27Jan
During the pandemic, San Francisco renters are protected from evictions by temporary tenant protections, including eviction moratoriums. These protections are in place to help people stay in their homes and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Although landlords are prohibited from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent and "no fault" reasons, in most cases, there are landlords who continue to violate the law by wrongfully evicting tenants, that is forcing them to move without going through the legal eviction process. Put differently, wrongful evictions are still happening in the Bay Area.
To evict a tenant under normal circumstances a landlord would have to have a “just cause” to evict, serve a tenant with an eviction notice and then go through an eviction lawsuit. With most evictions on hold, some landlords continue to evade the law to get tenants out of their units via illegal tactics, such as self-help evictions and illegal lockouts. A wrongful eviction occurs when a landlord forces a tenant to move out without going through the formal, legal eviction process. Examples include telling a tenant to move out, changing the locks on a tenant’s home, or shutting off a tenant’s utilities/electricity.
The state of California passed the Tenant Relief Act in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020. The Tenant Relief Act is a temporary state law intended to help tenants who have trouble paying rent because of financial difficulties. It is considered a quick fix and further legislation is expected in 2021. AB 1088 increased the penalties for landlords who engage in illegal lockouts, retaliation, and harassment and extended “just cause” protections to apply to all evictions until February 1, 2021. For more about statewide “just cause” protections take a look at the Tenant Protection Act of 2019.
The Tenant Relief Actof 2020 also sets out certain rights and responsibilities for landlords and tenants, including that:
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed their own rules regarding evictions during COVID-19, including a permanent protection for tenants from eviction for non-payment of rent that was unpaid due to COVID-19 if the rent was due between March 16, 2020 and September 30, 2020. The Board also passed an ordinance, Ord. No. 216-20, which bans evictions prior to April 1, 2021, unless the eviction is based on the non-payment of rent, the Ellis Act, or evictions based on violence related issues or health and safety.
If your landlord forces you to move out you in violation of this ordinance, then you may be entitled to damages or you may use the protections of this as an affirmative defense if your landlord evicts you based on nonpayment of rent due to COVID-19 related reasons.
With the on-going pandemic, it's more important than ever to protect your housing rights. If you believe that you're a victim of a wrongful eviction or are having other issues with your landlord, don't hesitate to reach out to an experienced Bay Area tenants rights attorney. Contact us today at Wolford Wayne for immediate help with your housing issues.
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.