Title
Introduction of Ordinance Amending Alameda Municipal Code Article XV (Rent Control, Limitations on Evictions, and Relocation Payments to Certain Displaced Tenants) Concerning Permanent Relocation Payments to Tenants Whose Tenancies are Illegally Terminated and Reinserting Clarifying Language Inadvertently Removed. (City Attorney)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Len Aslanian, Acting City Attorney
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Under the City of Alameda’s (City) Rent Ordinance, landlords may terminate tenancies either “for cause,” for example, failure to pay rent, or “for no-fault,” for example, an owner move-in. If a tenancy is terminated for cause, no permanent relocation payments are required to be paid to the tenant. If the tenancy is terminated for no fault reasons, the landlord must provide to the displaced tenant(s) a permanent relocation payment. What is not expressly addressed in the Ordinance are situations where the landlord terminates a tenancy that is not permitted under the Ordinance, for example, terminating a tenancy “for no cause”. In such cases, if the tenant, in response to the invalid notice, has vacated the unit or found alternative permanent housing, the Landlord must be required to provide permanent relocation payments to the displaced tenant(s). The Ordinance also includes a few clarifying items such as reinserting language that was inadvertently removed when City Council recently amended the Ordinance concerning utility adjustments.
BACKGROUND
Under the City’s Rent Control, Just Cause for Evictions, and Relocation Payments for Certain Displaced Tenants Ordinance (“Rent Ordinance), a landlord may terminate a tenancy for only just cause or for no fault of the tenant. Just cause includes, for example, failure to pay rent and breach of the lease terms. No fault of the tenant includes an owner move-in or permanent withdrawal of the rental unit from the rental market. The important difference in these two situations is that in the former, the landlord is not required to provide permanent relocation payments to a tenant whose tenancy is terminated. In the latter, the landlord is required to provide permanent relocation payments. The amount of permanent relocation payments varies depending on the number of bedrooms and whether a tenant is a “qualified tenant household”. For example, a disabled or senior tenant displaced from a two-bedroom unit would be entitled to $11,758 as a permanent relocation payment; a tenant who is not a qualified tenant household displaced from a two-bedroom unit would receive $8,799.
When, however, a landlord serves a notice of a rent increase for reasons not permitted under the Ordinance (“an invalid notice”), Rent Program staff may not become aware of that until a tenant brings the matter to staff’s attention by which time the tenant may have vacated the rental unit or the tenant may still be in the unit but has signed a rental agreement for a different rental unit. In that circumstance, the Rent Ordinance does not require the Landlord to provide permanent relocation payments to such tenant.
In addition, when City Council amended the Rent Ordinance in April 2026, it included the clarifying language that the limitations on when rent increases could be imposed (e.g., no more than once every 12 months) applied only to those rental units not exempt from rent control under state law. Single-family residences, for example, are not subject to that limitation. When the Rent Ordinance was amended in June concerning utility adjustments, that clarifying language was inadvertently omitted
DISCUSSION
Under the Rent Ordinance, a landlord is not permitted to terminate a tenancy unless for cause or for no fault of the tenant. Any other reason, such as for “no cause” is not permitted. Because such termination is not permitted under the Rent Ordinance, the landlord should be required to provide permanent relocation payments if the tenant has relied on the invalid notice and vacated the unit or found alternative permanent housing. Based on changes to the Rent Ordinance made by City Council earlier this year, a landlord is required to rescind the invalid notice and take steps to restore the tenancy, for example, offering the unit to the tenant and paying for the moving costs. The proposed Ordinance would amend the Rent Ordinance to require the landlord to provide permanent relocation payments to a tenant whose tenancy has been terminated for reasons not specified in the Rent Ordinance and where the tenant has relied on the invalid notice to vacate and/or found alternative permanent housing.
The proposed Ordinance has been reorganized regarding the provisions governing the landlord's obligation to rescind the invalid notice (even if the tenant has vacated) and to offer to restore the tenancy at no cost to the tenant. See Section 6-58.112 and subsections C and E of Section 6-58.100. And, as a correction, the qualifying language in subsection B of Section 6-58.50 that was removed inadvertently, providing that limitations on the frequency of rent increases apply only to rental units not exempt under State Law, has been reinserted into Section 6-58.50.
ALTERNATIVES
• Introduce Ordinance as proposed.
• Revise and then introduce the proposed Ordinance.
• Do not introduce the proposed Ordinance and provide an alternative direction to staff.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no direct financial impact from the introduction and eventual adoption of the amendments to the Rent Ordinance. Costs associated with running the Rent Program are budgeted in Fund 207.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The proposed Ordinance is consistent with the purpose and intent of the City’s Rent Ordinance.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Introduction and adoption of the Ordinance are exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Section 15378 (not a project) and Section 15061 (b)(3) (no significant environmental impact) of the CEQA Guidelines
CLIMATE IMPACT
There are no identifiable climate impacts or climate action opportunities associated with the subject of this report.
RECOMMENDATION
Introduce an Ordinance amending the Rent Ordinance concerning permanent relocation payments.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Chapin, Rent Program Administrator
By,
Michael Roush, Special Counsel
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director