City Council Working To Eliminate No-Cause Evictions

BEVERLY HILLS—On Thursday, October 18, the Beverly Hills City Council unanimously passed an urgency ordinance that eliminated no-cause evictions by landlords in the city.

According to a press release from the city of Beverly Hills, the rules for terminating a lease without cause are dependent on whether or not the tenancy is a fixed or a month-to-month term. If fixed, the landlord is not able to end the tenancy without just cause before the end of the term. When the term ends the landlord can tell the tenant to leave with no notice. The landlord does not legally have to provide reason for why the tenant needs to move out unless the lease specifies that it is required information.

For month-to-month tenancies, if the tenant has lived in the unit for less than a year, the landlord must give the tenant a 30-day written notice to end the rental agreement. If the tenant has lived in the unit for longer than a year, then the landlord is required to give the tenant a 60-day written notice.

The ordinance addresses issues revolving around the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO). Beverly Hills is currently in the process of looking for ways to balance the RSO.

In a recent report completed by the Beverly Hills City Council, more than half of the city’s renter households are classified as rent burdened, with nearly 30 percent considered severely rent burdened. While this balancing task is continuous, the desire of the city to eliminate no-cause evictions was more urgent.

With the passing of the urgency ordinance by the Beverly Hills City Council, the occurrence of no-cause evictions will be eliminated. Previously, under Chapter 6 of the Beverly Hills Rent Stabilization Ordinance, landlords were able to evict tenants with no-cause as long as they paid for relocation fees. The new ordinance amends that requirement in the ordinance and eliminates the no-cause provision.

Details on the appeal process for landlords will be forthcoming at the next City Council meeting of Tuesday, November 6. For more details, visit www.beverlyhills.org/bhrent