In San Francisco’s official song, Tony Bennett sang the hymns of a charming city with little cab cars climbing halfway to the stars. Also in the cosmos: sky-high rents. High rents beget ever-expanding rent and eviction controls. 

As demand for rental housing in the city by the bay outpaces limited housing stock, politicians have put in place some of the most rigorous tenant protections anywhere. San Franciso's complicated regulatory regime is difficult to navigate for anyone but small mom-and-pop landlords who attempt to figure everything out on their own are especially vulnerable to litigation and liability when there are any missteps.

If subject to the ordinance, tenants can only be evicted for one of 16 "just causes" but we hasten to say that under a new ordinance, the calculus has changed in 3-day notices to cure or quit. Barring a threat to public health and safety, we must now give a 10-day warning period to the tenant who is engaging in conduct that is in breach of the lease. Think subletting without the landlord's permission, unauthorized pets, loud music at all hours and partying, among other transgressions.

The San Francisco Rent Board administers the Rent Ordinance and is omnipresent in just about every aspect of a rental relationship and is all too willing to air out grievances by tenants.

San Francisco has been a pioneer in providing free legal representation to tenants, making it imperative that the rules surrounding San Francisco rent and eviction controls are followed to the letter or there may be hell to pay. By tethering yourself to Bornstein Law you can avoid mistakes.

Should you encounter any disputes, contact the firm built for rental property owners.

 

Let's delve deeper

Annual allowable rent increases and banked rent increases ›

From our library of articles: Owners of San Francisco 'corporate rentals' and other Intermediate Length Occupancy units face a new regulatory regime ›

Download our guide to San Francisco Owner Move-In Evictions ›

Watch our webinar: A legal update for landlords and property managers, beginning with San Francisco ›

Overview of just cause reasons to evict in San Francisco ›

Rules related to San Francisco tenant buyout agreements ›

Selling a multi-family building? Familiarize yourself with San Francisco's Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) ›

New local eviction protections beginning July 1, 2022 ›

Read our article on the new requirement to give SF tenants a 10-day warning period to cure certain lease violations ›

 

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