Culver City has enacted a Tenant Protection Ordinance that applies to all rentals within Culver City, including single family residences.  This article summarizes the Ordinance, including its relocation assistance requirements.

Registration Requirements

All Culver City landlords are required to register their rental unit with the City and must re-register their rental units annually by July 31st of each year.  All Culver City Landlords must also post in a conspicuous place, or give to each tenant, the Culver City Rent Registration Certificate for each rental unit

Notice Requirements

All Culver City landlords are required to add the following notice in 12-point type to their leases:

“The Culver City Municipal Code requires that after at least one tenant has continuously and lawfully occupied a rental unit for 12 months or more, the landlord must provide a statement of cause in any notice to terminate a Tenancy. See § 15.09.300, et seq., of the Culver City Municipal Code for more information.” The Ordinance requires that the Notice be countersigned by the Tenant.

Landlords also are required to post at the front entrance of the rental property Culver City’s Form Rent Control and Tenant Protection Notice, which alerts the public that the property is a rental unit. 

Just Cause Requirements for Eviction

The Ordinance specifies eight grounds for terminating a tenancy, as follows:

1. Failure to Pay Rent
2. Breach of a Material Lease Term. Tenant must first be served with a Ten Day Notice to Cure or Quit in compliance with Cal. Code of Civil Procedure Section 1161 and Cal. Civil Code Section 1946.2(c), and has failed to cure the violation;
3. Denial of Entry. Tenant has continued to refuse reasonable access to the rental unit for needed repairs after proper service of a 24 Hour Notice of Entry;
4. Waste, Nuisance, or Illegal Activity. Tenant has committed waste at the rental, used the rental to create a nuisance, or used the rental for an illegal purpose;
5. Government Order to Comply. The Landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental to comply with a government agency order to vacate;
6. Ellis Act Removal.The Landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession to immediately demolish the rental unit or to permanently remove the rental from rental market under California State law (commonly known as an Ellis Act Eviction);
7. Deed Restriction. The Landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental to “comply with a deed restriction, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded instrument; and
8. Owner Occupancy. Landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental for use as a primary residence by the Landlord or the Landlord’s spouse, registered domestic partner, children, grandchildren, parents, or grandparents, but certain conditions must be met.  Owner occupancy reason for eviction must comply with other substantive and procedural hurdles of the Ordinance. 

Additional Notice Requirements for No Fault Evictions

If the termination notice is for a no-fault reason (6, 7 or 8 above), it must include the following notice in 12-point type in the termination notice:

“Pursuant to the requirements of the Culver City Municipal Code, you may be entitled to relocation assistance. Qualifying tenants are entitled to relocation assistance in the amount of three (3) times Tenant’s current monthly Rent in effect, plus one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). The amount of relocation assistance provided to you may be less if your Landlord qualifies as a Small Landlord. See Culver City Municipal Code Section 15.09.325 for more information.”

Relocation Assistance Obligations

If a Notice of Termination is based on a No Fault Termination ground, the Landlord is required to pay the tenant(s) the greater of: (a) three (3) times the tenant’s monthly rent, or (b) three time the Small Area Fair Market Rent established by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development for a comparable unit in the same ZIP code, plus one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). Small landlord’s who own three or fewer rental units can reduce the required relocation fee by 50% if the landlord is seeking in good faith to occupy the rental for at least 3 years.

The Landlord must pay half of the relocation fee within 5 business days of serving the no fault termination notice and the other half within 5 business days of the Tenant vacating the rental. If there is more than one tenant occupying the unit, Culver City requires each tenant to be paid their proportional share.

Please contact Lynx Legal with any questions regarding the above, and for all your eviction needs.  We can be reached at 888-441-2355 or [email protected].  You can also schedule a telephonic consultation on our website.  Our experienced professionals are standing by to answer any questions or complete the intake if you are ready to start a case.