(a) Every rental agreement, lease, or other written document evidencing or changing the terms of tenancy for a residential rental property to which this chapter applies shall include or be accompanied by the following: A notice summarizing the rights afforded by this chapter, including but not limited to the protection against retaliation; and the name, address and telephone number of the facilitation administrator. The facilitation administrator shall prepare and publish acceptable notification language, including the name, address and phone number of the city's facilitation administrator. The notification shall be capitalized text at least fourteen points in size and shall state:
THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO MEDIATION OF DISPUTES BETWEEN LANDLORD AND TENANT. YOU MUST REQUEST MEDIATION WITHIN 21 DAYS OF LEARNING ABOUT THE FACTS THAT CREATED THE DISPUTE. CONTACT THE CITY OF PALO ALTO'S FACILITATION ADMINISTRATOR [name, address and phone] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. THE PALO ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE PROTECTS YOU FROM RETALIATION FOR EXERCISING YOUR RIGHT TO MEDIATION.
(b) The notification shall be provided in English, Spanish, Chinese and Russian in the translated form prepared and published by the facilitation administrator.
(c) Failure to provide this notification shall result in an automatic extension of the twenty-one-day time limit for filing a written request for dispute resolution pursuant to Section 9.72.040(a). The automatic extension shall remain in effect until twenty-one days after written notification is provided by the landlord.
(d) Failure of a landlord to comply with the notice provisions described above or in a form which provides substantially the same information shall render any rental increase notice invalid and unenforceable, and shall provide the tenant with a defense in any legal action brought by the landlord to collect rent in whole or in part based upon the amount of the rental increase, including any unlawful detainer action based on failure to pay rent which includes an unenforceable rental increase amount as a basis for all or part of the unpaid rent alleged in that action. The failure to comply with the notice provisions will be cured only after the proper written notice of tenant's rights, along with a new rental increase notice, has been properly served on the tenant.
(Ord. 5033 § 2, 2009: Ord. 4728 § 1 (part), 2002)