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Oakland, Calif. – Today the Oakland City Council adopted an ordinance requiring landlords to maintain elevators in a safe condition and to relocate disabled tenants when access to their apartment is substantially impaired due to an inoperable elevator. The new ordinance applies to buildings with three or more residential units and for the first time provides residents with mobility disabilities clear options for recourse. The ordinance will take effect on December 15, 2024.
“This ordinance addresses existing gaps in state and local laws to ensure Oakland renters who rely on an elevator to reach their apartments have reliable access to their homes,” said City Attorney Barbara J. Parker. “I am grateful to our City Council for providing these critical protections for tenants with mobility disabilities that will enable them to have reliable access to their homes.”
The Elevator Maintenance Ordinance was crafted and sponsored by City Attorney Barbara J. Parker and co-sponsored by Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, Council President pro tempore Kalb, and Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Treva Reid. The new law requires that landlords conduct regular elevator maintenance to ensure that elevators remain operable at all times. It also requires that landlords provide advance notice to tenants when an elevator will be out of service for any period of time for regular maintenance.
“Everyone deserves to be able to freely come in and out of their building or home. For people with mobility impairments a functioning elevator in a residential building is absolutely essential. With the passage of this ordinance, the City of Oakland is joining many other jurisdictions in addressing gaps in current anti-discrimination and tenant protection laws to ensure those who depend on an elevator can come and go from their home just like everyone else,” said Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas.
If an elevator becomes inoperable and cannot be repaired within 24 hours, the ordinance requires that landlords offer temporary alternative housing to any residents whose access to and egress from their apartment is substantially impaired because they have a mobility impairment that prevents them from using stairs. A resident can also choose to secure their own alternative housing and seek reimbursement of up to $250 a night in lieu of accepting alternative housing from the landlord.
“I have experienced firsthand the indignity and danger that is caused when I’m unable to access or leave my home due to an elevator outage,” noted Noah Smith, member of the Mayor’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities. “This new ordinance protects tenants like me who rely on elevator service to access our homes.”
Building operators who fail to comply with the ordinance can be sued for injunctive relief, actual damages, and statutory damages by any tenant with an impairment that prevents them from using stairs if their access to their home is substantially impaired due to an inoperable elevator.
“Functioning elevators are a critical resource for disabled residents,” said Oakland City Council President pro tempore Dan Kalb. “This new law provides the support our community needs and deserves.”
The ordinance was developed in consultation with the Mayor’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities.
Additional Support of Elevator Maintenance Ordinance from Co-Sponsors
District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife
“The City of Oakland must continue to protect vulnerable tenants by ensuring rental units are actually habitable. The Elevator Maintenance Ordinance does this by requiring repair and maintenance of elevators in residential buildings so individuals with disabilities have continued access to their units and provides remedies in the event repairs are not performed in a timely manner. I want to thank the City Attorney’s Office for their extensive work on this item and I’m proud to cosponsor.”
District 7 Councilmember Treva Reid
“As a co-sponsor of the city’s elevator ordinance, I have firsthand experience with the challenges caused by out-of-service elevators, which greatly affected safe access to and from our building. These delays can be disruptive and even pose dangers to the safety and well-being of individuals with limited mobility or health challenges. This was a problem for my mother and our wheelchair-bound neighbors on several occasions. The ordinance aims to hold property owners accountable and ensure timely service repairs and regular maintenance for elevators in buildings with three or more residential units. All individuals facing life and health-impacting circumstances must have accessible, functioning elevators in good working order.”
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Telemundo 48 ran a Spanish-language story about the new ordinance on Aug. 1; watch their coverage here.
