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RENT CONTROL: A Reformer's Perspective

2. needs of elderly tenants for easily accessed units;

3. needs of qualified tenat families for family-sized units; and

4. fair distribution in terms of size, condition and building location of dedicated units and decontrolled units.

(ii) In determining the number of units to be dedicated, the following formulas shall be used:

1. For structures (or part thereof) containing four to six rental units, one unit shall be dedicated;

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2. For structures (or part thereof) containing seven or more rental units, the Board shall multiply the number of units by 30 percent and then round to the nearest whole number to obtain the number of dedicated units;

3. For structures containing one, two or three rental units, the owner shall be able to have each such unit decontrolled by making payment of $2500 per unit to the City of Cambridge Fund.

Upon filing of the landlord's proposal, the Board shall review the proposal and hold a hearing only if necessary to designate which units shall be dedicated units. Only the owners of the dedicated units shall have standing to appeal the Board's designation.

b) Once the dedicated units are identified, the Department of Inspectational Services shall inspect the dedicated units, and the owner shall promptly make all repairs required. Upon notification to the Board of the completion of the required work, the Board shall amend its records to show the dedicated units, and all remaining units shall be decontrolled units. The owner of the dedicated units ahll keep the units up to all code standards and inhabited with qualified persons. For purposes of determining qualification, the Board shall promulgate a form which shall be completed by any proposed qualified person, which form shall be submitted to the Board for its approval, updated not less often than biannually and kept by the owner in the ordinary course of business.

c) Each qualified person shall be required on a bianual basis to update and re-file his tenant profile and transmit same to the Board and to the owner. Any tenant who no longer is a qualified person shall be given a reasonable period to locate alternative housing, and the entire cost of an eviction, if necessary, shall be borne by the non-qualifying person. No landlord/owner shall knowingly permit a nonqualified person to reside in a dedicated unit.

d) Each dedicated unit shall remain rent-controlled, and the owner shall be entitled to receive the rent as set by the Board pursuant to this Act. Notwithstanding anything contained above, nothing shall prevent an owner from accepting subsidized rental payments from federal or state sources for qualified persons.

e) No dedicated unit may be occupied by a nonqualified person unless the Cambridge Housing Authority is unable to provide the owner with the names of not less than three qualified persons who would desire to occupy the dedicated unit.

f) All existing tenants shall remain rent-controlled tenants until voluntarily vacate or are evicted pursuant to this act. Any acts of harassment on the part of an owner shall be subject to the full penalties permissible under this act.

g) Once an existing tenant vacates, the owner of a unit designated with the Board as vacancy decontrolled shall file notice with the Board that the unit is vacant and shall pay a one-time charge of $1,000.00 to the City of Cambridge Fund. Thereafter, the unit may be rented for the fair market value.

h) For the purposes of Proposition 2 1/2, all units shall be deemed new construction when registered as decontrolled units. All dedicated units and all controlled units containing existing tenants shall be deemed rent-controlled property consistent with Proposition 2 1/2.

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