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these exceptions, the Supervisors implicitly precluded the Rent Board from creating
additional exceptions.
As Britton notes, section 37.9 of the Rent Ordinance prohibits a landlord from
evicting a tenant except in certain circumstances, among them when the tenant fails to
pay rent (Rent Ord., § 37.9, subd. (a)(1)), violates a lawful obligation of the tenancy (id.,
subd. (a)(2)), commits a nuisance or damages the unit (id., subd. (a)(3)), uses the
premises for an illegal purpose (id., subd. (a)(4)), or refuses the landlord lawful access to
the unit (id., subd. (a)(6)); the landlord may also, if acting in good faith, recover
possession of the unit for occupancy by the landlord or a relative or for specified other
reasons (id., subds. (a)(8)–(15)).
Britton focuses on section 37.9, subdivision (a)(2), which authorizes a landlord to
evict a tenant when “[t]he tenant has violated a lawful obligation or covenant of tenancy
other than the obligation to surrender possession upon proper notice or other than an
obligation to pay a charge prohibited by Police Code Section 919.1,” and the tenant fails
to cure the violation after receiving written notice. This subdivision then goes on to
provide for two exceptions. “[N]otwithstanding any lease provision to the contrary, a
landlord shall not endeavor to recover possession of a rental unit as a result of subletting
of the rental unit by the tenant if the landlord has unreasonably withheld the right to
sublet following a written request by the tenant,” so long as certain conditions are met
(Rent Ord., § 37.9, subd. (a)(2)(A)). Further, “where a rental agreement or lease
provision limits the number of occupants or limits or prohibits subletting or assignment, a
landlord shall not endeavor to recover possession of a rental unit as a result of the
addition to the unit of [specified relatives of the tenant], so long as the [specified] number
of occupants . . . is not exceeded . . . .” (Rent. Ord., § 37.9, subd. (a)(2)(B)). By enacting
these provisions, Britton contends, the Supervisors established exceptions to the
landlord’s right to evict a tenant for violating a lawful obligation of the tenancy, and, by
implication, prohibited the Rent Board from “legislating” additional exceptions.