The City of Inglewood has a rent and eviction control ordinance that significantly limits tenant evictions for most properties within the City’s borders.  Here is a summary of the Ordinance as it relates to tenant evictions. 

Registration Requirement

Landlords must file an annual registration statement for all units that are offered for rent or that are rented.   Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code § 8-126(a)(1).  Owners of exempt properties must also register their units to receive an exemption certificate. Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code § 8-126(a)(2). 

Registration certificates must be posted in a conspicuous place in a common area, in English, Spanish, and any other language the Housing Protection Department (“Department”) may require.  Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code § 8-126(j).  Owners who fail to properly register their property will not be allowed to advertise the unit for rent, demand or accept rent for the rental unit, evict a tenant, or petition the Rental Housing Board for any reason.  Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code § 8-126(c).

Exempt Properties

These properties are exempt from just-cause eviction protections:

• Rooms in a motel, hotel, rooming house, or boarding house that have not been occupied by the same tenant for at least 30 consecutive days.

• Units in a nonprofit hospital, religious facility, extended care facility, licensed residential care facility for the elderly, or an adult residential facility that provides 24-hour nonmedical care and supervision.

• Dormitories owned and operated by a school or an institution of higher education.

• Owner-occupied properties where the landlord does not rent out more than one unit such as an accessory dwelling unit, junior accessory dwelling unit, or single-family home if the owner occupying the property is a natural person (not a corporation) and the tenant was provided with a written notice that the unit is exempt from protections under the ordinance. 

• Properties that have been issued a certificate of occupancy within the last fifteen years. 

Just-Cause Reasons for Eviction under Inglewood’s Ordinance

A landlord must have a just-cause reason to terminate a tenancy covered by the City of Inglewood Just Cause Eviction Protections Ordinance.  Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code § 8-121.  They are broken down into “at fault” just cause reasons and “no fault” just cause reasons. 

The following are the at-fault reasons for eviction:

• Failure to pay rent.

• Material breach of the lease or rental agreement after being provided a notice to correct the violation.

• Maintaining, committing, or permitting waste or a nuisance.

• Engaging in criminal activity on the property, or engaged in criminal activity, or criminal threat either on or off the property that is directed at an owner of the property or the owner’s agent.

• Assignment or sublet in violation of the lease or rental agreement.

• Refusal to give the landlord reasonable access to the unit after written notice to enter to make necessary repairs or improvements, to show the unit to prospective purchasers, or to conduct mandatory inspections allowed by state or local law.

• Using the unit for an unlawful purpose.

• A landlord’s employee, agent, or licensee’s failure to vacate after termination as an employee, agent, or licensee.

• Failure of a tenant to move out after the tenant provided a notice to terminate the tenancy or after accepting the landlord’s offer to move out.

The following are the no-fault reasons for eviction:

• Owner or the owner’s close relative intends to move into the unit.

• Compliance with a government agency order, court order, or local ordinance that requires the tenant to vacate.

• Withdrawal from the rental market (i.e. “Ellis Act” evictions).

• Intent to demolish the rental unit after having received all necessary permits to do so.

Relocation Assistance for No Fault Evictions

Tenants that are evicted through a no-fault reason such as an owner or relative move-in, Ellis Act, demolition, or government agency order are entitled to relocation benefits.  Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code§ 8-123.

Tenants are entitled to a base relocation amount of three times their monthly rent in effect at the time they receive the eviction notice.  Id.  The amount is increased if minors are residing in the unit, the tenant is disabled, the tenant is a senior citizen, or the tenant has lived in the property for over two years.  Relocation is paid per household, not per tenant, and must be paid within fifteen calendar days of the service of the notice to terminate the tenancy.  Inglewood, Cal., Mun. Code § 8-123.

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