The San Francisco Sheriff's Office has issued new guidance on how it will carry out its duties to evict tenants once the courts issue a Writ of Possession.

Out of concern for the safety of deputies, landlords, locksmiths, and bystanders, the Sheriff's office requests consent to enter the rental unit more rapidly if the owner’s keys do not work or if the tenant has changed the locks.

Bornstein Law often reminds housing providers that they cannot resort to "self-help" eviction measures to remove problematic tenants. Landlords must follow the carefully choreographed steps of eviction and not take matters into their own hands. Only the Sheriff's office can physically remove people from a rental unit. With good reason.

Bornstein Law has always advised clients to refrain from “self-help” eviction tactics, such as changing the locks, shutting off utilities, or removing a tenant’s property, to force them to leave. This is illegal and exposes landlords to colossal liability. Yet it is also unsafe. Above all else, we want housing providers not to get hurt.

Given high-profile incidents of violence when law enforcement escorts tenants out of the unit during an eviction, the Sheriff’s Department does not want to wait for locksmiths to laboriously get out a drill and nd tamper with locks. It is more ideal to enter the unit by force.

Owners must now agree, in writing, to permit the Sheriff’s Department to potentially damage the door and property to gain access. 

This permission is granted by a simple, one-page document. We share it here -- click on it.

Importantly, the failure to grant authorization may result in the Sheriff's inaction, meaning that the eviction may not occur. Imagine waiting for months to evict a tenant, only to experience a further delay by not giving deputies the license to do their job.

Let’s get on top of this requisite documentation. Rest assured, there may be some damage to the rental property. But from our hard-won experience, property owners will gladly pay a few hundred bucks to accomplish the goal of recovering the possession of the unit and obtaining the peace of mind knowing that they have restored control of likely their most valuable asset – their property.

As for the cost of repairs to any harm the Sheriff deputies cause, well, it's likely small compared to having a problematic tenant stay in the unit and wreak thousands of dollars' worth of damage.