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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

S.F. Apartment Ass'n v. City & Cnty. of S.F., 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 124 (2018)

Citation
S.F. Apartment Ass'n v. City & Cnty. of S.F., 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 124 (2018)
Parent Document
S.F. Apartment Ass'n v. City & Cnty. of S.F., 229 Cal. Rptr. 3d 124 (2018)
Jurisdiction
California (state)
Effective Date
2018-02-14

Other Sections in This Document (32)

Full Text

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Channing concluded that an ordinance requiring landlords intending to withdraw their units from the rental market to provide six months' notice to tenants was preempted by the Ellis Act ( Govt. Code, § 7060 et seq. ). ( Channing, supra, 11 Cal.App.4th at pp. 92, 97, 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 32.) The court noted the Ellis Act "preempts local action with regard to substantive controls over landlords who wish to withdraw all accommodations from the residential rental housing market while specifying areas in which local governments may regulate in a manner consistent with the [Ellis] Act." ( Channing, at p. 94, 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 32.)5 Moreover, while the Ellis Act's only provision about providing notice to tenants is to permit municipalities to require 60 days' notice to public entities and notification to tenants that the public entity had been notified, "[b]y carefully spelling out certain types of notice which public entities may require, the [Ellis] Act clearly indicates that only these types are authorized and other, additional notice requirements *132are not permissible." ( Channing, at p. 96, 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 32.) The court also referenced Tri County 's conclusion that " 'the extensive scheduling provided by the Legislature reveals that the timing of landlord-tenant transactions is a matter of statewide concern not amenable to local variations.' [Citation.] Without reference to the [Ellis] Act, the notice due a tenant from a landlord wishing to terminate the tenancy is specified in Civil Code section 1946 as at least as long as the term of the tenancy, not exceeding 30 days, or at least 30 days for a month to month tenancy; notice requirements in the case of an unlawful detainer are prescribed by Code of Civil Procedure section 1161. The [Ellis] Act establishes a special circumstance in which local governments may impose a longer notice requirement than would otherwise be permissible-the 60 days specified in [Govt. Code] section 7060.4 -but does not authorize further extended notice requirements. The City's six-month notice requirement is preempted by the [Ellis] Act." ( Channing, at pp. 96-97, 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 32, fn. omitted.) *521Roble Vista Associates v. Bacon (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 335, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 295 ( Roble Vista ) distinguished Tri County . The ordinance in that case required landlords to offer new and renewing tenants a one-year lease and established the failure to do so as a defense to eviction of that tenant. ( Roble Vista, at p. 338, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 295.) The appellate division of the superior court found the ordinance preempted under Tri County, characterizing it as effectively " 'requir[ing] a one-year notice to quit rather than the thirty days provided by state statute.' " ( Roble Vista, at pp. 340-341, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 295.) The Court of Appeal rejected this characterization: "In our view, the [o]rdinance requires that a landlord offer a one-year lease, thus addressing the duration of the lease. The [o]rdinance does not specify the amount of notice that must be given to terminate a tenancy. Accordingly, the present case is readily distinguishable from Tri County ." ( Id. at pp. 340-341, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 295, fns. omitted.) Thus, while the ordinance in Roble Vista had an impact on the timing of landlord-tenant transactions, that impact was incidental to the regulation of lease terms, an area the court found to be within the municipality's police powers. ( Id. at p. 341, 118 Cal.Rptr.2d 295.)6