Montebello, CA Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Montebello does not run its own rental-inspection intake through the Housing Mediation Board created in Chapter 2.28 of the Municipal Code. Section 2.28.160(C) states that claims a dwelling unit or the building it sits in is in unsatisfactory physical condition, whether or not the condition breaks any law, are not subject to the mediation chapter at all. Instead, the assistant city manager for community services and development, or a designee, is directed to help the complaining tenant by referring the matter to the appropriate city department or to a county or state agency with jurisdiction.

For disputes the board does handle, such as rent increases, deposits, maintenance responsibilities, or notices to quit, Section 2.28.200(A) sets the intake rule: a petition goes to the board's secretary or to the city staff assigned to assist the board, and must state the names, addresses, and phone numbers of everyone involved plus a brief statement of the facts, with copies of any written notices attached. Section 2.28.200(C) gives petitions over rent increases or other monetary disputes scheduling priority over nonmonetary petitions. Because habitability and physical-condition complaints are carved out of this process, a Montebello tenant with a maintenance or code problem is directed off the mediation track from the start rather than into a city inspection queue.