About San Francisco Bay Area Landlord Lawyers

The boutique firm of Bornstein Law exemplifies the personal qualities of its founder and the definitive voice for rental property owners, attorney Daniel Bornstein.

Practicing law for the better part of three decades, Daniel Bornstein is one of the foremost authorities in managing rental relationships, handling landlord-tenant disputes, and representing clients in complex real estate litigation throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Having successfully resolved thousands of conflicts, Daniel is also the broker of record for Bay Property Group, an expert witness, and a real estate investor himself.

Renowned for his informative events, he has made it a lifelong mission to educate rental property owners on a maddening regulatory regime, how to cauterize risk, and how to avoid common pitfalls in landlordording.and property management.

Meet other stellar team members dedicated to helping housing providers power through their challenges.

Kathryn Quetel, Esq.

Daniel Cheung, Esq.

Dylan Tong, Esq.

Nicole Blake, Esq.

Daniela Cronembold, Esq.

Our efforts are augmented by a support staff with meticulous attention to detail and committed to serving the needs of our clients.

Andrew Peranandam
Controller

Rajen Krishnan
Office Administrator

ist

Gino Mazzoni
Certified Student Intern

Patrick Woo
Paralegal

Elizabeth Tang
Office Administrator

Rogelio Lopez
Executive Assistant

We think smartly and strategically about your real estate investments.

Bornstein Law approaches cases from the perspective of a business decision. As investors ourselves, your bottom line is always top of mind and the advice we impart is what we would do ourselves – we put ourselves in your shoes.

Frank, candid advice removed from the emotional fray.

We allow clients the opportunity to emote and then we get laser-focused on accomplishing the goal at hand. Being forthright and blunt, we found, is the best way to approach difficult rental relationships. When there is no easy solution, we will tell you. You’ll find our direct and sensible communication to be valuable in our dialogue with tenants or their counsel, and this sometimes requires “thick skin” in informing residents that it is time to make a chapter change in their housing.

We know what we know, and we know what we don't know.

Law has become very niche-specific and our firm refuses to spread ourselves too thinly. Managing landlord-tenant relationships is what we do on a daily basis and when a matter migrates into another area of law, we will refer you to an expert in their respective field.

Our goal is never to enlarge a dispute but resolve it as quickly and inexpensively as possible, taking into account time, risk, and attorneys' fees.

Although we are not doctors, we take the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. When a dispute is enlarged, it costs our clients more money and we don’t like that. It’s analogous to a game of chess. We like to play five-minute chess, not a four-hour game of chess. Unlike some attorneys who feed their families by being mired in long, protracted disputes and dragging the matter on, our firm abhors a lengthy conflict.

Lowering the temperature of disputes and avoiding court if at all possible.

Litigation is not like a Warriors or an A’s game when one side wins and one side loses. It can be a costly and harrowing endeavor. Our strong preference is to resolve a matter out of court by having a leveraged discussion with the tenant or their counsel.

Zealous advocacy in a difficult set of circumstances.

We are human and sometimes, it’s hard not to be empathetic to the other party, but as professionals, we remain steadfast in accomplishing the goal you hired us to do.

We are deeply committed to educating our community about a complicated regulatory regime.

Landlording is fraught with risks and small property owners are especially vulnerable to making costly mistakes that are not compliant with a minefield of new rules.

View our knowledge base with recently updated resources →

Read our library of articles →

View a handful of many webinars →

In the news: How our events empower rental property owners to understand regulations and make smart business decisions →

NEWSROOM
We raise the voice of rental housing providers

Although the political rhetoric nowadays falls squarely on the side of tenants, Bornstein Law offers a fresh perspective through the lens of underrepresented property owners. Numerous media outlets have called upon us to articulate your case.

IN THE MEDIA

Case studies

Our team of experienced lawyers shares a breadth of knowledge and expertise that make us well-suited for every kind of landlord-tenant matter. We mention but a few here,

Examples of success »

Our clients say it best.

Very helpful and on top of all pertinent laws and ordinances. My company and my clients have benefited greatly from Daniel and his team.

Paul Barbagelata

Daniel is a fantastic lawyer with a team of experts. Don’t try to handle tenant issues on your own, hire a pro. He has successfully fought on my behalf on multiple occasions. I would highly recommend him for most real estate issues

Bill Bagnell

We have been using Daniel Bornstein for a number of years, we’ve always been very satisfied. Daniel is very responsive and has always given us great advice. We own and manage over a 120 units is San Francisco, Bornstein Law is our go too Firm. Bill M

Basil Mufarreh

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. This honor is not a given, even for highly competent attorneys. Super Lawyers recognizes the top 5 percent of the lawyers in the state. Independent research and peer evaluations single out the cream of the crop in more than 70 practice areas.