Under the ordinance, you may evict your tenant if you or your spouse, child, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, the spouse/domestic partner of the relative, or a care giver providing care to a member of the household seek in good faith to occupy the unit as your/their primary residence. This is referred to as an “Owner Move-In.” You or the family member must occupy the unit within 90 days of the unit being vacated and intend to occupy the unit for at least 1 year.
However, you cannot pursue an eviction for an Owner Move-In if any of the following are true:
- You or your family member already occupies a unit on the property, unless you can show “good cause”
- There is another vacant unit on the property
- There is another comparable unit on the property occupied by a tenant who moved onto the property more recently.
- If your tenant has resided on the property for more than three years and is 65 years or older, disabled, or terminally ill UNLESS you or your family member is also disabled or terminally ill and there is no other vacant unit on the property.
Right of Return: If your tenant is displaced due to an Owner Move-In and their former rental unit returns to the market within 3 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.
Relocation: If your tenant is displaced due to an Owner Move-In, you must provide relocation payments equal to two months’ rent at the time you serve the notice of termination. If your tenant or a member of their household is 65 years of age or older, 17 years of age or younger, disabled, or terminally-ill, then they are entitled to an additional 1 months’ rent relocation payment, for a total of 3 months’ rent.