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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --
There may be a major change coming to the San Francisco law protecting
renters from eviction. One city supervisor has a controversial plan.
San Francisco is a tale of two cities when it comes to renters. Those
who live in old Victorians and other buildings built at least 30 years
ago and then everybody else.
Supervisor John Avalos says his proposal will level the playing field.
An estimated 60 to 65 percent of San Franciscans rent rather than own.
Those who live in buildings built before 1979 enjoy price controls and
anti-eviction protections.
Those protections, so-called "just
cause evictions," specify 15 reasons a landlord can kick out a tenant.
They include non-payment of rent, violation of the lease agreement and
owner move-ins. Tenants that live in newer buildings can be tossed out
basically at the whim of the landlord with a 30 or 60-day notice and no
reason given.
Myriam Zamora says many people she knows have been evicted that way.
"I don't know what is going to happen to me," she told ABC7.
Supervisor John Avalos wants one standard, covering basically all
340,000 rental units in the city. A hearing was held on his proposal
Monday.
"I think it just makes good public policy," he says.
He says it is also a way to protect people from foreclosures, but Janan
New, the head of the San Francisco Apartment Association, says the
Avalos proposal will discourage new apartment construction because the
anti-eviction protections are a burden for landlords.
She
says, "They are extremely costly and complex for owners. And, adding
another layer on how difficult it is to do business in San Francisco
anyway, is just something a developer is not going to want to deal
with."
The proposed measure does not extend rent control.
Landlords with newer buildings would still have the right to raise the
rent. Andrew Long, who owns rental property in the mission, says he
might just get out of the rental business.
"I think it is a horrible idea and it is going to backfire terribly on the City of San Francisco," he says.
There was so much debate Monday that another hearing will be held later this month before a vote is taken.
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