Title
Introduction of Ordinance Amending Alameda Municipal Code Article XV (Rent Control, Limitations on Evictions and Relocation Payments to Certain Displaced Tenants) to Incorporate Policy Changes and Clarifying Updates;
Adoption of Resolution Concerning the Program Fees Applicable to Projects with Below Market Rate Rental Units; and
Adoption of Resolution Rescinding Resolution No. 15517 (Ellis Act Policy). (City Attorney 20723849)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Yibin Shen, City Attorney
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City Council has amended the Rent Control Ordinance from time to time to incorporate needed policy changes, to respond to changing conditions in the community, and to clarify uncertain provisions in the Ordinance. The proposed Ordinance primarily serves to clarify existing law and conform to longstanding practice, but also provides for some policy updates. Most importantly, existing law does not provide a means for City Council to review a hearing officer's decision if such a decision undermined critical aspects of the Ordinance. The proposed amendments would permit the Council to review such decisions. The proposed amendments also make clear that in order for a landlord to increase rents for any rental unit, the landlord must be in full compliance with the Ordinance as to all rental units and with a hearing officer's decision concerning the property. Additionally, the first of the two proposed resolutions clarifies the application of rent program fees to certain residential development projects, especially for landlords of below market rate rental units. The second proposed resolution rescinds an earlier resolution regarding the Ellis Act Policy because that earlier resolution has been replaced by an updated Rent Program Regulation.
BACKGROUND
City Council first adopted an ordinance concerning rent stabilization/control in April 2016. Over the course of three years, that ordinance was amended several times, for exam...
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