5.13.040 Applicability.
(1) This chapter shall apply to all rental units within the jurisdictional boundaries of the city, unless expressly exempt pursuant to any provision of this chapter or state or federal law.
(2) Exemptions. The following are specifically exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
(a) Any dwelling unit that has a certificate of occupancy or equivalent permit for residential occupancy issued after February 1, 1995.
(b) Any dwelling unit that is alienable separate from the title to any other dwelling unit, including single-family residences, condominiums and townhomes, but excluding mobilehomes offered for rent by the owner of the mobilehome, or is a subdivided interest in a subdivision, as specified in California Business and Professions Code Section 11004.5(b), (d) or (f).
(c) Housing restricted by deed, regulatory restriction contained in an agreement with a government agency, or other recorded document as affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low or moderate income, as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 50093, or subject to an agreement that provides housing subsidies for affordable housing for persons and families of very low, low or moderate income, as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 50093 or comparable federal statutes, but excluding any dwelling unit for which a landlord receives federal housing assistance vouchers issued under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, line 9 (42 U.S.C. § 1437f).
(d) Residential real property containing no more than two rental units in which the owner occupies one of the units as the owner’s principal place of residence since the beginning of the tenancy, so long as the owner continues in occupancy. For purposes of this subsection:
(i) The term “owner” means a natural person who owns at least a 25 percent ownership interest in the residential real property.
(ii) An exemption under this subsection shall expire by operation of law when the owner ceases to reside on the property as their principal place of residence.
(e) Accommodations in hotels, motels, inns, tourist homes and boarding houses, and rooming houses, or other facilities, for which the city has received or is entitled to receive payment of transient occupancy tax pursuant to Chapter 3.32 CMC, Transient Occupancy Tax, and California Civil Code Section 1940(b).
(f) Housing accommodations in a nonprofit hospital, religious facility, extended care facility, licensed residential care facility for the elderly (as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 159.2), or any other facility licensed by the state to provide medical care for residents.
(3) Application for Rental Unit Exemption. Any person with an ownership interest in a rental unit may claim an exemption from this chapter by filing with the department an application of exemption on a form approved by the department. (Ord. 736 § 2 (Exh. A), 2023).