§ 4-12.501. Findings.

The Council of the City of Modesto finds and determines that:

(a)

Some residential rental units in Modesto have severe code violations which threaten the life, health and safety of tenants and require the units or rooms to be vacated to allow for extensive repairs. Such code violations are often caused by deferred maintenance, which may constitute a breach of the landlord's implied warranty of habitability. Tenants of substandard residential units or structures suffer financial hardship when required to vacate their housing, because the owner fails to correct the substandard conditions.

(b)

It is appropriate to require the owner to partially mitigate the tenant's hardship, since the hardship arises from the owner's failure to comply with the law and fulfill a landlord's obligations to the tenants. Financial hardship arises because the tenant generally needs a large sum of money to relocate, often including temporary housing, first and last month's rent, deposits, moving expenses, storage expenses, and utility deposits for a new residence. Low income tenants are generally unable to obtain such sums and, as a result, are at great risk of becoming homeless.

(Amended by Ord. 3514-C.S., § 1, effective 6-12-09)