Section 8.22.360 of Measure EE specifies that a landlord can evict a tenant for the following reasons:
- Failure to pay rent;
- Breach of lease terms;
- Failure to sign a lease extension or renewal that contains materially the same terms as the current lease terms;
- Willful substantial damage to the unit;
- Disorderly destruction of peace and quiet of other tenants;
- Use of unit for illegal purpose;
- Denial of legal access to unit to the landlord, after written notice to cease;
- Owner seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental unit for her occupancy as a principal residence, where she has previously occupied the unit as her principal residence and has the right to recover possession for her occupancy as a principal residence under a written rental agreement with the current tenants.
- Owner seeks in good faith to recover possession for her own use and occupancy as her principal residence, or for the use and occupancy as a principal residence for her spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, or grandparent.
- Necessary substantial repairs, for a three month temporary relocation; or
- Owner seeks to remove the property from the rental market as an Ellic Act eviction.
The program applies to most buildings with two or more unites that have a certificate of occupancy prior to January 1, 1983.
All residential rental units in Oakland are covered by the Oakland Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance with the following exceptions:
- Rental units in any hospital, skilled nursing facility, or health facility.
- Rental units in a nonprofit facility that has the primary purpose of providing short term treatment, assistance, or therapy for alcohol, drug, or other substance abuse and the housing is provided incident to the recovery program, and where the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at its inception.
- Rental units in a nonprofit facility which provides a structured living environment that has the primary purpose of helping homeless persons obtain the skills necessary for independent living in permanent housing and where occupancy is restricted to a limited and specific period of time of not more than twenty-four (24) months and where the client has been informed in writing of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at its inception.
- Rental units in a residential property where the owner of record occupies a unit in the same property as his or her principal residence and regularly shares in the use of kitchen or bath facilities with the tenants of such rental units.
- A rental unit in a residential property that is divided into a maximum of three units, one of which is occupied by the owner of record as his or her principal residence.
- A unit that is held in trust on behalf of a developmentally disabled individual who permanently occupies the unit, or a unit that is permanently occupied by a developmentally disabled parent, sibling, child, or grandparent of the owner of that unit.
- Newly constructed rental units which are completed and offered for rent after 2003.
- However, some individuals are protected from owner/relative move-in evictions. If you are 60 years or older and have been residing in the unit for five years, if you are disabled and have been residing
Rent Increases
The City of Oakland has a Rent Adjustment Ordinance Rent Adjustment Ordinance in place to regulate rent increases.
Where an original occupant still lives in the unit, the landlord may only increase the rent by the annual percent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Tenants can only be given one increase in any 12-month period, and the rent increase cannot take effect earlier than at least one year from the tenant’s move-in date or from the last prior rent increase. Landlors must provide tenants with written advance notice of a rent increase either 30 days before the effective date of the increase. If a landlord has “banked” prior year increases, covered units cannot receive a CPI-based increase of more than 3 times the current year CPI
Time is of the essence because a tenant must contest an illegal rent increase within thirty days of receipt of notice.
Only in very limited circumstances can the landlord increase the rent by more than the allowable amount.
The following units are not covered under the Oakland Rent Ordinance:
- Subsidized housing units;
- Motels, hotels, inns, and boarding houses, unless the tenant has occupied the unit for thirty or more days;
- Hospitals, convents, monasteries, etended care facilities, convalescent homes, nonprofit homes for the aged, or college dormitories;
- Nonprofit cooperatives owned by a majority of the residents;
- Substantially rehabilitated buildings; and
- Apartments in three-unit buildings where the landlord resides in the building and has occupied one of the units as his/her principal residence for at least a year.