Rent control on new construction
Updated January 28, 2010
Current status: On December 8, the Board of Supervisors voted 7-4 in favor of the Avalos Just Cause eviction legislation. On January 22, Mayor Gavin Newsom vetoed this legislation, and we have enough votes to uphold the Mayor’s veto. This means that the law WILL NOT go into effect.
Here is the letter from Mayor Newsom communicating his veto to the Board (pdf).
SFAA would like to thank Supervisors Carmen Chu, Sean Elsbernd, Michela Alioto-Pier, and Bevan Dufty for their support and Mayor Gavin Newsom for vetoing this measure. We also want to thank all of our members who wrote letters to the Board of Supervisor members and who came to the hearings and spoke against the legislation. All of your hard work has paid off.
Please read this article from the SF Chronicle.
On Monday, November 9, 2009, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee heard public comment on a proposal to extend the just cause eviction protection of the rent control ordinance to tenants residing in rental units built after June 13, 1979. This proposal has become known to our industry as “rent control on new construction.” The price controls of rent control will not apply.
Potential impact: Under this proposed law, you would no longer be able to use a “thirty day notice to vacate” to terminate a tenancy. You would only be able to reclaim a rental unit for one of the fifteen just causes for eviction listed on the rent board’s website: http://www.sfgov.org/site/rentboard_index.asp. Most owners subject to the rent control law pay attorney’s thousands of dollars to reclaim a rental unit.
Also, this law would have greatly impeded an owner's ability to move back into a condominium in the newly constructed projects, and many owners purchased these units believing they could always move in when they needed to.
Action to take: We asked that our members call, e-mail, fax and write the Board of Supervisors and Mayor expressing their opposition to this law change.
SFAA board member Andrew Long spoke against just cause evictions controls for new buildings (from KPFA story, Nov. 3):
If you have any questions please contact Lisa Fricke at lisa@sfaa.org or (415) 255-2288.
District 1
Eric Mar
(415) 554-7410
Fax: (415) 554-7415
Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org
District 2
Michela Alioto-Pier
(415) 554-7752
Fax: (415) 554-7843
Michela.Alioto-Pier@sfgov.org
District 3
David Chiu - Board President
(415) 554-7450
Fax: (415) 554-7454
David.Chiu@sfgov.org
District 4
Carmen Chu
(415) 554-7460
Fax: (415) 554-7432
Carmen.Chu@sfgov.org
District 5
Ross Mirkarimi
(415) 554-7630
Fax: (415) 554-7634
Ross.Mirkarimi@sfgov.org
District 6
Chris Daly
(415) 554-7970
Fax: (415) 554-7974
Chris.Daly@sfgov.org
District 7
Sean Elsbernd
(415) 554-6516
Fax: (415) 554-6546
Sean.Elsbernd@sfgov.org
District 8
Bevan Dufty
(415) 554-6968
Fax: (415) 554-6909
Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org
District 9
David Campos
(415) 554-5144
Fax: (415) 554-6255
David.Campos@sfgov.org
District 10
Sophie Maxwell
(415) 554-7670
Fax: (415) 554-7674
Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org
District 11
John Avalos
(415) 554-6975
Fax: (415) 554-6979
John.Avalos@sfgov.org
Mayor Gavin Newsom
(415) 554-6141
Fax: (415) 554-6160
gavin.newsom@sfgov.org