REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Introduce an Ordinance Amending Chapter 19.71 of the Sunnyvale Municipal Code Relating to the Residential Tenant Protections Program
Report
BACKGROUND
Assembly Bill (AB) 1482, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, is a California law that provides renters with more stability and protections in the state's rental housing market. The legislation limits rent increases for certain properties and requires eviction notices under specific circumstances. The Tenant Protection Act is designed to address concerns about rising rents and tenant displacement. Attachment 2 provides an overview of AB 1482.
On April 25, 2023, the City Council approved the Residential Tenant Protections Programs (see link in Attachment 3 to RTC No. 23-0515), resulting in amendments to the Sunnyvale Municipal Code (SMC) and specifically the creation of Chapter 19.71 (Residential Tenant Protection Programs) of the SMC. As approved, Chapter 19.71 incorporates AB 1482; however, Sunnyvale's ordinance offers protections beyond those in AB 1482, as Chapter 19.71 applies to all rental units regardless of when they were built (state law applies only to units more than 15 years old), requires relocation assistance equal to two months of the tenant's current rent (state requirement is one month), and requires landlords to initially offer all tenants a 12-month lease.
Also at the April 25, 2023 Council meeting, City Council directed staff to:
* Study extending the relocation assistance for tenants to three months and providing further tenant protections to the vulnerable and elderly and return to Council with the results to potentially amend the ordinance.
* Study reducing the just cause eviction protections to retroactively begin on "Day 1" of a lease agreement.
At the February 25, 2025 Council meeting, staff presented a study on extending tenant relocation assistance to three months. In response, the City Council directed staff return with an ordinance to a...
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