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The Ellis Act

The Ellis Act is a state law (Government Code Section 7060 et. seq.) designed to allow landlords to get “out of the rental business.” In order for Ellis evictions to be approved, landlords must remove all units within a building from the rental market for five years. It cannot be applied to just a single unit.

In San Francisco, the Ellis Act is listed as one of the enumerated “just causes” for eviction. To learn whether your eviction was legal, schedule a consultation with a San Francisco Ellic Act eviction lawyer. Our dedicated wrongful eviction attorneys may be able to help you take action if your landlord violates your rights.

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What is The Ellis Act?

The Ellis Act provides landlords with a means to remove a property from the rental market altogether and terminate the tenancies of all current tenants.

Ellis evictions can be costly and time-consuming for landlords and are often used as a threat in buyout negotiations. However, as rents and property values go up, so do Ellis Evictions. Statistics show that the highest frequency of Ellis evictions occurs within the first few years after a new owner has purchased the property (see Anti-Eviction Mapping Project for more information). For more information on Ellis Act evictions, contact our San Francisco attorneys.

50+

years of experience in representing tenants.

Ellis Act Basics

  • 120 day written notice for an Ellis Act eviction (San Francisco)
  • Triggers entitlement to relocation payments under 37.9C of the San Francisco Rent Ordinance
  • Half of the relocation payments are to be paid upfront.
  • Disabled and senior tenants entitled to 1 year before they are obligated to vacate (but have to notify landlord)
  • The Ellis notice must be filed with the Rent Board and is recorded on the deed for the property
  • 120 days (or 1 yr if senior / disabled) the building is considered legally removed from the rental market.
  • Once the property has been withdrawn from the rental market landlord can initiate the eviction process.
  • Within 30 days of vacating tenants must notify the landlord of their new address and desire to re-rent their unit if the property is rented again.
  • Landlord is obligated to allow outgoing tenant to re-rent their unit at the same rent if the unit is offered for rent again in the five years following eviction.
  • If landlord rents out the unit/s to anyone within five years, they are restricted from renting it out at anything above what the last tenant was paying in rent (plus allowable increases)
    Re-rental restrictions are binding on current and future owners.

Contact a Lawyer in San Francisco to Discuss Ellis Act Evictions

If you are unsure whether your eviction was lawful, schedule a consultation with our San Francisco Ellis Act eviction lawyers. Our team at Wolford Wayne LLP is eager to support you throughout the legal process.

$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.