La Mesa, CA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Chapter 19.01 adopts, by reference, the Uniform Housing Code, 1997 Edition, published by the International Conference of Building Officials, for the protection of life, limb, health, property, safety and welfare of the general public and of the owners and occupants of residential buildings in the City of La Mesa (Section 19.01.010). Section 19.01.030 amends the code's Section 203 so that the city's own Housing Advisory and Appeals Board, rather than the generic board named in the model code, hears Uniform Housing Code appeals. Section 19.01.040 amends the code's Section 204, the operative habitability standard: it bars any owner, lessee, sublessee or occupant from erecting, constructing, enlarging, altering, repairing, moving, improving, demolishing, equipping, using, occupying or maintaining a building or premises contrary to the code or to any order of the Building Official.

A violation is a misdemeanor, and each day a violation is committed, continued or permitted counts as a separate offense, punishable on conviction by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. Section 19.01.050 makes the chapter severable, so an invalid clause does not undo the rest. Because the city adopted the model code rather than writing a separate habitability ordinance, the Uniform Housing Code's own maintenance and occupancy provisions, incorporated by this chapter, are what a La Mesa rental unit must meet.