§ 600. PENALTIES.

(a) Criminal Penalty. In addition to any other penalties provided in this Article, any person, or their agents, violating any of the provisions of this Article, or failing to comply with any direction or order of the Director given pursuant to the provisions of this Article, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $1000, or by imprisonment if the County Jail for a period of not less than 10 days nor more than three months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(b) Civil Penalty.

(1) City Attorney Referral. The Director may refer a case to the City Attorney's Office for civil enforcement at any time.

(2) Presumption of Noncompliance with Order. In addition to any other penalties provided in this Article, any person or entity served with a notice or order by the Director setting forth the nature of the violation of this Article, demanding correction of such violation, and specifying the time within which such violation must be corrected, shall be presumed, in subsequent civil proceedings, to have failed to comply with that notice or order at and after the time given in that notice or order for correction of such violation, after the time period specified in the notice or order has expired without correction of that violation.

(3) Penalty Amounts. Any person or entity violating this Article shall be liable for a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation for each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue, which penalty shall be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the people of the City and County of San Francisco by the City Attorney in any court of competent jurisdiction If a Responsible Party corrects a violation within the period specified in the Notice of Violation under Section 596(e)(1), the Court shall not award civil penalties for that violation under this Section provided that the Director has not cited the Responsible Party for the same type of violation at the same property more than twice in a 12-month period.

(4) Setting Civil Penalty. In assessing the amount of the civil penalty, the Court shall consider any one or more of the relevant circumstances presented by any of the parties to the case, including but not limited to the following: the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, the number of violations, the persistence of the misconduct, the length of time over which the misconduct occurred, the willfulness of the defendant's misconduct, and the defendant's assets, liabilities, and net worth. Any penalty assessed and recovered in an action brought pursuant to this paragraph shall be paid to the City and credited to the Public Health Environmental Health Code Compliance Fund for use in enforcement and prevention of violations of this Article. In addition, such violations will not be deemed legally abated until the property owner makes full payment of the assessment of costs and fees awarded to the City under this Article or any applicable State law.

(5) Cost Recovery. In any civil proceeding filed by the City Attorney to collect civil penalties, the Court may award the Department the costs and fees, including but not limited to attorneys' fees, authorized under this Article.

(c) Administrative Penalty.

(1) Penalty Amounts. As an alternative to any other fines and penalties applicable to a violation of Section 581(b), any person who violates one or more of those subparagraphs shall be subject to an administrative penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each violation, for each day such violation occurs. The administrative penalty shall be assessed, enforced and collected under Section 596 of this Article. If a Responsible Party corrects a violation within the period specified in the Notice of Violation under Section 596(e)(1), the Hearing Officer shall not award administrative penalties for that violation under this Section provided that the Director has not cited the Responsible Party for the same type of violation at the same property more than twice in a 12-month period.

(2) Setting Administrative Penalty. In setting the amount of the administrative penalty, the hearing officer shall consider any one or more of the relevant circumstances presented by any of the parties to the case, including but not limited to the following: the nature and seriousness of the misconduct, the number of violations, the persistence of the misconduct, the length of time over which the misconduct occurred, the willfulness of the defendant's misconduct, and the defendant's assets, liabilities, and net worth. Any penalty assessed and recovered in an action brought pursuant to this paragraph shall be paid to the City and credited to the Public Health Environmental Health Code Compliance Fund for use in enforcement and prevention of violations of this Article. In addition, such violations will not be deemed legally abated until the property owner makes full payment of the assessment of costs and fees awarded to the City under this Article or any applicable State law.

(3) Cost Recovery. In any civil proceeding filed by the City Attorney to collect administrative penalties, the Court may award the Department the costs and fees, including but not limited to attorneys' fees, authorized under this Article. Any administrative penalty assessed and recovered pursuant to this paragraph shall be paid to the City Treasurer and credited to the Public Health Environmental Health Code Compliance Fund for use in enforcement and prevention of violations of this Article.

(d) Remedies under this Article 11 are non-exclusive, and the City Attorney may institute civil proceedings for injunctive and monetary relief, including civil penalties, against any person for violations of the Health Code under any circumstances, without regard to whether a complaint has been filed or the Director has issued a Notice of Violation or an order to abate a nuisance under Section 596(i).

(Amended by Ord. 125-01, File No. 010269, App. 6/15/2001; Ord. 87-03, File No. 030482, App. 5/9/2003; Ord. 292-04, File No. 040561, App. 12/24/2004; Ord. 299-10, File No. 101062, App. 12/3/2010; Ord. , File No. 151085, App. 4/27/2016, Eff. 5/27/2016, Oper. 6/1/2016)