(a) The City Attorney may at any time institute civil proceedings for injunctive and monetary relief including civil penalties, against any Person for violations of this Article 16, without regard to whether the Director has issued a notice of violation, instituted abatement proceedings, scheduled or held a hearing on a notice of violation, or issued a final decision.
(b) At any time, the Director may refer a case to the City Attorney’s Office for civil enforcement, but a referral is not required for the City Attorney to bring a civil action under subsection (a).
(c) Action for Injunction and Civil Penalty. Any Person that violates any provision of this Article 16 shall be enjoined and shall be subject to a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed $1,000 for each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue, which penalty shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the City and County of San Francisco by the City Attorney in any court of competent jurisdiction. In assessing the amount of the civil penalty, the court shall consider any one or more of the relevant circumstances presented by any of the parties to the case, including but not limited to, the following: the nature and seriousness of the misconduct giving rise to the violation, the number of violations, the persistence of the misconduct, the length of time over which the misconduct occurred, the willfulness of the defendant’s misconduct, and the defendant’s assets, liabilities and net worth.
(d) Attorneys’ fees. The prevailing party in any court case or special proceeding to enforce this Article 16 shall recover reasonable attorneys’ fees if the City Attorney elects, at the initiation of the action, to seek recovery of attorneys’ fees and provides notice of such intention to the adverse party or parties. In no court case or special proceeding shall an award of attorneys’ fees to a prevailing party exceed the amount of reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred by the City.
(e) Remedies under this Section 1636 are non-exclusive and cumulative to all other remedies available at law or equity.
(Added by Ord. 230-17, File No. 171042, App. 12/6/2017, Eff. 1/5/2018)