Unless otherwise defined in this Article 29A, the terms used in this Article shall have the meanings given to them in Article 6 of the Business and Tax Regulations Code, as amended from time to time. For purposes of this Article, the following definitions shall apply:
“Affiliate” means a person under common majority ownership or common control, whether that ownership or control is direct or indirect, with any other person, including but not limited to a person that majority owns or controls, or is majority owned or controlled by, any other person.
“Building Permit Application Period” means the period following the date that an application for a building permit for repair, rehabilitation, or construction with respect to a Residential Unit is filed with the City through the date the Department of Building Inspection or its successor agency grants or denies that application, not to exceed one year. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if more than one building permit application is filed by or on behalf of one or more persons in the Owner’s Group for the same Residential Unit, the Building Permit Application Period shall mean only the applicable period following the date the first application is filed with the City by or on behalf of anyone in the Owner’s Group.
“Construction Period” means the one-year period following the date that the City issues a building permit for repair, rehabilitation, or construction with respect to a Residential Unit, provided that if the City issues multiple building permits to or for the benefit of one or more persons in the Owner’s Group for the same Residential Unit, the Construction Period shall mean only the one-year period following the issuance of the first building permit to or for the benefit of anyone in the Owner’s Group.
“Disaster Period” means the two-year period following the date that a Residential Unit was severely damaged and made uninhabitable or unusable due to fire, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event.
“Homeowners’ Exemption Period” means the period during which a Residential Unit is the principal place of residence of any owner of that Residential Unit and for which such owner validly has claimed either the homeowners’ property tax exemption under Section 218 of the California Revenue and Taxation Code or the disabled veterans’ exemption under Section 205.5 of that Code, as those sections may be amended from time to time.
“Lease Period” means the period during which any owner of a Residential Unit or any person in the Owner’s Group of that owner leases that Residential Unit to one or more tenants under a bona fide lease intended for occupancy, but not including any lease or rental of that Residential Unit to anyone in the Owner’s Group or to travelers, vacationers, or other transient occupants.
“New Construction Period” means the one-year period following the date that the City issues a certificate of final completion and occupancy with respect to a Residential Unit in a newly erected building or a newly added Residential Unit in an existing building.
“Owner Death Period” means, with respect to a co-owner or decedent’s estate, heirs, or beneficiaries, the period during which a Residential Unit is unoccupied, uninhabited, or unused because of the death of any owner of a Residential Unit who was the sole occupant of that Residential Unit immediately prior to such owner’s death, provided that such period shall not exceed the longer of one year or the period during which the Residential Unit is subject to the authority of a probate court.
“Owner In Care Period” means the period during which a Residential Unit is unoccupied, uninhabited, or unused because all occupants of the Residential Unit who used that Residential Unit as their principal residence are residing in a hospital, long term or supportive care facility, medical care or treatment facility, or other similar facility.
“Owner’s Group” means for each owner of a Residential Unit, with respect to each Residential Unit, the owner, any current or former co-owner, and any Related Person or Affiliate of the owner or any current or former co-owner.
“Related Person” means a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, or sibling.
“Residential Unit” means a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is designed as separate living quarters, other than units occupied or intended for occupancy primarily by travelers, vacationers, or other transient occupants. Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants live and eat separately from any other persons in the building and which have a kitchen and direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. For purposes of this Article 29A, a Residential Unit shall not include a unit in a currently operational nursing home, residential care facility, or other similar facility, or any unit that is fully exempt from property tax under the welfare exemption under Section 214(g) of the California Revenue and Taxation Code, as may be amended from time to time.
“Vacancy Exclusion Period” means the Building Permit Application Period, Construction Period, Disaster Period, Homeowners’ Exemption Period, Lease Period, New Construction Period, Owner Death Period, or Owner In Care Period.
“Vacant” means unoccupied, uninhabited, or unused, for more than 182 days, whether consecutive or nonconsecutive, in a tax year.
(Added by Proposition M, 11/8/2022, Eff. 12/23/2022, Oper. 1/1/2024)