Mountain View committee affirms rent-reduction awards in tenant habitability appeal with small correction to cockroach start date

The Mountain View Rental Housing Committee on Thursday affirmed most of a hearing officer’s findings in an appeal by a landlord of a tenant petition alleging multiple habitability violations, and adopted a corrected tentative decision that narrows one date in the award.

The committee’s action adopted the tentative appeal decision recommending modification of the hearing officer’s original award only to change the start date for the cockroach-related rent reduction from June 1, 2022, to Aug. 1, 2022. Member Cox moved to adopt the tentative decision; Member Keating seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The hearing officer’s original decision — which the committee largely sustained — had awarded rent reductions for a series of conditions documented in the record. Those awards, as summarized for the committee, included: a 7.5% reduction for mold and moisture in a bedroom closet and carpet for the period April 1, 2023, through May 16, 2024; a 33.3% reduction for a severe cockroach infestation originally dated from June 1, 2022, through May 16, 2024 (the committee shortened that period to begin Aug. 1, 2022); a 5% reduction for water damage and noxious odors in kitchen cabinets for June 1, 2022, through May 16, 2024; another 5% reduction for various bathroom defects in the same June 1, 2022–May 16, 2024 period; and a 2% reduction for defective caulking for May 1, 2023, through May…