Chula Vista Tenant Protection Ordinance Resources

On November 1, 2022 the Chula Vista City Council adopted Chula Vista Municipal Code (“CVMC”) section 9.65, the Residential Tenant Protection Ordinance, to strengthen the statewide protections already in place and provide greater tenant protections in certain instances of No Fault termination of tenancy in the City of Chula Vista.  The ordinance goes into effect on March 1, 2023. The ordinance will require specified forms and notifications for residential rental properties in the City of Chula Vista.

High Level Overview

• Just Cause protections effective at Day 1 of tenancy.
• Additional requirements for owners/managers of 3+ Unit properties.
• Strict definition for substantial remodel beyond state law.
• 2 months in relocation assistance for No Fault Cause termination (3 months for Elderly/Disabled); at greater of HUD Small Market Fair Rent or contract rent, for specified properties.
• Must provide Notice of Right to Receive Future Offer when terminating tenancy in a Residential Rental Complex.
• Additional definitions of tenant harassment.
• Enforcement includes city penalties, fines and possible criminal charges.
• At Fault terminations include, but are not limited to, non-payment of rent, lease violations, criminal activity.
• No Fault terminations include owner move-in, withdrawal from rental market, a habitability order from a government agency, and intent to demolish or substantially remodel.
• Specific notification language must be provided to all residents and disclosures are required for exempt properties and for owner move-in. Please make sure to use the relevant SCRHA forms.
• Click here to read the full City Ordinance. 
• Click here to visit the City’s “Landlord Tenant” webpage. 
• Click here to read the Administrative Regulations for more information on how to comply with the ordinance. 

SCRHA Forms for Chula Vista Properties Now Available – Members can download forms at socalrha.org/forms

SCRHA has created the Chula Vista TPO Mandatory Notification letter that you may customize and serve to your residents. You may send the letter via first class mail or post to your resident’s door. SCRHA recommends the letter since it does not require a signature.  SCRHA has also created an addendum, Form 283 - Chula Vista TPO Mandatory Notification Addendum, that you may get signed by residents if time permits.

• Chula Vista TPO Mandatory Notification Addendum - Form 283
• Chula Vista TPO Mandatory Notification Letter
  • Use these forms for tenancies existing prior to March 1, 2023.
  • Effective March 1, notification must be included in Rental Agreement or via signed addendum. Note that SCRHA has a Rental Agreement specific for Chula Vista Properties.
• Chula Vista TPO Exemption Notification Addendum - Form 284
• Chula Vista TPO Exemption Letter
  • Use these forms for tenancies existing prior to March 1, 2023.
  • Effective March 1, notification must be included in Rental Agreement or via signed addendum.
  • Single Family Homes, condos and other properties considered “alienable separate from the title to any other dwelling unit” and not owned by a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or an LLC in which at least one member is a corporation, are exempt from the law ONLY if specific exemption notification is provided. SCRHA has created a letter that you may customize and serve to your residents. You may send the letter via first class mail or post to your resident’s door. SCRHA has also created an addendum that you may get signed by residents.
• Chula Vista TPO Owner Occupancy Addendum - Form 203
• Chula Vista TPO Owner Occupancy Notification letter
  • Use these forms for tenancies existing prior to March 1, 2023.
  • Effective March 1, notification must be included in Rental Agreement or via signed addendum.

  • In order for an owner or family member to move into a covered rental unit, for leases entered into on or after July 1, 2020, the tenant must agree in writing to the termination, or a provision of the lease must state this right. Most owners and managers have already accomplished this via the existing SCRHA Rental Agreement or AB 1482 addendum. However, SCRHA has created a letter and an addendum with this language and references to the Chula Vista Municipal Code.

• City of Chula Vista Rental Agreement - Form 200CV

  • For rental agreements commencing or renewed on or after March 1, 2023, the mandatory notice must be included as an addendum to the rental agreement, or as a written notice signed by the tenant, with a copy provided to the Tenant. SCRHA has included this mandatory language in the rental agreement to satisfy this requirement. Additionally, the Chula Vista Rental Agreement contains the Owner Occupancy language and Exemption notification options.
• Chula Vista Termination of Tenancy 2 or fewer units - Form 419
• Chula Vista Termination of Tenancy - Residential Rental Complex (3+ Units) - Form 418

No Fault Termination of Tenancy

Terminating Tenancy in Unit in a Residential Rental Complex (3+ Units)

• Notice to Tenant Required must include the applicable cause and a description of the basis for the termination.
• The Termination Notice must include a Notice of Right to Relocation Assistance/Rent Waiver.
• The Termination must include a Notice of Right to Receive Future Offer in the event that the Residential Rental Unit is offered again for rent or lease for residential purposes within two (2) years of the date the Residential Rental Unit was withdrawn from the rental market.
  • Tenants who indicated a desire to consider an offer to renew the tenancy shall have the right to return to the unit that they were terminated from if the Residential Rental Unit in a Residential Rental Complex they were terminated from is offered for rent or lease for residential purposes within two (2) years of the date the Tenancy was terminated. The Tenant must notify the Owner of their intent to accept an offer to rent or lease the Residential Rental Unit within 14 days of their receipt of the offer, and must enter into a new rental agreement or lease for the Residential Rental Unit within 45 days of their receipt of the offer.
  • In accordance with 9.65.070(C)(5), the Owner shall have the right to screen the Tenant using industry accepted methods and shall communicate such minimum screening criteria in the offer for the new Tenancy. Such accepted screening criteria may include proof of identity, verification of employment and income, a review an applicant's rental history, credit history, and criminal background, and shall be consistent with screening criteria required for all other market rate units offered for rent by Owner.
  • If the Tenant has failed to accept the Owner’s offer to return or has failed to enter into a new rental agreement or lease for the offered unit within 45 days of the date of the offer, the Owner may consider the offer rejected.

Notice to City for ALL No-Fault Termination of Tenancy (excluding exempt properties)

Notice to City is required no later than three business (3) days after the date the Owner provides the required notice to the Tenant. Housing providers are not required to notify the City of At Fault Just Cause terminations.

• The City requires owner/agent provide the following information to the city when terminating tenancy for a No Fault Just Cause:
  • Property Address;
  • Owner name, phone and email;
  • Number of total units within complex;
  • Number of units vacant at time of noticing;
  • Number of termination notices issued;
  • Contracted rent at time of notice, for all terminated tenancies; and
  • Copy of all termination notices
• The city's form "Appendix D" may be used or a substantially equivalent form.

*Exemption notification must be provided. **See full list of exemptions. Deed restricted and other specific property types may be exempt.

Exemptions 

• Single-family Owner-occupied residences, including a mobile home, in which the Owner-occupant rents or leases no more than two units or bedrooms, including, but not limited to, an accessory dwelling unit or a junior accessory dwelling unit.
• A property containing two separate dwelling units within a single structure in which the Owner occupied one of the units as the Owner's principal place of residence at the beginning of the Tenancy, so long as the Owner continues in occupancy, and neither unit is an accessory dwelling unit or a junior accessory dwelling unit.
• A Residential Rental Unit that is alienable and separate from the title to any other dwelling unit, provided that both of the following apply:
  • The Owner is not any of the following:
    • A real estate investment trust, as defined in Section 856 of the Internal Revenue Code.
    • A corporation.
    • A limited liability company in which at least one member is a corporation.
    • Management of a mobile home park, as defined in Section 798. 2 of the Civil Code.
• A homeowner in a mobile home, as defined in Civil Code section 798. 9 or a tenancy as defined in Civil Code section 798. 12. This chapter shall also not apply to a non-owner Tenant of a mobile home. Instead, a non-owner Tenant of a mobile home shall retain the rights stated in the State Tenant Protection Act.
• Transient and tourist hotel occupancy as defined in Civil Code section 1940( b).
• Any residential occupancy by reason of concession, permit, right of access, license or other agreement for a period for 30 consecutive calendar days or less, counting portions of calendar days as full days, including Short-Term Rental occupancies as defined in Chula Vista Municipal Code Chapter 5.68.
• Housing accommodations in a nonprofit hospital, religious facility, extended care facility, licensed residential care facility for the elderly as defined in Health and Safety Code section 1569. 2, or an adult residential facility as defined in Chapter 6 of Division 6 of Title 22 of the Manual of Policies and Procedures published by the State Department of Social Services.
• Residential Property or Dormitories owned by the City, an institution of higher education, or a kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
• Housing accommodations in which the tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen facilities with the Owner who maintains their principal residence at the Residential Rental Unit.
• Housing restricted by deed, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document as affordable housing for individuals and families of very low, low, or moderate income as defined in Health and Safety Code section 50093, or subject to an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing for individuals and families of very low, low, or moderate income as defined in Health and Safety Code section 50093 or comparable federal statutes. This exclusion shall not apply to a Tenant with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and such Tenancies shall be governed by this chapter.

Key Definitions

• “Disabled" means an individual with a disability, as defined in California Government Code Section 12955. 3.
• “Elderly" means an individual sixty-two (62) years old or older.
• "Family Member" means the spouse, domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents or
  grandparents of the residential unit Owner. For purposes of CVMC 9.65.030, the term “children” in the definition of “Family Member” means all legal children of the residential unit Owner, including step children and adopted children.
• “Housing Service" means services provided by the Owner to the Tenant in connection with the use and occupancy of a Residential Rental Unit, either pursuant to contract or as required by law, including repairs, maintenance, and painting; providing light, heat, hot and cold water; window shades and screens; storage; kitchen, bath, and laundry facilities and privileges; janitor services; pest control; elevator service; access to exterior doors, entry systems, and gates; utility charges that are paid by the Owner; refuse removal; furnishings; parking; the right to have a specified number of occupants, and any other benefit, privilege, or facility connected with the use or occupancy of any Residential Rental Unit. Housing Services also includes the proportionate part of services provided to common facilities of the building in which the Residential Rental Unit is located.
• “Residential Rental Complex" means one or more buildings, located on a single lot, contiguous lots, or lots separated only by a street or alley, containing three or more Residential Rental Units rented or owned by the same Owner.
• “Substantial Remodel" means improvements to a Residential Rental Unit meeting all of the following criteria:
  • Any structural, electrical, plumbing or mechanical system is being replaced or substantially modified; and
  • The cost of the improvements (excluding insurance proceeds, land costs, and architectural/engineering fees) is equal to or greater than $40 per square foot of the Residential Rental Unit; and
  • A permit is required from a governmental agency, or the abatement of hazardous materials, including lead-based paint, mold, or asbestos is required in accordance with applicable federal, State, County, or City laws and cannot be reasonably accomplished in a safe manner with the Tenant in place; and
  • It is necessary for the Residential Rental Unit to be vacant for more than sixty (60) days in order to complete the improvements.
  • Cosmetic improvements alone, including, but not limited to, painting, decorating, flooring replacement, counter replacement, and minor repairs, or other work that can be performed safely without having the Residential Rental Unit vacated, do not constitute a Substantial Remodel.