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The Rent Ordinance provides certain protections if (1) a tenant in the
unit “is 60 years of age or older and has been residing in the unit for 10 years
or more”; (2) a tenant in the unit “[i]s disabled [as defined by the Rent
Ordinance] and has been residing in the unit for 10 years or more, or is
catastrophically ill [as defined by the Rent Ordinance] and has been residing
in the unit for five years or more;” or (3) “a child under the age of 18 or any
educator resides in the unit,” the effective date of the notice of termination
falls during the school year, and other requirements are met. (Rent Ord.,
§ 37.9, subds. (i)(1)(A)–(B), (j)(1).) Not only do these statuses potentially
prevent eviction from a unit under the family move-in provision, they may
entitle tenants who do vacate a unit to an additional relocation payment.
(Rent Ord., §§ 37.9, subds. (i)(1), (j)(1), 37.9C, subd. (e)(2).)
To avoid eviction, a “tenant must submit a statement, with supporting
evidence, to the landlord” to demonstrate that the tenant is “a member of one
of the classes protected.” (Rent Ord., § 37.9, subds. (i)(4), (j).) And a tenant is
entitled to receive a portion of the additional relocation payment “within
fifteen (15) calendar days of the landlord’s receipt of written notice from [the
tenant] of entitlement to the relocation payment along with supporting
evidence.” (Rent Ord., § 37.9C, subd. (e)(2).) In short, to take advantage of
the protections afforded by a covered status, a tenant is required to submit to
“the landlord” (1) a written document stating that the tenant has that status
and (2) supporting evidence.
Here, the notice of termination discloses the potential protections for a
covered tenant, not only quoting from the applicable portions of the Rent
Ordinance but also attaching the text of sections 37.9, 37.9B, and 37.9C, and
rule 12.14. The tenants do not claim that the notice of termination failed to
apprise them of their rights under these provisions. Instead, they object