13.79.050 Buyout offers and agreements.
A. This Section applies to every controlled rental unit and all rental units subject to the "good cause" eviction protections codified in Berkeley Municipal Code Section 13.76.130.
B. The following definitions apply for the purposes of this Section:
1. "Buyout agreement" means an agreement wherein the landlord pays the tenant money or other consideration to vacate the rental unit. An agreement to settle a pending unlawful detainer action shall not be a "Buyout Agreement."
2. "Buyout offer" means an offer, written or oral, by a landlord to pay a tenant money or other consideration to vacate a rental housing unit. An offer to settle a pending unlawful detainer action shall not be a "buyout offer."
C. Prior to making a buyout offer for a controlled rental unit, the landlord shall provide each tenant in that unit a written disclosure, on a form developed and authorized by the City or Rent Stabilization Board, that shall include the following:
1. A statement that the tenant has a right not to enter into a buyout agreement;
2. A statement that the tenant may choose to consult with an attorney before entering into a buyout agreement;
3. A statement that the tenant may rescind the buyout agreement for up to thirty days after it is fully executed;
4. A statement that the tenant may consult the Rent Stabilization Board with respect to the buyout agreement;
5. Any other information required by the Rent Stabilization Board consistent with the purposes and provisions of this Section; and
6. A space for each tenant to sign and write the date the landlord provided the tenant with the disclosure.
D. Every buyout agreement shall be in writing and include the following statements in bold letters in at least fourteen-point type in close proximity to the space reserved for the signature of the tenant(s):
You may cancel this agreement in writing at any time before the thirtieth day after all parties have signed this agreement. You have a right not to enter into a buyout agreement. You may choose to consult with an attorney or the Rent Stabilization Board before signing this agreement. The Rent Stabilization Board may have information about other buyout agreements in your neighborhood.
E. A buyout agreement that does not satisfy all the requirements of this Section shall not be effective and shall be void at the option of the affected tenant(s). However any remedy based on an ineffective or void buyout agreement shall not include displacement of a subsequent tenant or tenants of the affected unit.
F. A tenant shall have the right to rescind a buyout agreement for up to thirty days after its execution by all parties. In order to rescind a buyout agreement, the tenant must hand-deliver, e-mail, or place in the U.S. mail a statement to the landlord indicating that the tenant has rescinded the buyout agreement no later than the 30th day after it is executed by all parties.
G.
1. The landlord shall retain a copy of each signed disclosure form for five years, along with a record of the date the landlord provided the disclosure to each tenant, and shall give each tenant a copy of the buyout agreement at the time the tenant executes it.
2. The landlord shall provide a copy of the buyout agreement to the Rent Stabilization Board no sooner than the thirty-first day after the buyout agreement is executed by all parties, and no later than sixty days after the agreement is executed by all parties.
H.
1. The buyout agreements must be maintained by the Board’s legal staff in a file that is separate from any other file.
2. All information included in the buyout agreements by which an individual might reasonably be identified ("personally-identifying information"), including without limitation an individual’s name, phone number, unit number, or specific street address, must be maintained as confidential.
3. The Board shall collect data from the filed buyout agreements--including, without limitation, the compensation paid as consideration for the agreement and the neighborhood of the affected unit--and shall make that data public; but only to the extent that no personally-identifying information is revealed. (Ord. 7537-NS § 2 (part), 2017: Ord. 7469-NS § 2, 2016)