San Francisco Expands Eviction Controls To Cover Residential Units Constructed After June 13, 1979

Effective January 20, 2020, eviction controls under the San Francisco Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance (“Rent Ordinance”) apply to any residential units constructed after June 13, 1979, and any residential units that have undergone substantial rehabilitation.  The rent limitations and the eviction controls enumerated in the Rent Ordinance previously applied only to apartment buildings with a certificate of occupancy issued before June 13, 1979.  Under San Francisco Ordinance No. 296-19 (the “Haney Amendment”), the “just cause” eviction provisions in the Rent Ordinance now apply to all apartment buildings.

For eviction purposes, the rules that apply to these newly covered units are now identical to those for pre-1979 units, i.e., the landlord must pay relocation costs for certain types of “no-fault” evictions, a copy of Rent Board Form 1007 must be attached to the eviction notice, and where the landlord is temporarily evicting the tenant to perform capital improvement or rehabilitation work, the landlord must file a Petition for Extension of Time to Complete Capital Improvements if the landlord knows or should know that the work will require the removal of the tenant for more than three months. In addition, the buyout procedures contained in Ordinance Section 37.9E are now applicable to these units. 

Since newly constructed units and units that have undergone a substantial rehabilitation are now covered by San Francisco’s local eviction controls, these units are not covered by the less protective “just-cause” requirements of AB 1482 (the “California Tenant Protection Act of 2019”). Also note that some units remain exempt from San Francisco’s eviction controls regardless of when they were built, such as commercial units and certain units where rents are controlled or regulated by another government agency.

Amendments were made to Chapter 37A.1 of the San Francisco Administrative Code (the Rent Board Fee Ordinance), and the following sections of the Rent Ordinance: 37.2, 37.3, 37.9A, 37.9D, 37.10A, and 37.10B. A copy of the legislation is available here:

https://sfrb.org/sites/default/files/Document/What%27s%20New/Haney%20Amendments%201-20-20.pdf

The law firm of Wallace, Richardson, Sontag & Le, LLP represents landlords, property management companies, institutional and private lenders, employers and insurance companies throughout the State of California in real estate, business and employment litigation. The information provided herein is for general interest only and should not be relied upon or construed as legal advice.