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REDWOOD CITY FAIR AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING ORDINANCE <br /> <br />Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. 7 Tenant Protection Impacts <br />Just Cause Eviction <br />The proposed Ordinance expands just cause eviction protections beyond current <br />State law and Redwood City’s existing TPO. The proposed Ordinance does not <br />create a new just cause eviction requirement, but rather broadens its coverage, <br />provides additional protections for certain tenants (e.g., elderly, disabled, <br />terminally ill, etc.), applies immediately, and has additional right to return <br />provisions, as summarized in Table 2. In certain circumstances, these changes may <br />increase the cost of eviction proceedings and over time incentivize some <br />landlords to remove units from the rental market and / or increase rents faster <br />than they might otherwise (if allowed). <br />Under current law, just cause eviction protections generally apply after 12 months <br />of occupancy, with exemptions for certain single-family homes, condominiums, <br />deed-restricted affordable housing, owner-occupied duplexes, and new <br />construction within the last 15 years.5 The proposed Ordinance would require <br />just cause for most units without a waiting period and would subject many <br />currently exempt units to local just cause and other tenant protection <br />requirements. <br />That said, the proposed Ordinance does not change what must be proved to evict <br />a tenant for an at fault just cause or the time frame for the eviction process. State <br />law sets out the time frames and legal proceedings for evictions. To the extent <br />that landlords find it a challenge to evict tenants for an at fault just cause those <br />problems currently exist. As a result, while in some cases the proposed <br />Ordinance’s stronger eviction protections may impose additional financial burdens <br />on landlords, the incremental impacts relative to existing conditions are unclear. <br />The stakeholders interviewed for this study did not object to the principle of <br />requiring just cause for eviction in general. The primary concern raised was the <br />procedural and evidentiary burden of resolving problem tenancies, particularly <br />where lease violations are difficult to document. Examples included suspected <br />illegal activity (e.g. sale of controlled substances), disturbing the peace (e.g., noise), <br />repeated conflicts with building policies related to trash, parking, common area <br />storage, etc. and other behavior that affects neighboring tenants but may be <br />difficult to prove. <br />These concerns are most relevant in cases where other tenants are reluctant to <br />testify or submit written complaints, particularly if the issue involves intimidation, <br />suspected drug activity, or neighbor conflict. If problematic behavior persists <br />while the owner documents violations, seeks legal review, participates in an <br />administrative process, or waits for a hearing, other tenants may move out <br />because of quality-of-life concerns (e.g., the right to “quite enjoyment”). Again, it <br />is unclear how the above issues would be magnified by the proposed Ordinance. <br /> <br />5 Redwood City’s TPO also requires landlords to offer tenants a one-year lease which can bridge this 12 month waiting period. <br />8.A. - Page 66 of 168 <br />76