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8.A. - Page 4 of 24 Urgency Ordinance In order to enact an urgency ordinance, the City Council needs to declare that there is a current and immediate threat to the public peace, health, and safety. Having a verifiable factual basis for this declaration will help position the City to survive a legal challenge. In Redwood City an urgency ordinance needs a 4/5 vote for City Council approval (six affirmative votes) and would go into effect immediately. Current Statewide Tenant Legal Protections Tenants currently have some statewide legal protections in regards to rent increases or no cause evictions, although, many tenants are not aware of their rights, may not have legal counsel or may not feel comfortable challenging their landlord. For example, regarding notices of termination without cause (no fault evictions), California law gives exact requirements to end a tenancy. If a tenant has lived in the rental unit for over one year and is on a month-to-month lease, then the landlord must give the tenant a written 60 -day notice to end the tenancy. The notice must inform the tenant that the tenancy will expire at the end of the notice period and the tenant must move out of the rental unit by that time. The only way a landlord can legally evict a tenant in California is by going through the courts and winning an eviction lawsuit, also known as an unlawful detainer suit. Even after winning the eviction lawsuit, the landlord must use a sheriff to actually perform the eviction. California law has made it illegal for the landlord to personally remove the tenant from the rental unit. As described further below, the City Council may choose to adopt interim measures by an urgency ordinance in an effort to provide additional support for tenants until the statewide AB1482 provisions go into effect on January 1, 2020. Should the Council do so, it is important that tenants are aware of their rights and feel comfortable asserting them. Redwood City Renter Protection Measures On March 26, 2018, the City Council adopted two Renter Protection Ordinances: Minimum Lease Terms and Relocation Assistance. Both Ordinances went into effect on January 1, 2019. The Minimum Lease Term Ordinance requires landlords to offer a minimum one-year lease term to provide more stability for tenants by protecting them against rent increases for the duration of the lease period. The Relocation Assistance Ordinance includes a number of components requiring landlords to provide relocation assistance to lower income tenants, defined as households earning eighty percent (80%) or less of the Area Median Income ("AMI"). It took over two years of extensive community engagement, including numerous community meetings, working with the City's Housing and Human Concerns Committee and City staff work to bring these two Renter Protection Ordinances forward for City Council approval. The multiple steps allowing significant community engagement and feedback provided opportunities for all stakeholders and the public to weigh in on the policies. City staff is aware of community concerns that the measures have not helped as many people as hoped, and City staff intends to come back to the Council in spring 2020 with a factual analysis of the impact and recommendations to modify our measures if appropriate. As with other major housing City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.ore 124