San Diego launches housing unit to address substandard conditions, code violations

The San Diego City Attorney’s Office has established a unit dedicated to various housing issues, from code violations to substandard rental conditions, officials said Wednesday.

The Housing Protection and Civil Code Compliance Unit, according to City Attorney Heather Ferbert, aims to ensure that housing in San Diego is “safe, fair, and livable.”

The unit, Ferbert said in a news release, will take a “focused approach” to addressing persistent code violations, substandard conditions, unfair business practices and “patterns or practice of violating” the city’s Tenant Protection Ordinance or the Short-Term Residential Occupancy Ordinance.

Attorneys assigned to the unit will pursue civil enforcement legal action against repeat violators and attempt to resolve public nuisance issues that, officials said, undermine housing stability, distort the rental market and harm quality of life.

“With the Housing Protection Unit, we’re stepping up enforcement against repeat offenders who ignore the law, threaten tenant safety and damage our communities,” Ferbert said. “We will hold violators accountable and protect the rights of residents across our city.”

The unit will continue to work with the city’s Building and Land Use Enforcement Division, the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, law enforcement and community members to identify unsafe and unlawful housing conditions and take action where necessary.

Complaints about public nuisances and patterns and practices of code violations may be submitted through the City Attorney’s website for consideration.

Public nuisances that negatively impact neighborhoods, including properties with

ongoing crime such as drug activity, alcohol violations, prostitution, graffiti, and trespassing.

Issues the unit will take up include reports of substandard dwellings, unsafe living conditions,

unsafe or dangerous structures, unpermitted construction and repeated remodels without approval, zoning violations such as illegal dwelling units or unpermitted land uses and

abandoned or vacant structures that may contribute to crime and

neighborhood instability.