(Title and Section Amended by Ord. No. 184,446, Eff. 9/28/16.)
A. Hearing.
1. The General Manager's Hearing shall be set and held following the procedures set forth in Division 8 of Article 1 of Chapter XVI of this Code. To the extent feasible, the Hearing shall be coordinated with any General Manager's Hearing scheduled under Section 161.801, et seq. The Department shall investigate whether there are other outstanding Orders against the building(s), structure(s) and/or premises, and, if so, shall provide notice of the Hearing to any additional tenants affected by those Orders.
2. Tenants or Enforcement Agencies may present proof that the violations specified in the Order, at the time the Order was issued, affected additional units that have not been inspected, or that there are additional outstanding Orders affecting the same or different units of the building, structure and/or premises that were not included in the original Decision of the Department.
3. The property owner/landlord may present proof that a rent reduction is not appropriate because the violations were caused by the tenants. The burden shall be on the property owner/landlord to prove that the tenants caused the violations.
4. The property owner/landlord and any tenant or Enforcement Agency may present proof that, due to extreme circumstances, acceptance into REAP or the rent reduction would jeopardize the health or safety of the tenants. The property owner/landlord has the burden of demonstrating unique, extreme circumstances that make any requested relief appropriate. The Department shall scrutinize such a request with particular caution when it is not supported by the tenants or the Enforcement Agency.
5. Before the General Manager's Hearing begins, the property owner/landlord shall complete and submit a form provided by the Department that sets forth the names and current rents of all of the tenants in units subject to REAP.
B. General Manager Hearing Officer Decision.
1. The General Manager shall issue a Decision, as set forth in Division 8 of Article 1 of Chapter XVI of this Code, within ten working days of the hearing.
2. The General Manager may affirm, modify, or reverse the determination of the Department. The General Manager shall find that each of the factors set forth in Section 162.03 exists in affirming the acceptance of a building into REAP. The General Manager may modify or reverse the determination of the Department only upon making written findings setting forth specifically either:
(i) that the action of the Department was in error or constituted an abuse of discretion, or
(ii) there is new, relevant information which was not previously submitted either at the time of the referral to REAP due to mistake, surprise, inadvertence, lack of notice, or excusable neglect, which information supports a modification or reversal.
3. If the property owner/landlord was already in compliance with the Order before the date of General Manager's Hearing, the Department's Decision shall be reversed. If the Department's Decision is affirmed in the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision, the rent reduction effective date shall be the date of the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision. The General Manager Hearing Officer Decision shall be the final administrative decision unless appealed to the RAC Appeals Board pursuant to Section 162.06 C.
4. If during the General Manager's Hearing, a tenant or Enforcement Agency presents proof that the violations specified in the Order, at the time the Order was issued, affected additional units that had not been inspected, or that there are additional outstanding Orders affecting the building, structure and/or premises that were not included in the original Decision of the Department, the General Manager may order further rent reductions or include additional units in REAP.
Prior to determining that additional units not included in the original Decision of the Department pursuant to Section 162.04 D. will be subject to inclusion in REAP or rent reductions, the General Manager shall, if requested by the property owner/landlord, continue the hearing as to the additional units in order to provide an opportunity to be heard. The General Manager may issue a decision as to the rental units included in the original Decision of the Department prior to the continued hearing date or may wait and issue one General Manager Hearing Officer Decision covering all of the units. The effective date of rent reductions as to units included in the original Decision of the Department is identified in Sections 162.04 D.5. and 162.05 B. If the hearing is continued, the effective date of rent reductions as to additional units not included in the original Decision of the Department, will be the date of the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision issued after the hearing.
5. If the General Manager finds that the violations are of such a nature or extent that they are likely to be found in or affect several units, the General Manager may order the rent reduction extended to additional units that were not included in the original Decision of the Department without proof of an outstanding Order for those units. The General Manager Hearing Officer Decision shall state the findings justifying extending the rent reduction to additional units.
Prior to determining that additional units not included in the original Decision of the Department pursuant to Section 162.04 D. will be subject rent reduction, the General Manager shall, if requested by the property owner/landlord, continue the hearing as to the additional units in order to provide an opportunity to be heard. The General Manager may issue a Decision as to the rental units included in the original Decision of the Department prior to the continued hearing date or may wait and issue one General Manager Decision covering all of the units.
6. The General Manager may refer the building, unit or structure for a periodic inspection pursuant to Section 161.602. If the building has already had a periodic inspection within the past three years, the General Manager may order the property owner/landlord to pay an inspection fee pursuant to Section 161.901.2. (Amended by Ord. No. 185,644, Eff. 7/6/18.)
7. Under extraordinary circumstances, the Department may delay, reduce, stay or deny the rent reduction or escrow account, notwithstanding that the conditions set forth in Section 162.03 have been met, when to do otherwise would jeopardize the health or safety of the tenants or would violate the constitutional rights of any person. The mere reduction of income available to make repairs shall not constitute extraordinary circumstances. If the Department grants that relief, the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision shall state in detail the circumstances supporting the relief.
8. If the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision is to affirm the placement of the property into REAP, the property owner/landlord shall attend a REAP workshop provided by the Department within six months of the issuance of the Decision. There shall be no fee assessed to attend this workshop.
C. Appeal of General Manager Hearing Officer Decision. The property owner/landlord, any tenant, or the Enforcement Agency may appeal to the RAC Appeals Board following the procedures set forth in Division 10 of Article 1 of Chapter XVI. If a General Manager Hearing Officer Decision to place a property into REAP is appealed, enforcement of REAP will be stayed until the appeal is final. An application fee required pursuant to Section 161.1004 C.2. of this Code may be waived by the Department in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in Section 151.14 C. (Amended by Ord. No. 185,644, Eff. 7/6/18.)
If the appeal is denied, the rent reduction shall be applied retroactively to the date of the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision pursuant to Section 162.06 B.3.
If the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision imposed additional rent reductions that were not included in the original acceptance into REAP, and if the violations on which those reductions were based have not been corrected by the time the appeal was filed, then the rent reduction(s) shall be applied retroactively to the date of the General Manager Hearing Officer Decision pursuant to Section 162.06 B.3.