GLENDALE RENTAL RIGHTS PROGRAM
The Glendale Rental Rights Program took effect March 14, 2019 and was updated on February 6, 2024. The program is made up of five components:
- Right to Lease Ordinance
- Just Cause Eviction Ordinance
- Relocation Assistance Program
- Intentional Disrepair
- Rent Reduction
If you have questions about whether your property is included in this law or exempt from each component of the Glendale Rental Rights Program, we can help you.
We invest in ongoing legal education to ensure our team knows and understands the local laws and all of their updates and interpretations. We can help.
GLENDALE RIGHT TO LEASE ORDINANCE
Glendale’s Right to Lease Ordinance requires that landlords in Glendale offer to their existing and prospective tenants a one-year lease in writing. This applies to properties with (5) five or more units.
For existing tenants on a month-to-month tenancy, landlords must offer a lease the first time rent is increased after March 13, 2019. The tenants then have fourteen (14) days to accept or reject the offer.
Prospective tenants also have fourteen (14) days to accept or reject a lease offer.
For existing tenants on a lease, sixty (60) days prior to the end of the lease, landlords must give tenants the option to renew their lease for an additional year, where the rental rate and any increase is set in the agreement. In this situation the tenants have thirty (30) days to accept or reject the offer, not fourteen (14).
If tenants accept the new lease offer, then the landlord must offer another lease sixty (60) days prior to the end of the new lease. This continues indefinitely.
If tenants reject the lease offer and one (1) year has passed since the last rent increase then the landlord is not required to offer another lease, unless the tenant requests one.
As the owner, you can determine the amount of rent and the increase that you will impose as long as that increase is in compliance with the statewide rent control laws. Glendale does not have its own rent control with a hard cap on rent increases, like many neighboring cities do. However, Glendale does require landlords to pay relocation fees to tenants when tenants decide to move out in response to a rent increase over seven percent (7%). See the Relocation Assistance section, below, for more information.
Owners can get into trouble for failure to offer a lease and for not adhering to the required notice periods. Talk to us at RentalHouse Management to ensure you don’t make an expensive mistake.
JUST CAUSE EVICTION
There are twelve (12) legal reasons in Glendale’s Just Cause Eviction Ordinance that a landlord can legally evict a tenant. The Ordinance applies to parcels containing three (3) or more rental units. However, the requirement to provide relocation assistance to tenants for evictions due to major rehabilitation applies to parcels containing five (5) or more rental units. A few other less common circumstances are exempt from the Ordinance. Some of these legal reasons for evicting a tenant relate to an action on the tenant’s part and some of the reasons are “no-fault” reasons – meaning the tenant has not done anything wrong that warrants an eviction and the landlord wishes to regain possession of their rental unit.
Some of the most common at-fault reasons for evictions are:
- Failure to pay rent
- Lease violations
- Criminal activity in the home
- Excessive damage to the property
- Failure to permit a landlord to enter with cause
See HERE for a complete list.
Additionally, landlords must pay to tenants relocation assistance if the landlord evicts the tenants for any of the following no-fault reasons:
1) When the unit is permanently removed from the rental housing market or requires eviction for demolition.
2) When the unit requires eviction for major rehabilitation. The major rehabilitation must cost at least eight (8) times the current or HUD Fair Market Rents, whichever is greater, and the work must take at least 45 days to complete.
3) When the landlord evicts for occupancy of her/himself, spouse, grandparents, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, children, or parents, a resident manager, or a tenant who requires case management or counseling as part of the tenancy. The new tenant must move in within two months after the previous tenant has vacated the unit and occupy the unit for at least one year.
Landlords can only use this reason to evict a Qualified Tenant when a comparable unit is not available. Otherwise, landlords cannot use this reason to evict a Qualified Tenant.
4) When the landlord evicts to comply with a governmental agency’s Order to Vacate.
5) When they are evicted due to condominium conversion or for commercial use of the property.
Terminating a tenancy is no longer as easy as canceling a lease. There’s a process that needs to be followed – even if your tenant has not paid rent. When you’re looking for someone to help you stay compliant with the ever-changing laws, our experts at RentalHouse Property Management can be an invaluable resource.
RELOCATION ASSISTANCE
Glendale’s Relocation Assistance Program applies to parcels containing (3) three or more rental units developed before February 2, 1995, excluding a few less common circumstances. Relocation assistance is money the landlord must pay to their tenants. Relocation assistance must be provided to your tenants in two (2) situations:
1) If you evict your tenants for any of the five (5) reasons stated in the previous section of this article or
2) If your tenants decide to vacate your rental property in response to an increase in rent that is more than seven percent (7%) over a twelve (12) month period. However, this seven percent (7%) threshold may be increased, up to the lesser of 15% or the state-level rent increase limit, by adding deferred (or “banked”) rent increases from the previous three (3) years to seven percent (7%). You accumulate banked rent increases when you increase the rent less than seven percent (7%). To determine the banked amount for each of the previous three (3) years, subtract each year’s actual rent increase percentage from seven percent (7%).
For evictions for the above five (5) reasons, landlords must pay three (3) times “Fair Market Rents” or actual rent, whichever is greater, plus $2000. Fair Market Rents are not the actual rent your tenants pay. Fair Market Rents are determined by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and they change every year. Click HERE for the most recent Fair Market Rents.
If tenants decide to vacate your rental property in response to an increase in rent that is more than seven percent (7%) over a twelve (12) month period, then the relocation assistance is three (3) times the proposed rent.
After a landlord serves a rent increase notice, tenants have fourteen (14) days to request relocation assistance for 3-unit and 4-unit properties. Tenants have sixty (60) days to request relocation assistance for properties with five (5) or more units. Contact our office for assistance on how to properly serve a rent increase notice.
For rent increases over 7% and for evictions for the above five (5) reasons, you must provide to your tenants THIS notice of tenants’ entitlement to relocation assistance.
Lastly, all relocation fees are doubled for “Qualified Tenants.”A “Qualified Tenant” is a tenant who:
1) is a low-income and a member of Tenant’s household is:
i) 70 years of age or older; or
ii) disabled or handicapped; or
2) a school-aged (grades Pre-K-12) child enrolled in a school located in the public school district to which the Rental Unit is assigned, and the Rental Unit is the child’s primary residence, and the Notice of Termination requires that the Rental Unit be vacated during the current school term.
3) Any Tenant in the Rental Unit is a very low-income
We understand following all these rules can be daunting for self-managing landlords. We know how to make the financial relocation assistance process as stress-free as possible. When you need to relocate your tenant, RentalHouse Property Management is your best solution to facilitate the process.
INTENTIONAL DISREPAIR
If a landlord intentionally allows a unit to be “untenantable,” a landlord has to offer temporary relocation to their tenants, and tenants have the right to return to their rental unit after the repairs are complete. However, landlords cannot require their tenants to temporarily relocate. Relocation includes paying for a hotel within two miles of the rental unit, paying for meals if the hotel has no kitchen, paying for laundry, paying for housing for tenants’ pets, and paying the costs for tenants to move back into their rental unit.
A second option a landlord has is to pay for a tenant to relocate to a comparable housing unit, and the tenant pays the same rental rate as the rental unit they are being moved from. Any actual costs above and beyond the tenants rent are the landlords responsibility to pay. The landlord even has to pay to furnish the temporary housing while the original rental unit is being repaired. If the temporary housing is not comparable to the original rental unit, for example if it has fewer bedrooms, then the landlord is required to compensate the tenant accordingly.
A third option a landlord has is to pay the tenants a daily fee instead of paying for all the housing costs. This only applies if the tenant agrees to this option. As a landlord, if your tenant agrees to this option, make sure to put the agreement in writing, signed by both landlord and tenant, and that you have given your tenants notice of their relocation rights.
Landlords must let tenants know they have a right to return once the work is complete. They must also let tenants know when the rental unit is ready for the tenant to move back in. Glendale is particular about when and how this information must be communicated. Contact us for additional assistance on the particulars of when and how to communicate this information to your tenants.
If the repair work is estimated to last longer than thirty (30) days, then tenants have the option to end their rental agreement and the landlord has to provide relocation assistance as described in the previous section. And if the work lasts thirty (30) days longer than originally communicated to the tenant, then the tenants’ option to be bought out is renewed.
Tenants are required to let their landlords know, in writing, why their rental unit is untenantable and give their landlords time to address the issues. Tenants do not, however, need to let their landlords know in writing if the landlord finds out about the issues on their own.
RENT REDUCTION
Landlords may have to decrease the rental rate of a unit when there is a “significant and extended reduction in services.” Tenants have to give their landlord a written notice, letting the landlord know about the reduction in services, and allow the landlord reasonable time to address the issue. Then if the issue persists, tenants can request a rent deduction. The Glendale Municipal Code gives these examples of services:
- Reduction of essential utilities (e.g., water, heat, electricity).
- Decreased maintenance or repair services.
- Closure or significant reduction of common area amenities (e.g., fitness facilities, laundry facilities, community spaces).
- Loss or reduction of parking availability.
- Reduction of security services.
- Other services that were explicitly stated in the rental agreement.
Disclaimer
The information on this webpage is not meant to be legal advice and is intended for educational purposes only. The laws change frequently and this webpage may not be updated to reflect current rules. Do not rely on the information on this webpage when making legal decisions. Consult with legal counsel regarding your particular case before taking any action.
EXEMPTIONS: DO THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOUR GLENDALE RENTAL HOME?
Single Family Homes, Duplexes, Townhomes, Condos, and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) are exempt from the five (5) components of Glendale’s Rental Rights Program – Just Cause Eviction, Relocation Assistance, Right to Lease, Intentional Disrepair, and Rent Reduction.
WHY WORK WITH RENTALHOUSE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT?
Owning rental property in Glendale requires adhering to all city, county, and state laws, which sometimes contradict and supersede each other. When you work with our experienced team, you can count on:
- Immediate evaluations to determine compliance and/or exemptions.
- Up-to-date expertise on all state, local, and federal rental housing laws.
- Documented leasing and screening processes.
- Compliant lease agreements.