Pay the Piper
Many landlords have received a notice from the Department of Public Health regarding a “Vector Control and Healthy Housing Program Fee.” SFAA has received numerous calls asking exactly what this is and whether or not it needs to be paid.
This legislation had been pending at city hall for a few years and was finally passed by the Mayor’s Office and San Francisco Board of Supervisors in July 2008 to support the budget of the housing inspectors at the Department of Public Health. The inspections by the Health Department will focus on lead, asbestos, vector control and other health-related issues. SFAA is working with the Health Department now to develop a more thorough set of standards and communicate them to you.
The program is an inspection program of all apartment buildings of three or more units. Health inspectors will be coming to conduct inspections of all common areas, building exteriors and garbage areas looking for minimal sanitation requirements and pests. If problems are found, there will be additional inspections and a per-hour fee for the inspectors.
Unfortunately, these fees may not be passed on to your residents and they must be paid. If you do not pay them in a timely manner, it may cost more in the long run. SFAA will continue to work hard on your behalf to keep fees and charges to a minimum during these difficult financial times. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact Government and Community Affairs Manager Lisa Fricke at lisa@sfaa.org.
New Soft-Story Safety Threat
Evidence is mounting that soft-story buildings are particularly prone to collapse during an earthquake. The nonprofit Applied Technologies Council released a new study which says that 2,800 soft-story wooden homes and apartment buildings in San Francisco could suffer major damage in a magnitude 7.2 earthquake because structures that are three stories or taller built over a garage or retail space could pancake on top of the first floor.
As many as 80% of the soft-story buildings would suffer major damage and 20% could collapse, trapping or killing those inside. The report also said that almost 60,000 residents live in such buildings and another 7,000 work in them.
The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection has been considering a mandate to require property owners to shore up such buildings at a cost of as much as $120,000 per building. It remains to be seen how this report will affect those considerations.
The Foreclosure Files
Though foreclosures have not hit San Francisco as hard as other parts of the Bay Area, the numbers are high enough that San Francisco Assessor Phil Ting has begun sending letters to tenants living in properties where a notice of default has been issued. The letters tell renters that foreclosure is not a just cause for eviction and that they should call the San Francisco Housing Rights Committee for more information. The number of tenants affected because their landlords are facing foreclosure is still small, just 75 in 2008, up from 8 in 2007 and zero in 2006. However, about 25% of San Francisco homes that have defaulted on their mortgages are rentals.
Read All About It
There are new rules for contractors who renovate or repair multifamily and other housing built before 1978. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has revised its Lead-Based Paint Pre-Renovation Education regulations to change the brochure that apartment community owners must provide residents any time the owner undertakes repairs or renovations in pre-1978 housing that may disturb more than two square feet of paint. The new brochure can be downloaded from the CAA website, www.caanet.org.
Is SF’s Billboard Law Illegal?
Two recent court cases in Los Angeles cast doubt on the legality of Proposition G, San Francisco’s 2002 ballot measure banning new billboards on private property. In 2007, the San Francisco Planning Department inventoried all of the city’s billboards and began issuing violation notices to billboard companies and property owners for signs erected after 2002 or in violation of other city codes. So far, a three-person enforcement team has located more than 250 illegal billboards and sought fines against the company owners and landlords, totaling about $1.5 million.
But two cases recently argued in the United States District Court in Los Angeles strengthen the argument that many pro-billboard lobbyists had made: the city is restricting freedom of speech when it limits billboards on private property while simultaneously allowing advertising on city-owned property, like bus shelters. In both cases, which at press time were pending at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the district courts ruled that restrictions on billboards are not enforceable because they violate the Constitution. In one case, the court ruled that Los Angeles created a double standard by restricting private advertising signs while simultaneously selling ad space on public places—a seeming direct parallel to the San Francisco billboard conundrum.
Despite the rulings, the Planning Department is still identifying noncomforming billboards. When the city identifies such
a billboard, it issues a violation notice to the sign company and property owner, and gives them several weeks to remove the sign or resolve permit problems or code infractions.
If owners don’t respond in the time allotted, fines ranging from $100 a day to $2,500 per day can be imposed, depending on the size of the sign. Owners can challenge the violation before an administrative law judge. But if they lose the appeal and the billboard in question has remained up during the appeal process, they can be charged anywhere from $2,000 to $50,000, depending on the size of the sign.
Sign Up Now for CCRM
Are you ready to take the next step in your property management career? Then sign up for the California Certified Residential Manager series of courses. The series provides overall training in management, particularly in regard to the laws and regulations in California. Classes include “Preparing the Property for Market,” “Resident Issues and Ending the Tenancy” and “Ethics and Property Management.” For members, each class is $80 or $690 for the entire series, which begins April 16 and ends with a final exam on June 28. When you complete the series and pass the exam, you will have CCRM designation, which will help you stand apart as a knowledgeable asset to owners, management companies, residents and the community.
You can find the CCRM registration form on page 60 of this magazine. For more information on CCRM, contact Education and Events Director Vanessa Khaleel at 415-255-2288 or vanessa@sfaa.org.