San Jose Mun. Code Chapter 17.23 § 17.23.1150

A. Relocation Assistance Benefits. When an owner withdraws a building containing a covered unit from the residential rental market and in connection with the withdrawal causes one or more tenancies to be terminated, the owner must provide, and each tenant household residing in a covered unit is entitled to receive from the owner, notice of and access to an application for all vacant residential rental unit(s) owned by the owner and located within the City of San José, as well as the following:
1. The owner must pay and the tenant household must receive relocation assistance. The base assistance required pursuant to Subsection C of Section 17.23.1150 must be deposited into escrow at the time of delivery of the notice of intent to withdraw to the tenants. Any qualified assistance due pursuant to clauses (a) - (d) of Subsection C.2 of Section 17.23.1150 , must be deposited into escrow as soon as the completed tenant qualification form has been verified by the relocation specialist and approved by the director. The owner is neither responsible for nor liable to divide the relocation assistance among the tenant(s) that comprise a tenant household entitled to relocation assistance.
2. Owner must pay to the city a fee for the relocation specialist services as described in Subsection E of Section 17.23.1150 which fee shall be collected as part of the filing fee.
3. Refund of Security Deposit. Owner must refund to tenant any security deposit paid by the tenant with any interest due. The owner may withhold any properly itemized deductions from the security deposit under California Civil Code Section 1950.5, as amended.
B. Escrow Account. The owner must deposit the relocation assistance into an escrow account with a San José bank or commercial escrow company and provide for disbursement to the tenants consistent with this part. The tenant household may obtain the base assistance from escrow immediately. The tenant household may obtain the qualified assistance from escrow on or before the earlier of: the first business day after the tenant gives a thirty-day notice to the owner under California Civil Code Section 1946.1, as amended, or the last day of tenancy for which the owner has received rent.
C. The amount of relocation assistance per covered unit shall be set by the city council via resolution and may be based on the number of bedrooms per covered unit or such other metric as provided in the resolution. The amount of relocation assistance per covered unit may thereafter be amended by resolution, and shall be comprised of the following components.
1. Base assistance for all tenant households.
2. Qualified assistance for tenant households that qualify under one or more of the following categories:
a. Tenant households that are lower income households, as defined in California Health and Safety Code Section 50079.5, as amended, and annually listed, as adjusted for household size, by the regulations of the state housing and community development department for the County of Santa Clara.
b. Tenant households when at least one tenant is sixty-two years old or older.
c. Tenant households when at least one tenant is a person with a disability, as defined in California Government Code Section 12955.3, as amended, or is terminally or catastrophically ill as evidenced by a physician's determination.
d. Tenant households when at least one tenant has a custodial or family relationship with an individual residing in the covered unit who is under the age of eighteen and is enrolled in school in any grade between and including kindergarten through twelfth grade.
3. Special assistance, in lieu of base assistance and qualified assistance, for a tenant household that accepts an offer of an alternate rent stabilized unit pursuant to Section 17.23.1151 .
Each tenant household shall receive the base assistance payments and may receive one allocation of qualified assistance if the tenant household is eligible for a category of qualified assistance as described in clauses (a) - (d) of Subsection C.2 of Section 17.23.1150 . Any tenant household that is eligible for any of the qualified assistance categories identified above must complete a tenant qualification form and provide a copy to the owner and the city.
D. Annual Adjustment. The amounts set by the city council via the resolution shall be adjusted each year as provided in this subsection unless otherwise specified by the city council in a subsequent resolution. The annual adjustment shall be an increase that is equal to the amounts for each component of the relocation assistance multiplied by the percentage increase (if any) in the Consumer Price Index - Rent for all urban consumers for the San Francisco-Oakland-San José area as published by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics for the twelve-month period ending on the last day of February of each year, unless otherwise specified by the city council. Amounts shall be rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
E. Relocation Specialist Services. When an owner withdraws a building containing a covered unit from the residential rental market and in connection with the withdrawal causes one or more tenancies to be terminated, the owner must, pay a fee to the city for providing relocation counseling for the tenant. The city will contract with a relocation specialist with experience in providing relocation services to tenants in the San José area to provide these services. The relocation specialist shall contact the tenants to explain the procedures for obtaining assistance under the part. The relocation specialist shall verify tenant qualification forms. The relocation specialist shall provide services including meetings with tenants on site; providing current information on local vacancies, and assisting each tenant household in crafting a relocation plan on a form approved by the city. The relocation specialist must provide services to disabled persons and persons with no or limited English proficiency and ensure relocation assistance, procedures and tenant's rights are fully explained to those persons.