22Jan
PROTECTING YOUR RENT CONTROLLED APARTMENT
With rents in San Francisco among the highest in the country, rent controlled units have become a particularly precious commodity. As a result, landlords are finding new and creative ways to evict long term tenants as a means to collect higher rents. One of the ways landlords are attacking tenants is by bringing evictions based on breach of contract, or breach of the lease terms.
To protect your tenancy, I encourage anyone with a rent controlled apartment to be cautious before inviting a roommate or significant to move in.
Here are three important tips to consider before asking someone to move in.
1. Permissive v. Prohibitive Lease Language
It may seem like once you have signed your lease, your apartment/ house is yours to do what you want with. However, before you decide to rent out that extra room or ask your significant other to move in with you, be sure to review the terms of your lease. When you create a rental relationship with a new roommate, you are creating a "subtenancy." Many leases include language restricting subletting altogether. The San Francisco Rent Ordinance (SF Administrative Code, Chapter 37) dictates that landlords cannot prohibit tenants from replacing an existing roommate on a one for one basis. However, if you've never had a roommate and your lease provides for no subletting, then you better get permission before moving someone in.
The other provision seen in many leases requires that any new roommate be approved by the landlord before moving in. In these situations your landlord can insist that your prospective roommate fill out a rental application and/or meet certain requirements, up to and including requirements for income or credit score. The other thing to keep in mind is that your lease may contain language as to the number of people entitled to live in the unit. If you are increasing the total number of occupants be sure to check both your lease and the Rent Ordinance to be sure you aren't in violation, as failure to abide by the terms of the law or agreement may provide grounds for eviction.
2. Confirm with Your Landlord
After you've looked at your lease and determined whether you can sublet and/or if you need your landlord's permission, contact your landlord. The key is that you don't want to give them an excuse to come after you. If you are required to get their approval, do it. If you're afraid that your landlord won't grant your new roommate permission, don't worry, pursuant to the SF Rules and Regulations, your landlord cannot "unreasonably" withhold their consent. If your landlord requires that your new roommate fill out an application, be sure to submit one. If your landlord fails to respond to your request / to the application, they can potentially lose their right to object to the candidate altogether. However, before you up and move someone in, play it safe and check with the Tenants Union, the Rent Board, or our offices.
3. Always Get Consent in Writing
Always, always, always put it in writing. Seems simple, but all too often disaster could have been avoided by getting your landlord's consent in writing. Your lease says no roommates but your landlord says that it's okay? Great, get it in writing. Your landlord requires a rental application from your prospective roommate and approves it? Get it in writing. If it's not in writing then it's harder to prove if something goes wrong. If you don't have something in writing then it's your word against theirs. Spending a few minutes drafting an agreement or insisting that your landlord spell out their consent in a writing could end up saving you thousands of dollars and countless hours of your time.
Your tenancy is valuable. Don't give your landlord an opportunity to take it away from you.
Recovered on behalf of a group of 30 tenants living in an SRO in San Francisco who were living with horrendous conditions in their rent controlled apartments, including rodents, bedbugs, mold, water leaks and harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of three families living in a building in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood who were forced to live with substandard conditions for years as a result of their landlord’s negligence, including issues with lack of heat, lack of hot water and cockroach/rat infestations.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a couple living in a rent-controlled home in the outer Sunset neighborhood. Our clients were forced to vacate after the landlord served them with an Owner Move-In Eviction Notice. After the landlords failed to move into the property, our clients filed suit for wrongful eviction.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant in Russian Hill. Tenant was forced to vacate her illegal apartment in retaliation for reporting unlawful rent increases to the San Francisco Rent Board.Read More
Recovered for a single long-term tenant in San Francisco. Our client was forced to move out of his apartment as a result of extreme landlord harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of three long-term tenants in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood who were constructively evicted due to noise and nuisance conditions created by their downstairs neighbors, which the owner refused to address.Read More
Recovered on behalf of elderly, disabled tenant who was forced to move out of her rent-controlled San Francisco apartment of 50 years after landlord/owner failed to resolve numerous building code violations that remained outstanding for over a decade.Read More
Recovered on behalf of seven tenants living in a makeshift boarding house in East Palo Alto.Read More
Recovered on behalf of two former San Francisco tenants who were evicted via an Owner Move-In Eviction and owner failed to occupy the unit as her primary place of residence.Read More
Recovered on behalf of an elderly long-term tenant who was forced to vacate her long San Francisco apartment as a result of her landlord’s refusal to address longstanding defective conditions, including lack of heat, mold, rodent infestations, and defective plumbing. Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant who was forced to vacate his home as a result of ongoing, disruptive construction and the owners’ refusal to provide him with alternative housing. Read More
Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco family that was constructively evicted from their home in the Richmond District as a result of unlawful rent increases, defective conditions and tenant harassment.Read More
Recovered on behalf of a tenant living in an illegal “in-law” unit. In this case, a new owner purchased the building and then demolished our client’s unit without permits while she was displaced for seismic retrofitting.Read More
Recovered on behalf of two long term San Francisco tenants who were fraudulently evicted from their home of over twenty years under the pretext of an owner move-in eviction.Read More
Recovered for tenant who was injured when their stairway railing collapsed at the tenant’s Mission District apartment building.Read More
Recovered in action for a group of tenants forced to vacate their San Francisco apartment house due to severe habitability defects including mold and water leaks.Read More
For more information or to discuss your legal situation, call us today at (415) 649-6203 for a phone consultation or submit an inquiry below. Please note our firm can only assist tenants residing in San Francisco, Oakland & Berkeley.