(a) Escrow Payment as Rent. The gross amount paid into a REAP account by or on behalf of a tenant shall be deemed a rent payment made in that same amount to the landlord. In any action by a landlord to recover possession of a residential unit for nonpayment of rent, the tenant may raise the fact of payments into the REAP account as an affirmative defense in the same manner as if such payments had been made to and accepted by the landlord.
(b) Recovery of Unit. A landlord may bring an action to recover possession of a rental unit that has been placed into REAP based upon any grounds permitted by State or local law, provided that nothing in this Chapter may be construed to affect the applicability of Chapter 37 (Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance) to those units that are subject to its provisions.
(c) Retaliatory Eviction. If the landlord is seeking to recover possession of a residential unit in retaliation against the tenant for exercising his or her rights under this Chapter or because of his or her complaint to an appropriate agency as to the habitability of a residential unit, or because of any other actions or proceedings by the City under this Chapter, then the landlord may not recover possession of a residential unit in any action or proceeding or cause the tenant to quit involuntarily.
(Added by Ord. 398-96, App. 10/21/96; amended by Ord. 328-00, File No. 001923, App. 12/28/2000)