San Diego City Council Gives Final Approval to No-Fault Termination Moratorium
On Tuesday, April 19, 2022, the San Diego City Council gave final passage to the Residential No-Fault Termination Moratorium.
Today's hearing was mostly a formality. The item was on the Consent Agenda and was only pulled to allow for public comment because two councilmembers had to recuse themselves. This gave SCRHA another opportunity to speak against the ordinance and express concerns regarding portions of the ordinance that remain unclear. Only Councilmember Chris Cate voted against the ordinance. Councilmembers LaCava and Campillo recused themselves.
Last week, SCRHA sent a letter to the City Attorney and Councilmembers asking for written clarity on the ordinance's impact on fixed-term leases not subject to the City's Just Cause requirements. City staff and the City Attorney representative present at the first hearing stated that fixed-term leases that naturally expire are not subject to the new law. SCRHA is not comfortable with that interpretation and sought something in writing to help keep housing providers from running afoul of the law because of poor advice from the city. SCRHA also asked for clarity regarding notices served prior to the ordinance's effective date and whether or not those would be considered valid should a housing provider have to go to court. So far, SCRHA has not received a response or even an acknowledgement of the request. SCRHA will continue to push for more clarity.
The ordinance will go into effect in 30 days. As SCRHA previously reported, we were able to secure an end date. The ordinance will end on September 30 or 60 days after an end to the local emergency declaration, whichever is sooner. Look for a guide to complying with the ordinance in the near future! Click here to read the previous SCRHA update about the ordinance.
Thank you to each and every owner, manager, supplier and supporter of rental housing who called into the hearings, submitted eComment, and sent emails to the Council and Mayor.