City of Oakland Passes New Uniform Tenant Relocation Allowance which Includes Relocation Payments for Owner Move-In Evictions

The following is an excerpt from an article published by the East Bay Times on 1/24/18 entitled, "Oakland landlords will have to pay thousands to tenants if they evict tenants to move back in.'

“A new Oakland ordinance requires relocation payments of thousands of dollars to renters evicted by landlords who are moving back to their properties.

Passed by the City Council on Jan. 16, the Uniform Relocation Ordinance creates a schedule of relocation payments that will increase every year based on Consumer Price Index fluctuations

The first schedule would require landlords to pay $9,875 to those evicted from three or more bedroom units, $8,000 to renters evicted from two-bedroom units and $6,500 to people evicted from studios or one-bedroom units. Households with low-income, elderly or disabled people or those with minor children would be entitled to an additional payment of $2,500 per unit.

'With uniform relocation, we have an opportunity here to take care of the poor among us who are forced out of their homes and forced to live on the streets,' Oakland Warehouse Coalition’s Jonah Strauss said at the council meeting.

The ordinance would expand on another approved by the council last year, which created the same uniform schedule of relocation payments for landlords who evict tenants under the state’s Ellis Act. The Ellis Act allows landlords to evict tenants if they take their property off the rental market.

The final version of the ordinance passed Jan. 16 contained some amendments to what was originally proposed. One amendment allows landlords to pay the relocation payments in phases: the first third of the payment would be paid to the tenant upon eviction, another third would be paid after a year and the last third would be paid after two years.

Another amendment would allow landlords to avoid the relocation payments if there is an agreement before the renter moves in that the landlord would be moving back at a specific time.”

For more about the actual ordinance, see the 1/5/18 revised proposal which was voted on by the City Council on 1/16/18.  The new legislation adds Article VII, The Uniform Tenant Relocation Allowance, to the municipal ordinance along with Article VIII, Relocation Payments for Owner or Relative Move-Ins, to Chapter 8.22 of the Oakland Municipal Code (O.M.C.)

Finally, landlords must comply with Oakland's Certification Requirements concerning No-Fault evictions.  No-Fault evictions include Owner move-in evictions, evictions for substantial repairs, and Ellis Act evictions.  See No-Fault Eviction Forms under the section entitled "Laws" on the Oakland Rent Adjustment website.

The Oakland municipal code works in conjunction with Oakland regulations. The current version of the municipal code and regulations is available here. However, please be aware that with the rapid changes in the municipal code since the Ghostship fire, the publications of the law may not keep pace with these revisions or formal enactments of law.