The Pasadena Rent Ordinance’s eviction protections keep Pasadena tenants housed by limiting evictions.  Under the Pasadena Rent Ordinance, a landlord may only evict a tenant with just cause for eviction.  Just cause for eviction means that the landlord can only terminate a tenancy for reasons listed in the Pasadena Rent Ordinance.  When terminating a tenancy, the landlord must inform the tenant, in writing, which just cause reason they are asserting.  A termination of tenancy that does not comply with the Pasadena Rent Ordinance’s just cause for eviction protections is unlawful and void.

Under the Pasadena Rent Ordinance, What Are the Just Cause Reasons a Landlord Can Terminate a Tenancy?

The Pasadena Rent Ordinance contains eleven (11) just cause reasons to terminate a tenancy.  The just cause reasons are:

1. Failure to pay rent after the Pasadena tenant receives written notice to pay rent or quit;
2. A substantial breach of the lease after the Pasadena tenant receives written notice to cease;
3. The Pasadena tenant continues, after the landlord serves a notice to cease, to commit or permit a nuisance or substantial damage to the rental unit or common areas, or unreasonably interferes with the comfort, safety, or quiet enjoyment of any of the other residents or immediately adjacent neighbors;
4. The Pasadena tenant uses the unit for an illegal purpose;
5. Refusing to enter into a new lease that is for a further term of like duration and contains materially similar terms as the previous written lease;
6. Failing to provide access to the rental unit after receiving a notice to enter;
7. The remaining occupant(s) is a/are unapproved subtenant(s);
8. Temporary displacement to allow necessary and substantial repairs, where the landlord obtains all necessary permits and serves a notice of termination, the City of Pasadena confirms that the work is necessary and will render the unit uninhabitable for at least thirty (30) days; and, the landlord gives notice of the Pasadena tenant’s right to choose one or both of the following:
   1. The right to lease any vacant rental unit with comparable or superior living conditions and convenience owned by the landlord at the same or lower rent; and,/or
   2. The right to return to reoccupy the unit upon completion of the repairs at the same rate.
9. The landlord intends to perform, in good faith, an owner move-in eviction or relative move-in eviction;
10. Ellis Act eviction; and,
11. The landlord seeks in good faith to recover possession of the rental unit to comply with a government order to vacate, order to comply, order to abate, or any other order necessitating the Pasadena tenant vacate the building due to a code violation. Pasadena City Charter § 1806(a).

What Information Are Pasadena Tenants Entitled on a Written Notice to Cease?

Under the Pasadena Rent Ordinance, written notices to cease must include the following information:

• Provide the Pasadena tenant a reasonable period to cure the alleged violation;
• Inform the Pasadena tenant that failure to cure may result in an eviction action;
• Inform the Pasadena tenant of the right to request reasonable accommodation;
• Inform the Pasadena tenant of the contact number for the Pasadena Rental Board;
• Include a specific statement of the reasons for the written notice to cease with specific facts to permit a determination of the date, place, witnesses, and circumstances concerning the reason for the eviction action; and,
• Where a breach of the lease is alleged, inform the Pasadena tenant what provision the landlord contends they have breached and what the Pasadena tenant must do to cure the alleged breach. Pasadena City Charter § 1703(cc).

Is My Unit Covered Under the Pasadena Rent Ordinance’s Eviction Protections?

Nearly every unit within the City of Pasadena is protected by the Pasadena Rent Ordinance’s eviction protections.  Further, eviction protections extend to any, “building, structure, or part thereof, or land appurtenant thereto, or any other rental property rented or offered for rent for residential purposes…together with all Housing Services…common areas and recreational facilities…,” and includes unlawful units.  Pasadena City Charter § 1803(x).  However, the following rental units are not covered under the Pasadena Rent Ordinance’s eviction protection provisions:

• Pasadena rental units in hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes, lodging and rooming houses, and boarding houses, where the occupant has not established residence exceeding thirty (30) days;
• Pasadena rental units in a hospital, convent, monastery, extended medical care facility, asylum, non-profit home for the aged, dorm owned and operated by a post-high school institution, or rental units in a facility with a primary purpose of operating a treatment or recovery program, where the unit is incidental to the client’s participation in the program and where the entity provides the client with written notice of the temporary or transitional nature of the housing at inception;
• Pasadena rental units owned or operated or managed by a non-profit organization pursuant to a tax credit program;
• Pasadena rental units which a government unit, agency, or authority owns, operates, or manages, or in which government subsidized tenants reside;
• Pasadena rental units where the landlord-homeowner lives with the Pasadena tenant in a single-family home, provided the landlord serves, at the tenancy’s inception, the length of the tenancy, and a statement that the tenancy may be terminated, and relocation is not required.  The temporary tenancy may not exceed twelve (12) months; and,
• Pasadena rental units where the tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen with the landlord-homeowner, provided the landlord-homeowner resides in the home as their primary residence.  Pasadena City Charter §§ 1804, 1805.

What Documents Must My Landlord Provide to Terminate My Tenancy?

Under state law and the Pasadena Rent Ordinance, a landlord may only terminate a tenancy by serving the tenant with written notice.  For tenants who have resided in their home for less than a year, the landlord need only provide thirty (30) days written notice.  California Civil Code § 1946.  For tenants who have resided in their home for a year or more, the landlord must provide sixty (60) days written notice.  However, where the tenant is at fault, for example by committing nuisance, not paying rent, or remaining in breach of the lease, the landlord need only provide a three-day notice to cure or quit.  California Code of Civil Procedure § 1161.  If, at the expiration of the three-day notice, the landlord believes the tenant has not cured the defect, the landlord may initiate an unlawful detainer or eviction action in court.

The landlord must also state the just cause reason for the termination on the termination of tenancy notice.  Pasadena City Charter §§ 1806(a), (i).  Also, generally the written termination of tenancy notice must minimally include:

• The unit address;
• All Pasadena tenant’s names;
• 3/30/60/120/365-day notice period;
• For Pasadena demolition, and temporary evictions for substantial repairs, all demolition permits;
• For Pasadena owner move-in evictions, the name and address of the owner who will occupy the unit;
• For Pasadena relative move-in evictions, the qualified relative’s name, address, and relationship to the landlord; and,
• For Pasadena owner move-in evictions and relative move-in evictions, a notice of Pasadena tenant right’s afforded under the Pasadena Rent Ordinance’s owner move-in eviction and relative move-in eviction provisions.

The landlord must also file a copy of the notice of termination of tenancy with the Pasadena Rental Board within three (3) days after serving the notice on the Pasadena tenant.  Pasadena City Charter § 1806(k).