Chapter 8.53
RESIDENTIAL LEASES FOR RENTAL UNITS

Sections:

8.53.010    Purpose.

8.53.020    Definitions.

8.53.030    Requirement to offer written lease.

8.53.040    Notice of tenant’s right to lease.

8.53.050    Tenant remedies.

8.53.010 Purpose.

It is found and declared that an inadequate supply of rental housing exists in the city and an increasing demand continues to grow for such housing based on the significant number of renters in the city. The increasing rents combined with a housing shortage places substantial pressure on the city residents who rent housing. The council finds that tenants have a right to a written lease and that a contractual relationship with a landlord may offer some needed assurances of stability and minimize displacement of tenants in a rental housing market affording tenants few and increasingly expensive options. (Ord. 1023 § 2 (part), 2016).

8.53.020 Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:

(1)    "Landlord" means an owner, lessor or sublessor, or the agent, representative or successor of any of the foregoing persons who receives, or is entitled to receive, rent for the use and occupancy of any rental unit or portion thereof.

(2)    "Rent" means the consideration, including any bonus, benefit, or gratuity demanded or received by a landlord or in connection with the use or occupancy of a rental unit.

(3)    "Rental unit" means a dwelling unit (as defined by Section 16.04.290) in the city, which unit is in a multiple-family dwelling, boardinghouse, or lodginghouse and which is used as rental housing. The term "rental unit" shall not include:

(A)    A single-family dwelling;

(B)    Rooms or accommodations in hotels and boardinghouses which are rented to transient guests for a period of less than thirty (30) consecutive days;

(C)    Dwelling units in a condominium, community apartment or planned unit development;

(D)    Housing accommodations in any hospital, skilled nursing, health or care facility, extended-care facility, nonprofit home for the aged;

(E)    Dwelling units in which housing accommodations are shared by landlord and tenant;

(F)    Secondary dwelling units;

(G)    Duplexes and triplexes;

(H)    Housing accommodations rented by a medical institution which are then subleased to a patient or patient’s family;

(I)    Dwelling units whose rents are controlled or regulated by any government unit, agency or authority, or whose rent is subsidized by any government unit, agency or authority; or

(J)    Dwelling units acquired by the city or any other governmental unit, agency or authority intended to be used for public purposes.

(4)    "Tenant" means a person or persons entitled by written or oral agreement to occupy a rental unit to the exclusion of others. (Ord. 1023 § 2 (part), 2016).

8.53.030 Requirement to offer written lease.

(a)    Offer. If a tenant or prospective tenant wishes to rent a rental unit from a landlord and if said landlord wishes to rent said rental unit to said prospective tenant, the landlord must offer to the tenant or prospective tenant a written lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year. Such offer must be made in writing. Signing of a lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year shall be considered an offer in writing.

(b)    Acceptance. If the tenant or prospective tenant accepts the offer of a written lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year, this acceptance must be in writing. Signing a lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year will be considered an acceptance.

(c)    Rejection. If the tenant or prospective tenant rejects the offer for a written lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year, this rejection must be in writing, and the landlord and tenant or prospective tenant may then enter into an agreement, oral or written, that provides for a rental term of less than one (1) year.

(d)    Rent. If the landlord and tenant enter into a written lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year, such lease must set the rent for the rental unit at a rate or rates certain and these rates shall not otherwise be modified during the term of such lease.

(e)    Renewal of Lease. If both the landlord and tenant wish to continue the rental relationship, upon the expiration of the initial written lease which has a minimum term of one (1) year, a lease shall be offered again in accordance with the procedures of subsections (a) through (d) of this section and the following:

(1)    Leases with a term of one (1) year shall be offered annually at the expiration of the one (1) year term.

(2)    Leases with a term longer than one (1) year shall be renewable at the expiration of each lease period for a minimum term of one (1) year.

(3)    A landlord shall offer annually a written lease with a minimum term of one (1) year to a tenant who rejected an initial offer of a written lease with a minimum term of one (1) year but who has rented a unit from the landlord for a period of at least twelve (12) months.

(f)    Applicability. This section shall not apply to:

(1)    A unit which is rented on the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter; provided, that (A) if the unit is rented subject to a written lease, when the lease in effect for such unit expires, the ordinance codified in this chapter shall then apply; and (B) if the unit is rented without a written lease, within thirty (30) days after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, the landlord shall offer a written lease to the tenant in accordance with this section;

(2)    An owner-occupied unit that is rented to a tenant for less than one (1) year; or

(3)    A rental unit occupied by a tenant who subleases that unit to another tenant for less than one (1) year; or

(4)    A rental unit where the tenancy is an express condition of, or consideration for, employment under a written rental agreement or contract or a unit leased to a corporation. (Ord. 1023 § 2 (part), 2016).

8.53.040 Notice of tenant’s right to lease.

(a)    Form. Landlords shall provide all rental unit tenants with a notice summarizing the rights afforded by this chapter. The notification shall be capitalized text in at least fourteen (14) points in font size and shall state:

THE MENLO PARK CITY CODE PROVIDES YOU WITH THE RIGHT TO A WRITTEN LEASE. LANDLORDS MUST OFFER TENANTS THE OPTION TO ENTER INTO A ONE (1) YEAR WRITTEN LEASE. IT IS THE TENANT'S CHOICE WHETHER TO ENTER INTO SUCH A WRITTEN LEASE WITH A LANDLORD. FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE CITY’S WEBSITE (WWW.MENLOPARK.ORG).

(b)    Language. Landlord shall provide this notification in English and Spanish.

(c)    Manner. Landlord must provide this notice to tenants in writing or electronically if the application and/or lease are processed electronically. (Ord. 1023 § 2 (part), 2016).

8.53.050 Tenant remedies.

(a)    Defense to Action to Recover Possession. Failure of a landlord to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall provide the tenant with a defense in any legal action brought by the landlord to recover possession of the rental unit.

(b)    Defense to Action to Collect Rent. Failure of a landlord to comply with any of the provisions of this chapter shall provide the tenant with a defense in any legal action brought by the landlord to collect rent.

(c)    Injunctive Relief. A tenant may seek injunctive relief on his or her own behalf and on behalf of other affected tenants to enjoin the landlord’s violation of this chapter.

(d)    Remedies are Nonexclusive. Remedies provided in this section are in addition to any other existing legal remedies and are not intended to be exclusive.

(e)    Nonwaiver. Any waiver or purported waiver by a tenant of his or her rights under this chapter prior to the time when such rights may be exercised, except a rejection of a one-year lease offered in accordance with Section 8.53.030(c), shall be void as contrary to public policy.

(f)    Infraction. Any person who violates Sections 8.53.030 and 8.53.040 shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by as provided in Section 1.12.010. (Ord. 1023 § 2 (part), 2016).