Extended Family Occupancy Program
RENT CONTROL BOARD
EXTENDED FAMILY OCCUPANCY PROGRAM
3201. Separate Agreements
(a) Any payments by the tenant to the landlord, including payments for
parking, pets, furniture or facilities, equipment or services
which are connected to the use and occupancy of the unit are
included as rent as defined by Section 1801(f) of the Charter
unless the agreements for such payments meet all of the standards
of this section. Except as expressly provided in subsection (f)
below, no separate agreements shall be permitted which require
extra payments for additional occupants.
[3201(a) Amended 8/12/93; Effective 8/20/93]
(b) "Base Rent Date" is defined as April 10, 1978, or the date the
base rent was established if it was established subsequent to
April 10, 1978. If the facilities, equipment or services were
provided on the base rent date, and were not provided under a
separate agreement on the base rent date, a new charge cannot be
added to the tenant's payments in addition to the maximum
allowable rent. To be a separate agreement on the base rent date,
the agreement must meet all of the conditions in subsection (d) of
this section.
(c) If the particular facilities, equipment or services have not been
previously included within the maximum allowable rent as set forth
in (b) above, the landlord may offer such facilities, equipment or
services to the tenant under the terms of a separate agreement,
provided it conforms with this section.
(d) An agreement may be considered separate from the rental agreement
if it meets all the following criteria:
(1) The agreement to pay a separate fee for the use of the
facilities, equipment or services must have been
negotiated separately from the negotiation for the
rental of the rental unit, with no pressure on the
tenant to accept the separate agreement or separate
fee as a condition of the rental of the apartment.
(2) The terms of the agreement are comparable to those of
similar lawful arrangements obtainable in the
unregulated market.
(3) The continued existence of the arrangement is not a
condition of the tenancy and the tenant's termination
or breach of the separate agreement is not a ground
for eviction.
(e) This section is declarative of existing policy and does not
represent a change in policy.
(f) For a controlled rental unit for which the landlord and tenant
mutually agree that an additional family occupant may reside in
the rental unit as a long-term guest, resulting in an increase in
the number of lawful occupants, the landlord and the tenant may
enter into a separate agreement to add a maximum monthly surcharge
of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for each additional family
occupant, not to exceed a total aggregate monthly surcharge of two
hundred and twenty-five dollars ($225.00). The landlord and
tenant may further agree to increase the security deposit pursuant
to Regulation 14003(a).
(1) The additional family occupant separate agreement shall be
in writing and shall contain all relevant terms and
conditions as set forth in this subsection. The family
occupant separate agreement must be signed by the tenant,
the landlord or his or her authorized representative, and
the family occupant(s). The agreement must be fully
executed prior to the commencement of the occupancy.
(2) "Family occupant" is defined as follows: the adult children
(natural or adopted); parents; grandparents; brothers;
sisters; fathers-in-law; mothers-in-law; sons-in-law;
daughters-in-law; nieces; nephews; aunts; uncles; or,
grandchildren of the tenant; or, any minor children of the
persons set forth above.
(3) "Long-term guest" is defined as any family occupant who
resides in the rental unit for more than thirty (30) days.
(4) The family occupant surcharge shall not increase the maximum
allowable rent for the controlled rental unit. The
surcharge shall only be in effect so long as the additional
family occupant(s) continue to reside in the unit, or the
original tenant vacates, whichever is sooner.
(5) No surcharge shall be collected or paid under this
subsection unless the presence of the additional occupant(s)
is a violation of an existing rental agreement pursuant to
Section 1806(b) of the Rent Control Charter Amendment and
Board Regulation 9007.
(6) No surcharge shall be collected or paid under this
subsection under any of the following circumstances:
(a) The agreement is a condition of occupancy;
(b) The right to a roommate is a "housing service"
pursuant to Regulation 2004 a.;
(c) The increase in occupancy occurs as the result of
marriage, birth, adoption or change in legal custody
of a minor child of whom the tenant head of household,
spouse or family occupant is the parent or legal
guardian, and provided that the occupancy of said
minor child is otherwise lawful. (Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 4.28.030);
(d) The increase in occupancy occurs as the result of the
placement of a minor foster child in the residence of
a tenant who is licensed by the appropriate local,
state or federal authority as a foster parent;
(e) The additional occupant residing in the rental unit is
a healthcare provider as defined in Regulation 2005;
(f) The additional family occupant agreement is entered
into within six (6) months of the commencement of the
tenancy.
(7) No party is compelled to enter into a separate agreement.
In deciding whether to to agree to enter into such
agreement, the landlord may apply reasonable standards
commonly accepted in screening tenants, provided that
approval is not unreasonably withheld.
(8) Additional family occupants in controlled rental units
subject to a separate agreement pursuant to this subsection
are guests and are not tenants as defined in Section 1801(i)
of the Charter, and shall not be obligated to pay, nor are
prohibited from paying, consideration to the tenant in
exchange for the use or occupancy of the unit.
(a) Once the separate agreement is fully executed,
landlords shall not thereafter challenge the "family
occupant" status of the additional occupant, nor shall
tenants and family occupants thereafter challenge the
status of family occupants as "guests" pursuant to
this regulation.
(b) Once the separate agreement is fully executed, it
shall be terminated only as follows: upon mutual
written agreement between the parties; vacancy by the
family occupant and written notice to the landlord by
the tenant that the family occupant has vacated; the
voluntary vacancy of the tenant; breach of the
agreement by the tenant, landlord or family occupant;
or, the tenant and/or family occupant is lawfully
evicted pursuant to Section 1806 of the Charter.
(c) In the event of a breach of the written separate
agreement by any party, any other party may, at his or
her option, terminate the agreement unilaterally, upon
written notice to the other parties and/or pursue any
other legal remedies available under state law.
(d) Breach of this agreement shall not act as a breach of
any rental housing agreement between the landlord and
tenant.
(e) If the tenant voluntarily vacates the unit or is
lawfully evicted pursuant to Section 1806 of the
Charter, or if the agreement is terminated pursuant to
this regulation, the additional family occupant(s)
must vacate the unit unless the additional family
occupant(s) and the landlord enter into a new
residential rental agreement for the use and occupancy
of the unit.
(f) In the event that the family occupancy agreement is
terminated as set forth above, the landlord's right to
retain the additional security deposit shall expire
thirty (30) days thereafter, and the landlord must
refund the additional security deposit to the
tenant(s) within the thirty-day period, subject to
Civil Code Section 1950.5 (Regulation 14003(b).)
(9) Absent a valid written family occupancy agreement, this
regulation shall not effect the legal rights of any occupant
of a residential rental unit.
(10) Regulation 3201(f) shall expire automatically on September
1, 1995, unless extended by the Board. No family occupant
separate agreement executed on or after that date shall be
enforceable. Any fully executed family occupant separate
agreement in existence as of September 1, 1995 shall remain
in effect until such time as the agreement is terminated
pursuant to Section 3201(f)(8)(b) or (c).
(g) As a result of the January 17, 1994 earthquake and its
aftershocks, many tenants have been displaced and buildings have
been deemed uninhabitable by the City of Santa Monica (yellow or
red-tagged). In order to provide short-term housing to those
persons displaced, the landlord and tenant of a controlled rental
unit may enter into a separate agreement to add a maximum monthly
surcharge of seventy-five dollars ($75.00) for each additional
person (non-family member) the tenant wishes to reside in the
rental unit as a long term guest after displacement from an
uninhabitable building as determined by the City of Santa Monica
(i.e., yellow or red-tagged building). The maximum monthly
surcharge shall not exceed a total aggregate monthly surcharge of
two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225.00).
(1) The agreement shall be subject to the same procedural and
substantive requirements as provided for additional family
occupants separate agreements in section (f) above, except
that any party may terminate the agreement on or after
January 17, 1995, upon thirty (30) days written notice.
(2) The provisions of Board regulation 2004 shall not apply to
these agreements.
(3) This subsection shall expire by its own terms without the
necessity of repeal by the Board on January 17, 1995, unless
extended by the Board. Any agreement for long-term
occupants entered into prior to that date may be extended
indefinitely by mutual consent of the parties.
(h) The demand, receipt, acceptance or retention of any payments made
as the result of a separate agreement, which do not conform to
Regulation 3201 shall be considered excess rent pursuant to
Section 1809 of the Rent Control Charter Amendment and Chapter 8
of the Board's regulations.
[3201(g)(h) Amended 1/27/94;