City of Richmond Tenant Protection Ordinance Summary

Time Period Within Which Landlord May Bring Eviction
Section 7.105.020: Evictions

• Beginning when ownership of a rental unit changes after transfer of title to the unit due to a forced sale, sale under the power of sale of a deed of trust, or while in foreclosure, and until the rental unit is sold to a bona fide purchaser for value, a landlord may bring an action to recover possession of the rental unit only upon one of the following grounds:
• Tenant defaults in payment of rent after written notice of the identity and mailing address of the person to whom rent is due and the amount of rent due
• Tenant violated a lawful obligation or covenant of the tenancy, and fails to cure after being provided written notice from the landlord, other than a violation for failure to:
• Surrender possession upon proper notice; or
• Limit occupancy when the additional tenant who joins the occupants is a dependent child who joins the existing tenancy of a tenant of record, or the sole adult tenant. The landlord has the right to approve or disapprove a prospective additional tenant, who is not a minor dependent child, provided that the approval is not unreasonably withheld.
• Tenant creates or permits existence of a nuisance in the rental unit, or
• Is causing substantial damage to, the rental unit, its appurtenances, or to the common areas of the rental complex, or
• Substantially interferes with the comfort, safety or enjoyment of the landlord or tenants in the building.
• Tenant uses or permits a rental unit, or the common areas of the rental unit or rental complex containing the rental unit, to be used for any illegal purpose.
• Tenant, who had an oral or written agreement with the landlord which has terminated, refuses after written request or demand by the landlord to execute a written extension or renewal for a further term of similar duration and similar material terms as the previous agreement.
• Tenant refuses access to the landlord, after written notice to cease, as required by State or local law.
• A subtenant not approved by the landlord is in possession of the rental unit at the end of a lease term, or upon the forced sale, sale under the power of sale contained in a deed of trust, or foreclosure of a rental unit or the building in which the rental unit is located.
• The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental unit for use and occupancy by:
• A resident manager, provided that no alternative vacant unit is available for the resident manager to occupy; except that where a building has an existing resident manager, the owner may only evict the existing resident manager in order to replace him or her with a new manager.
• The landlord or the landlord's spouse, domestic partner, grandparents, brother, sister, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, children, or parents provided the landlord is a natural person. However, a landlord may only use this ground once to recover possession for use and occupancy by the landlord, landlord's spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, in laws or grandparents for that person in each rental complex of the landlord.
• The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession to remove the rental unit permanently from rental housing use pursuant to state law.
• The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession to:
• Demolish the rental unit; or
• Perform work on the building or buildings housing the rental unit or units; and:
• That work costs not less than the product of eight (8) times the amount of the monthly rent times the number of rental units upon which such work is performed. For purposes of this section, the monthly rent shall be the average of the preceding twelve (12) month period; and
• The work necessitates the eviction of the tenant because such work will render the rentable unit uninhabitable for a period of not less than thirty (30) calendar days.
• The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental unit to comply with a government agency's order to vacate, or any other order that requires the building, housing or rental unit to be vacated due to a violation of Richmond’s Municipal Code or any other provision of law.
• The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental unit to comply with a contractual agreement or government regulation relating to the qualifications of tenancy with a governmental entity, where the tenant is no longer qualified.

Required payment of relocation fee
Section 7.105.030:

• Relocation fee of $1,000 plus twice the fair market rent established by HUD.
• Must be paid when the landlord seeks to recover possession for use by a resident manager, for a relative of a landlord to permanently remove the unit from rental housing, to demolish the unit, to perform work the building/s housing the unit/s, or to comply with a government order to vacate (as these criteria are detailed above)
• With the following exceptions:
• When a landlord in good faith seeks to recover possession from an existing resident manager for the use and occupancy of a new resident manager.
• When the landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession to comply with a government order to vacate the unit due to hazardous conditions caused by a natural disaster or act of God.
• If the tenant receives as part of the eviction, relocation assistance from another government agency
• Relocation fee must be paid within 15 days after service of a written notice of termination, although it may be paid to an attorney or an escrow account to be disbursed upon certification of vacation by the tenant (but escrow account must provide for the payment of actual relocation expenses incurred by the tenant prior to vacation).
• This section does not relieve the landlord of any obligation to provide relocation assistance pursuant to any other provision of local, state, or federal law. Any other required monetary benefits will operate as a credit against the assistance required here.

Required information on notice to quit or other written notice of termination
Section 7.105.040:

• The landlord must serve the tenant with a written notice stating the reasons for the termination, with specific facts to permit a determination of the date, place, and circumstances concerning the reason. This notice may be combined with notice of termination.
• Landlord must serve tenant a written notice of tenant’s right to relocation assistance if the termination qualifies (see above)
• No landlord may threaten or actually decrease any service or increase the rent of the tenant where the landlord’s intent is to retaliate against the tenant for assertion or exercise of rights under any law.
• Evidence of the assertion or exercise by the tenant of rights under any law with 180-days prior to an action against the tenant, will create a rebuttable presumption that the landlord’s act was retaliatory.

Constructive eviction: a landlord may not engage in any activity that is intended to constructively evict a tenant not otherwise subject to eviction.

The ordinance applies to all notices to quit or terminate tenancy served on or after July 16, 2009

To view the ordinance in its entirety, please click here.

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