The City Council adopted a report from the Housing and Homelessness Committee seeking to strengthen the City's Systematic Code Enforcement Program (SCEP). SCEP is a proactive inspection program for rental units that ensures housing is safe and healthy for tenants and that recurring and unaddressed habitability violations are not used as an extra-legal means to remove tenants from their homes.
Currently, the program is complaint-based and is lacking accountability measures through inadequate forms of documentation of code violations and broad discretion, making tenants wait long periods for repairs, and sometimes temporarily relocate. As a form to combat ongoing issues, the Council is requesting that the Department of Housing, Building and Safety, City Attorney and any relevant department to report back with recommendations to address said limitations. Some of the recommendations to consider include, but are not limited to: establishing clear protocols and remedies for common code violations, increasing coordination between various code enforcement departments, and evaluating options to reduce delays. To read the full motion with recommendations listed, please click here.