Recycle it!
by Judi Connor
We all know that moving can be a harrowing experience. San Francisco landlords, however, can make the transition more comfortable for new tenants by providing a welcome packet of important information that lists emergency contacts, recycling rules and policies for specific apartments. A comprehensive packet like this can help minimize confusion, cut down calls to property managers, increase recycling participation and make tenants’ lives easier.
Top 10 List
1] Welcome Letter
Prepare a short letter that welcomes new tenants and includes the resident manager’s telephone number and hours.
2] Landlord/Tenant Matters
Provide a copy of the lease, maintenance request form, apartment rules, address and dates to send rent payments, late rent policies, move-in and move-out forms and any details regarding the use of items in the unit. Make sure the tenant knows the location of the smoke alarm and how it works, as well as any other pertinent safety information.
3] Parking Stickers/Regulations
Include an explanation of how to obtain a residential parking permit for street parking and information on street cleaning restrictions in the neighborhood. With 134 different parking fines in San Francisco, your new tenant will greatly appreciate any advice on parking regulations. To qualify for a $27 residential parking permit, your tenant will need to present two proofs of residency in the permit area: (A) a valid California vehicle registration in the tenant’s name at an address located in the permit area; and (B) a lease, utility bill or bank statement. To obtain further information about residential parking, contact the Residential Permit Parking Office, 1380 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, or call them at 415-503-2020.
Pete Perez, a San Francisco tenant, wished that “someone had provided some information on street parking” when he first arrived here. “It was an expensive learning experience, and new renters are typically strapped for cash.”
Michael Michaud, owner of the property management company Michaud & Associates in San Francisco, explains that “yellow zones can be tricky—people with small pickup trucks or SUVs may consider their vehicles trucks, but in reality you have to have commercial plates to park in a yellow zone, and you’ll get towed if you don’t.” He adds that “it’s a courtesy-type thing to raise tenants’ awareness of city issues, since people relocate from all over and may not understand this.”
One way to indoctrinate your new tenants to the rules of the road here is to give them an abbreviated version of Maybe You Can Park Your Car: Four-Wheel Street Hockey in San Francisco. The book educates readers on the pitfalls of parking and how to keep cars ticket-free in the city. The author, Terry F. Meany, a regular columnist for the San Francisco Apartment Magazine, can supply owners with a master copy of the abbreviated version for use in tenant welcome packets. The cost is $25 for the reusable master copy, or $12 for the book (shipping and handling are not included). To order, please contact Meany at tfmeany@msn.com.
4] Utility Phone Numbers
Natural gas and electric: PG&E: 800-743-5000
Water: 415-551-3000
Waste Disposal: 415-330-1300 or 415-626-4000
California Public Utilities Commission: 800-649-7570 or www.cpuc.ca.gov.
5] Garbage, Recycling Regulations & Tips
Enclose an explanation of San Francisco’s recycling program with color-coded carts for curbside pickup (blue for paper, bottles and cans; green for food scraps, soiled paper products and plant trimmings; black for trash). Include cardboard recycling tips such as cutting cardboard into small pieces, so it fits easily into the blue recycling carts. For further waste and recycling information, tenants can also contact San Francisco’s Department of the Environment at 415-355-3700 or www.sfenvironment.org.
The self-imposed city environmental initiative, approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2002, is intended to help San Francisco reach a recycling goal of 75 percent. Currently, the city has reached 63 percent recycling, which has surpassed the state mandated 50 percent recycling goal.
Bob Besso, recycling program manager at Norcal Waste Systems Inc.
in San Francisco, explains that “in apartment buildings, there are
several challenges to getting recycling participation levels up.” He has found that it is never easy for his business to get the information to individual tenants, for “many buildings simply have garbage chutes down to the basement, so tenants never even see the recycling carts.” He notices that what makes “a huge difference is having a resident ‘champion’ who can take control or shepherd the rest of the tenants into doing the right thing by passing out recycling flyers, et cetera.”
6] Renters’ Insurance
Make sure to provide both an explanation that tenants’ belongings are not insured under the building policy and a recommendation for the tenant to purchase renters’ insurance. Also a list of insurance companies offering renters’ insurance is helpful.
7] Transit Map, City CarShare and Fast Pass Sale Locations
Add information on City CarShare, a nonprofit program that allows San Franciscans to share cars at very low costs. Vehicle locations are sprinkled throughout the city and are generally found in populated neighborhoods, near apartment buildings. Owners can easily include a City CarShare brochure in& their tenant welcome packets or help their tenants with the $10/month membership fee. For more information, visit www.citycarshare.org or call 415-995-8588. Also, tenants can obtain monthly adult MUNI fast passes, currently $45, at sale locations in every San Francisco neighborhood. Call them at 415-673-6864 or check their Web site at www.sfmuni.com for sales location and transit information.
Another source of transportation is Caltrain. To obtain more information, contact them at 800-660-4287 or at www.caltrain.com.
Also, include information about Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). Contact BART at 415-989-2278 or www.bart.gov.
8] Emergency Information
You must provide an evacuation plan for emergencies, explanation of how to shut off the gas valve and any other relevant emergency information. Include the following emergency and city department phone numbers in your packet:
Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT): 415-558-3456
Office of Emergency Services: 415-558-2700
San Francisco Police Department: 415-553-0123 (nonemergency)
San Francisco Fire Department: 415-558-3200
Office of Citizen Complaints: 415-597-7711
Crime Stoppers (to report an anonymous tip): 415-553-9755
San Francisco Emergency Medical Services: 415-355-2600
Immediate Assistance for medical, fire or police: 911
9] Required Lead-Paint Notice
The Lead Disclosure Rule requires that individuals receive specific information before renting, buying or renovating pre-1978 housing. For more information, call The National Lead Information Center at 800-424-5323 or visit www.epa.gov/lead/leadpdfe.pdf. The city of San Francisco also requires its own lead disclosure notice. The PPMA Residential Tenancy Agreement, the most comprehensive lease agreement for San Francisco rental properties, contains both the local and federal lead-disclosure requirement language. Both the PPMA Lease and EPA’s Lead Disclosure Form are available for purchase from the San Francisco Apartment Association.
10] Other Useful Information
Tenants will also appreciate the inclusion of the following local neighborhood information in the packet:
• take-out menus and coupons from local restaurants and businesses;
• recommendations for hardware stores; and
• addresses of local dry cleaners and laundry facilities.
“Helping new tenants with the small details—anything that helps lessen the frustration of what can be a traumatic experience anyway—is a nice courtesy, and it creates a good initial relationship,” according to property manager Michaud.
opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of SFAA or the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. Judi Connor is a freelance writer based in San Francisco. For more information about recycling, call Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company, 415-626-4000, or Sunset Scavenger Company, 415-330-1300, and ask to speak to a recycling coordinator. Copyright © 2005 by the San Francisco Apartment Magazine. All rights reserved.