Under the ordinance, you maintain the right to evict your tenant in order to permanently withdraw your rental unit from the rental market (i.e., go out of business) as permitted by the Ellis Act. These are often referred to as “Ellis Act Evictions.”
If you serve your tenant an Ellis Act Eviction, you are required to provide a minimum of 120 days advance notice. If your tenant or a member of their household is 65 years of age or older or disabled, you must provide 180 days of advance notice.
If you serve your tenant an Ellis Act Eviction and attempt to place the unit, or a newly constructed unit, back on the rental market within two years, you may be liable to the displaced tenant for triple damages.
Right of Return: If your tenant is displaced due to an Ellis Act Eviction and their former rental unit, or a newly constructed rental unit, returns to the market within five years, they have the right to return to that unit under the same terms as their former tenancy and with the same rent, plus any lawful adjustments under Fairfax’s Rent Stabilization ordinance. It is your tenant’s responsibility to ensure you have their current contact information. A tenant’s right to return, however, ends once the property is transferred by inheritance.