13.84.070 Relocation and other payments.
A. Households to be relocated for twenty-nine (29) consecutive days or less, including households covered under section 13.84.040.B, shall be entitled to the following relocation payments:
1. A per diem payment to compensate for hotel or motel accommodations and meals. Such payment amount shall be established by City Council resolution and be based upon tenant household size.
2. Reimbursement for daily boarding costs for pets lawfully occupying the unit or room from which the tenant household was relocated at the date of relocation if the tenant household’s temporary accommodation does not accept pets. The tenant household shall receive reimbursement for reasonable boarding costs. The maximum reimbursement rate shall be established by City Council resolution. The tenant household must provide proof of the actual boarding costs incurred in order to receive reimbursement from the owner. For purposes of this section, "pets" shall exclude any pet that is customarily kept in an enclosure such as a cage, terrarium or aquarium, and the number of pets lawfully occupying a unit or room shall be the number specifically permitted by written agreement.
3. The initial relocation payment shall be due within ten (10) days of the owner’s receipt of the tenant household’s request for relocation payment. If the period of relocation is less than ten (10) days, the initial relocation payment shall include the per diem payment for the full period. If the period of relocation exceeds ten (10) days, the initial relocation payment shall include either:
(a) A lump sum per diem payment for the full period of relocation; or
(b) The per diem payment for a minimum of ten (10) days, with subsequent payment contingent upon verification of hotel costs incurred by the tenant household. Such payments are due to the tenant household immediately upon owner’s receipt of documentation verifying the household’s expenses. If the tenant household does not incur hotel costs, it is only entitled to receive a meal allowance for each member of the household during the remaining period of relocation.
B. Households to be relocated for a period of thirty (30) consecutive days or longer shall be entitled to relocation payments that include all of the following:
1. A one-time dislocation allowance to help defray incidental relocation expenses. The amount of the dislocation allowance shall be established by City Council resolution.
2. The household’s choice of reimbursement for actual moving and storage expenses or a fixed payment, subject to the following requirements:
(a) If a fixed payment is chosen, no documentation of expenses is necessary. The amount of the fixed payments shall be established by City Council resolution.
(b) Reimbursement for actual documented moving and storage expenses shall include both moving costs to the replacement unit(s) and moving costs back to the original unit. Moving costs shall consist of actual reasonable costs of moving, including transportation of personal property, packing and unpacking, insurance of personal property while in transit, compensation for any damage occurring during moving, storage of personal property, disconnection and reconnection of utility services and any additional reasonable costs associated with the required moving. Payments for a one-way move shall not exceed rates established in the fixed residential moving cost schedule approved by the Federal Highway Administration and published in the federal register on a periodic basis.
3. If the rental costs incurred by the tenant household during the period of relocation exceed the amount of rent being paid on the unit or room to be vacated, the household shall be eligible for a rent differential payment. The rent differential payment shall be equal to the difference between the rent paid on the unit or room to be vacated and the rent paid for a unit or room temporarily leased during the period of relocation, with the following restrictions:
(a) The rent differential payment shall not exceed a ceiling established annually by the City based on the average market rent statistics gathered and published by the rent stabilization program for the prior calendar year.
(b) The ceiling for the rent differential payment shall be based on the bedroom size of the unit or room to be vacated, with the exception of payments for relocation from rooms which shall be calculated on the same basis as payment for relocation from a studio apartment.
(c) The rent differential payment for a tenant household receiving a rental subsidy shall be based on the amount of rent paid by the tenant household for the unit or room leased by the tenant household during the period of relocation. The owner may coordinate with the entity providing the subsidy to assure the continuity of the rental subsidies during the period of relocation.
4. Reimbursement for the documented utility cost(s) that the tenant household incurs in their replacement housing, if the owner had been paying that particular utility cost for the vacated unit or room.
C. The initial relocation payment pursuant to subsection B of this section shall be due within ten (10) days of the owner’s receipt of the tenant household’s request for relocation payment, and shall include:
1. The dislocation allowance;
2. Either the fixed payment for moving and storage costs if applicable, or payment for moving costs based on a reasonable estimate from a qualified professional mover;
3. The rent differential payment for one month or, if the relocation is anticipated to exceed ninety (90) days, then the initial payment shall include the rent differential payment for the first three-month period.
D. Subsequent payments for rent differential, utilities and storage costs pursuant to subsections B.2.b through B.4 of this section, when applicable, shall be made on a monthly basis thereafter. Such payments shall be made at least seven days in advance of when the tenant household’s monthly rental payment is due. Instead of monthly payments the owner may make one lump sum payment for the full amount due for the rent differential payments to the tenant household. If the tenant household qualifies for reimbursement for monthly storage or utilities costs, these payments continue on a monthly basis or upon receipt by the owner of documentation that verifies the household’s expenses.
E. Payments pursuant to subsections B.2.b through B.4 of this section, when applicable, shall continue until such time that the unit from which the tenant household was relocated is available for occupancy or the tenant household has notified the owner of their intent to permanently vacate the unit.
F. If the tenant household has not been offered the opportunity to reoccupy the unit from which it relocated within six months from the date of their relocation, the tenant household shall be entitled to receive an additional dislocation allowance payment. The tenant household must provide written request for the additional dislocation payment to the owner which includes confirmation of their intent to reoccupy the unit. Such payment is due within ten (10) days after receipt of the tenant household’s request. Acceptance of such payment does not constitute a tenant household’s relinquishment of any tenancy rights.
G.
1. In lieu of the per diem payments in subsection A of this section, or rent differential and utility payments in subsections B.3 and B.4 of this section, the owner may offer an alternate rental unit or room to the tenant household that is comparable to the unit or room being vacated and is owned by the owner. The amount of rent paid by the household for such unit or room shall not exceed the rent being paid on the unit or room from which the tenant household relocated. If the tenant household accepts the owner’s offer, the tenant household does not relinquish its right to reoccupy the unit or room from which it is being relocated unless the tenant household provides written notice surrendering possession of the unit or room. A tenant household that accepts an alternate unit or room is entitled to receive the dislocation allowance in subsection B.1 of this section and compensation for moving and storage costs if applicable as provided in subsection B.2 of this section.
2. If the tenant household does not timely notify the owner of its intent to reoccupy the unit or room under Section 13.84.090 and seeks to remain in its alternate unit, it thereby surrenders its right to reoccupy the unit or room from which it has relocated and terminates its tenancy of that unit or room, and the rent for the alternate unit or room shall not be limited by this chapter and may be increased to an amount otherwise permissible by Chapter 13.76. Nothing in this section limits the owner’s right to evict a tenant household pursuant to Section 13.76.130.A.11.
H. A tenant household that is relocated for thirty (30) days or more shall not be responsible for any rent due on the unit or room from which it was relocated during the period of relocation and failure to pay rent during this period shall not constitute relinquishment of tenancy rights.
I. The owner and tenant household may mutually agree upon temporary housing and relocation payments other than that provided by this chapter. Such agreement shall be in writing and signed by both the owner and tenant household with a copy provided to the City’s Housing and Community Services Department.
J. If a tenant household’s actual relocation period is shorter than the period for which the owner has paid, the tenant household must repay the overpaid amount to the owner within thirty (30) days of receiving written notice from the owner of the overpayment. If the tenant household has incurred a financial obligation to pay rent, utilities, or storage costs during the remaining period of their relocation, these costs may be deducted from the amount to be repaid to the owner, subject to the provisions of subsection B of this section.
K. All payments to tenant households under this chapter shall be made to those persons in the tenant household from whom the owner has received rental payments during the immediately preceding rental period, in the same proportion in which such payments were made. The owner shall have no liability or other obligation with respect to further division or allocation of such payments among the members of the tenant household. Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the determination of the actual number of tenants in the tenant household for purposes of Chapter 13.76.
L. The size of a tenant household shall be determined based on the number of individuals entitled to occupy the unit or room at the time a determination of the Building Official is served under Section 13.84.050 or a notice of temporary relocation is served under Section 13.84.060.C.
M. Upon receipt of the full relocation payment under this chapter and a notice of temporary relocation, the tenant household shall relocate within thirty (30) calendar days. Failure to relocate pursuant to such notice may entitle the landlord to issue a notice to vacate and be a basis for good cause eviction pursuant to Section 13.76.130.A.7.a.
N. The City Council shall by resolution adopt a reasonable reimbursement rate for the following based upon surveys of prevailing costs for services, subject to limitations set forth in this chapter and any additional limitations set forth in the resolution:
1. Per diem rates for hotel accommodations and meal allowance pursuant to subsections A.1 and A.3 of this section;
2. Maximum boarding costs for pets pursuant to subsection A.2 of this section;
3. Dislocation allowance pursuant to subsections B.1 and F of this section;
4. Fixed payments for moving and storage pursuant to subsection B.2 of this section. (Ord. 7456-NS § 2, 2016: Ord. 7212-NS § 1 (part), 2011)