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Short Term Rentals

Renting out a bedroom or your apartment on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and VRBO could put your tenancy at risk. There are many guidelines for short-term rentals, and our dedicated tenant attorneys may be able to help you determine your options. Reach out to our team at Wolford Wayne today to schedule your consultation with a San Francisco short-term rentals lawyer.

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Short Term Rental Guidelines

In the past several years there have been significant changes to the laws related to short-term rentals here in San Francisco, and the issue remains highly controversial and difficult to understand without help from an attorney. Many tenant advocacy groups contend that services like Airbnb reduce the amount of available housing stock in the city, further squeezing an already tight housing market.

50+

years of experience in representing tenants.

Learn More About Short-Term Rentals By Contacting a San Francisco Lawyer

Currently, hosts can rent out all or a portion of their home to guests on a short-term basis under the following guidelines:

  • Host must register with the San Francisco Treasurer & Tax Collector as a business.
  • Host must apply for and obtain a certificate from the Office of Short-term Rentals. This certificate must be posted on all listed ads.
  • Hosts can rent out their entire unit/conduct “unhosted” rentals for a maximum of 90 nights per year.
  • Hosts MUST reside in the listed unit at least 275 nights per year. This means that owners can’t opt to rent out a unit full-time on a short-term basis / run a would-be hotel.

For tenants, our San Francisco short-term rental lawyers do not advise renting out your apartment or a room on a short-term basis.

Most leases prohibit subletting without a landlord’s permission and prohibit a tenant from using the space for a commercial purpose. Arguably renting on Airbnb violates both of these provisions. If you are going to rent on Airbnb be sure to register with the city and get your landlord’s permission in writing to avoid putting your tenancy in jeopardy.

For more information see the Office of Short-Term Rentals site: https://shorttermrentals.sfgov.org/ or contact our team today.

$2 Million

Recovered on behalf of a South Bay Family after an apartment fire caused severe burns to a minor due to the lack of fire safety equipment.

$ 1.56 Million

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.

$1.3 Million

Recovered on behalf of a group of tenants living in an SRO in San Francisco dealing with negligent management, pest infestations and poor living conditions.

$1 Million

Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco family who were forced out of their long term home due to toxic mold and bad living conditions.

$ 850,000

Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant who suffered personal injuries and was forced to vacate his home of fifteen years after dealing with many months of environmental contamination and disruptive and nuisance construction conditions.

$ 800,000

Recovered on behalf of an Oakland tenant who suffered a serious injury due to her landlord’s negligent maintenance of her home.

$ 750,000

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.

$ 700,000

Recovered for a long-term tenant in San Francisco. Our client was forced to move out of his apartment as a result of extreme landlord harassment.

$ 575,000

Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco couple who were forced to give up their home of over twenty years after their landlord’s dog attacked and killed their dog.

$ 575,000

Recovered on behalf of an elderly, disabled San Francisco tenant who was forced to move out of her rent-controlled San Francisco apartment of 50 years after the landlord/owner failed to resolve numerous building code violations that remained outstanding for over a decade.

$ 560,000

Recovered on behalf of two San Francisco tenants who were wrongfully evicted via a fraudulent owner move-in eviction where the owner failed to occupy the property as their principal place of residence.

$ 550,000

Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant who was forced to vacate his home as a result of ongoing, disruptive construction and the owner’s refusal to provide him with alternative housing.

$ 525,000

Recovered on behalf of a tenant living in an illegal unit who was wrongfully evicted. Our client was forced to vacate under false pretenses while her landlord undertook supposedly necessary construction and then was never allowed to return.

$ 450,000

Recovered for a San Francisco tenant who was injured when her stairway railing collapsed.

$ 450,000

Recovered in action for a group of tenants forced to vacate their San Francisco apartment due to severe habitability defects, including mold and water leaks.

$ 395,000

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.

$ 375,000

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.

$ 375,000

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.

$ 325,000

Recovered on behalf of seven tenants living in a makeshift boarding house in East Palo Alto.

$ 300,000

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.

$ 300,000

Recovered on behalf of a San Francisco tenant in Russian Hill. The tenant was forced to vacate her illegal apartment in retaliation for reporting unlawful rent increases to the San Francisco Rent Board. Our client was forced to vacate after her landlord served our client with a series of eviction notices and told her the apartment was unsafe to live in.

$ 300,000

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.

Awards & Associations

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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 the Bay Area.