to
Request for Discussion of Disputes between Landlord and
Tenant] of Title 9 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to Void Rent
Increases Given Without Notice of the Right to Mediation
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Declarations. The City Council finds and declares as
(a) The public interest requires that periodic revision of the Municipal Code is
necessary in order to make revi~ions that are consi~t~l1tW'ith public polic~y.~ ____ _
_ ~~~~~~~(b)mm~"P~ecL Sentin()l,Jh()mmEacilitation . Administer for them . City's Landlord
Tenant mediation program, found that the City's program is effective and highly rated by users,
but that it is underutilized in comparison to cities with similar programs.
(c) Project Sentinel has recommended revisions to help promote greater use of
the program and the City's Human Relations Commission and Policy and Services Committee
have reviewed and agreed with the recommendations.
SECTION 2. Section 9.72.070 of Chapter 9.72 [Mandatory Response to Request
for Discussion of Disputes Between Landlord and Tenant] of Title 9 is hereby amended to read
as follows:
9.72.070 Notice of tenant's rights.
(a) Every rental agreement, lease, or other written document evidencing or changing the
terms of tenancy for a residential rental property to which this chapter applies shall include or be
accompanied by the following: A notice summarizing the rights afforded by this chapter,
including but not limited to the protection against retaliation; and the name, address and
=====mmmm telephon:e=numhecof=the=facilitation=administrator.-.::T:hdaciHtation=administrator-=shal:l::prepare---""m----m~--
and publish acceptable notification language, including the name, address and phone number of
the city's facilitation administrator. The notification shall be capitalized text at least fourteen
points in size and shall state:
THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO
MEDIATION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT.
YOU MUST REQUEST MEDIATION WITHIN 21 DAYS OF LEARNING
ABOUT THE FACTS THAT CREATED THE DISPUTE. CONTACT THE
CITY OF PALO ALTO'S FACILITATION ADMINISTRATOR [name,
address and phone] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. THE PALO ALTO
MUNICIPAL CODE PROTECTS YOU FROM RETALIATION FOR
EXERCISING YOUR RIGHT TO MEDIATION.
(b) The notification shall be provided in English, Spanish, Chinese and Russian in the
translated form prepared and published by the facilitation administrator.
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(c) Failure to provide this notification shall result in an automatic extension of the
twenty-one-day time limit for filing a written request for dispute resolution pursuant to Section
9.72.040(a). The automatic extension shall remain in effect until twenty-one days after written
notification is provided by the landlord.
(d) Failure of a landlord to comply with the notice provisions described above or in a
form which provides substantially the same information shall render any rental increase notice
invalid and unenforceable, and shall provide the tenant with a defense in any legal action brought
by the landlord to collect rent in whole or in part based upon the amount of the rental increase,
including any unlawful detainer action based on failure to pay rent which includes an
unenforceable rental increase amount as a basis for all or part of the unpaid rent alleged in that
action. The failure to comply with the notice provisions will be cured only after the proper
written notice of Tenant's Rights, along with a new rental increase notice, has been properly
served on the tenant.
SECTION 3. The Council finds that amending the landlord/tenant mediation
ordinance does not meet the definition of a project under theCaIiIomiaEnV1ronmental~iY-ty----
___ ~~.Act~pursuanU~CaliforniaJ!ublic~ResDmces~d~section~2LQ65,~an<Ltherefor_e~n(Lemdmnmental~_~_
assessment is necessary.
SECTION 4.
date of its adoption.
This ordinance shall be effective on the thirty-first day after the
INTRODUCED:
PASSED:
March 16, 2009
March 30, 2009
AYES: BARTON, BURT, DREKMEIER, KlSHIMOTO, KLEIN, MORTON,
SCHMID, YEH
NOES:
ABSENT: ESPINOSA
ABSTENTIONS:
Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM: APPROVED:
~ City Attorney f
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