Tenants Right to Know Ordinance

While most landlords are honest and law abiding, an increasing number of San Diego rental properties have substandard living conditions and reduced services. Tenants who complain about the conditions have been threatened with eviction and often times evicted. The result is a degradation of the living standards for many renters in the City, particularly those in our most vulnerable populations.

In order to protect long-term tenants against arbitrary eviction and ensure that people can only be forced out of their homes on reasonable grounds, the City Council passed the tenant's right to know ordinance. This ordinance will promote stable communities and limit the number of families that must search for housing in a highly impacted housing market. Specifically, it will require a landlord to provide a tenant who has lived in a unit for two years the reason(s) for their eviction. The ordinance spells out the acceptable causes for eviction.

Two ordinances were adopted regarding these new regulations. The first ordinance was adopted March 30, 2004, O-19269 [City Atty O-2004-55 Rev] and the second was adopted April 26, 2004, O-19274 [City Atty O-2004-122]. Each ordinance goes into effect 30 days after it was adopted.

Below are links to each of these ordinances.

Tenants Right to Know (PDF: 21K)

Cause for Eviction Amendment (PDF: 9K)

We have also provided links to additional sites that will help to empower and educate renters and landlords about their rights and responsibilities.