The California Apartment Association has published its first round of compliance materials to help members navigate San Diego’s newly passed eviction ordinance and is planning a webinar to help housing providers understand the law’s various requirements.

The law, officially the “Residential Tenant Protections Ordinance to Prevent Displacement and Homelessness,” takes effect on June 24. It imposes fresh “just cause” for eviction limits for most city residents and outlines rules for tenant buyout offers and agreements.  

This new ordinance repeals and replaces the city of San Diego’s existing just cause law, known as the Tenants Right to Know Ordinance, in place since 2004. Just cause laws remove a landlord’s ability to use a “no cause” notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy under state law. Tenant buyout agreements involve landlords negotiating with tenants to move out of a unit in return for a stipulated payment.

CAA’s compliance materials for San Diego’s new just cause eviction ordinance include:

  • Industry Insight on the ordinance’s just cause provisions.
  • Industry Insight on the ordinance’s buyout provisions.
  • Forms to comply with the ordinance’s mandatory notice provisions.
    • For tenancies existing prior to the effective date (SD-004).
    • For tenancies beginning or renewing on or after the effective date (SD-003).
  • Mandatory exemption forms for units that are “separately alienable” (e.g. some single-family homes and condominiums).
    • For tenancies existing prior to Jan. 1, 2024 (SD-005).
    • For tenancies existing on or after Jan. 1, 2024 (SD-006).
  • Optional temporary exemption form for units built in the previous 15 years (SD-011).

Please note on form SD-004: While CAA has prepared the notice form for tenancies in existence before the ordinance’s effective date (June 24, 2023), it isn’t currently available on CAA’s website. This is because the city’s “Tenant Protection Guide,” required to accompany the form, is still to be released. The form will become accessible on CAA’s website as soon as the city provides information on how to access this guide. The deadline to serve this form is Sept. 22, 2023, 90 days after the effective date of the ordinance. We urge members to monitor CAA’s website for updates prior to this date.