17Sep
I speak with a lot of tenants on a day-to-day basis. Many of the tenants I speak to have been displaced or had their personal property damaged or destroyed as a result of fires, flooding, or ongoing repair work. Inevitably I always ask them is “Do you have renters insurance?” Why? Because while your losses may form the basis for a lawsuit, you may not see any money for a year or more, and the consequences can be dire. In this months edition I address the importance of having renters insurance for San Francisco tenants.
Loss of Use / Relocation Assistance
If your building catches fire or floods there’s a good chance you’re going to have to move out – at least temporarily – and that you’re going to have to fork out some money for a hotel, clothes, food, toiletries etc. While depending on what caused the displacement your landlord may ultimately be on the hook for your damages, lawsuits can take a year or more to resolve, which doesn’t do much for you when you need a place to sleep or a change of clothes. If you live in San Francisco or Oakland you know that finding a place to live on short notice is no easy task. If you have to move into another apartment or stay in a hotel while your place is getting fixed up how will you pay for it? Most renters insurance policies include relocation assistance which can be absolutely crucial if you find yourself out of a home and no place to go. Different policies provide different limits on relocation assistance, so be sure to look into the options when considering which one to go with.
Your landlord may not be on the hook for damages
Renters insurance also provides coverage for personal property theft, damage or loss depending on your policy. So if someone breaks into your place or a flood or fire destroys your belongings your items will be covered. Again the amount of coverage you get depends on the policy so make sure you match the coverage to the value of your stuff. Not only that, most insurance will cover your personal belongings (bikes etc.) in the event of theft even if it’s not taken from your home.
Your insurance company has a duty to fight for your interests, your landlord does not
While it may be clear that an incident that causes you to have to relocate or damages your property was your landlord’s fault, getting them to own up to it and compensate you is not always easy. (For you landlords out there: I’m not picking on you – that goes for everyone when things go wrong, not just you). Being right isn’t always enough; sometimes you have to hire an attorney or go to small claims court to get reimbursed for your losses, which can take time and money. To some degree a lawsuit may be unavoidable, but a good insurance company will go to bat for you and help hold your landlord accountable, rather than leaving you to go it alone.
It’s just too cheap not to have
In the end renter’s insurance isn’t a magic cure all, but given how affordable it is and how potentially devastating losing your home to a disaster can be, it is a no brainer. Renter’s insurance runs around $12 – $20 a month and most insurance companies have policies where you can easily add it on with your existing insurance which can lower your policy costs. That’s a few hundred dollars a year to save you thousands. In a place like San Francisco where housing is hard to come by renter’s insurance might just be the difference between chasing the dream and moving back to mom’s couch
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.