OWNER MOVE IN
ELLIS ACT
SAN FRANCISCO RENT BOARD
THE LEASE AND NEW TENANT APPLICATIONS
EVICTIONS
MASTER TENANTS
IN LAWS
DOWNLOAD RENTAL APPLICATION
OWNER MOVE IN
A significant part of my practice is to represent owner/landlords who wish to occupy their own properties, which have been rental units. This also applies to owner/landlords who already occupy one unit in a building and wish to have their close relatives move into the same building. This area of practice is heavily document oriented. The waiting period for Owner Move in is 60 days. Even though a land owner has a right to live in his or her own building, the tenant supervisors and legislators keep trying to take that right away, or make it so complicated, expensive, and protracted that it becomes impractical or impossible.
The owner or relative must occupy the residential unit for at least three (3) continuous years (36 months) after exercising this right.
Even though Owner Move In is a right, and even after paying the "relocation" monies of over $14,000 per rental unit, tenants often hire contingency or commission attorneys to try to extort more money than is legally allowable in order for owners to exercise their right to live in the building which they own. This necessitates a court eviction after the Owner Move In process has been completed.
The "relocation" money has no basis in fact. It is legalized extortion. A family could relocate to Miami, Florida for $14,000. Dislocated/evicted tenants spend $500 on a rental truck, and pocket the remaining $13,000. The $14,000 amount was chosen to be high enough to make displaced/evicted tenants feel rich, while not being so high as to make it worthwhile for landlords to sue to overrule the unjust law.
ELLIS ACT
The wisdom of the supervisors and mayors of San Francisco that rent and eviction controls will make more rental units available to the tenant population of San Francisco has had the opposite effect. The Ellis Act is a state law which protects an owner's right to take the residential rental units in a building off of the rental market, to do with whatever else they so desire. The waiting period for the Ellis Act process is 120 days, and includes a requirement that the exercise of an Ellis Act election is recorded along with the property title.
Again, this is a document intensive, and complicated process and encumbers the property with restrictions and reporting mandates for ten (10) years afterward. In this matter, too, tenants have certain rights to re-occupy the units vacated under certain circumstances. "Relocation" monies paid to the displaced tenants is over $14,000 per rental unit. If tenants take the money and still refuse to vacate, this notice period needs to be followed by a court eviction lawsuit (Unlawful Detainer). Tenants frequently hold over in order to extort unlawful additional money from the landlord.
SAN FRANCISCO RENT BOARD
The Rent Board was created by the San Francisco Rent Ordinance. Since the entire 88 pages of the ordinance and the 112 pages of regulations give additional legal preference to tenants and not a single additional right to landlords, the Rent Board is often referred to as the San Francisco Tenants Board. Landlords can be misled as to their rights when seeking advice from the Rent Board. The Rent Board cannot order a landlord or tenant to do or stop doing anything. The Rent Board can determine what the amount of rent charged should be. The Rent Board has broad discretion to establish reductions in rent, but can also determine that a particular rent is appropriate when all original tenants leave a rental unit and a subsequent tenant wishes to remain.
Whereas the intention of the Rent Board is to provide equal assistance to both landlords and tenants, the San Francisco Rent Ordinance is written solely for the benefit of tenants. Advice given by the Rent Board can often put a landlord at a disadvantage. Only a landlord lawyer has the best interests of a landlord as his primary goal. My experience before the Rent Board can make the difference between success and failure. Winning at the Rent Board can prevent the necessity of filing a lawsuit in Superior Court.
THE LEASE AND NEW TENANT APPLICATIONS
Landlords, as well as tenants, are protected by statewide laws. However, The San Francisco Rent ordinance overrides some state laws as to rents and evictions.
Where there are options, the only protection for landlords is in the lease, and its continuation as a month-to-month rental. Tenant attorneys complain the current San Francisco leases are 12 to 16 pages long. This is very small when compare to the 120 pages of the SFRO rights given to tenants. Do not deceive yourself, tenants in San Francisco know their rights. Most often, tenants know much more about their rights than do landlords. Predatory tenants and tenant free clinics can capitalize on the uninformed landlord. Ask yourself why there are no landlord free clinics in San Francisco.
EVICTIONS
In San Francisco, there are only seven (7) types of misconduct by tenants which will justify eviction. There are an additional seven (7) no-fault reasons for eviction, however those no-fault evictions confer additional rights to tenants, and none to landlords. Together, these are known as the fourteen (14) "just causes" for eviction. These "just causes" are jealously guarded in the San Francisco courts, because the judges remember that they are subject to the tenants' wishes because tenants constitute a majority of San Francisco voters. Judges are scrupulous in guarding tenant rights, even in just cause evictions, and often create laws that do not exist to satisfy tenants, and keep bad tenants in their rental units.
The 14 "just causes" can be downloaded from the Rent Board web site at www.sfgov.org; or obtained from any landlord attorney. Evictions for cause in San Francisco are much more complicated than anywhere else in California. Eviction is the only solution for bad tenants.
These evictions "just causes" include non-payment of rent, late payment of rent, frequent payment of rent with checks that are worthless, causing disturbances, destroying landlord property, requiring inordinately frequent repairs, violations of the lease, such as having a pet when pets have been prohibited, allowing unauthorized subsequent tenants to take up residence, interfering with the rights and use by other tenants or neighbors, using the rental unit for an illegal purpose, refusal to sign a lease after the expiration of a lease on materially the same terms, refusing access to the landlord for permitted purposes, excessive numbers of sub-tenants.
MASTER TENANTS
Many San Franciscans who occupy rental units believe that they are tenants and have tenants' rights. This is a misconception if they are the sole remaining original tenants, in which case they become Master Tenants. Master Tenants are treated as if they are landlords. They are prohibited from establishing what they feel is a proper rental share from their subsequent tenants. Master Tenants are regulated with all of the restrictions placed upon landlords. There is a small exception, if a Master Tenant exercises an obscure regulatory right before accepting a subsequent tenant in the rental unit.
A Master Tenant needs advice and assistance from an attorney, just as a land owner does. I can provide that assistance.
IN LAWS
In-Laws are rental units which are established without a permit from the City and County. These are usually basements, or garages, or separate buildings on a property which were not originally intended to be a rental unit. Many San Francisco home owners depend up the additional rental income from these In-Laws. Most landlords who have these In-Law units are extremely worried about these In-law units because they know that they are skirting the law. This anxiety by owners, who have In-Law units on their properties, allows tenants to take advantage of the owner. These bad tenants will create problems for the owner and then extort money from the owner for the promise of leaving.
There are protections against these predatory tenants, but a landlord for an In-Law must take the same, extensive, steps in screening, credit check, and use of a San Francisco specific lease, before allowing these predatory tenants from moving in. The first indication that a tenant intends to take advantage of the owner is if they "avoid" signing a lease. "My hands are full." I need to wait for my next paycheck." "We can trust each other." Do not allow these predators in your home. You will regret it.
As a landlord attorney, I can refer you to landlord organizations, and assist in establishing screening criteria.
