legislative updateS
The SFAA is dedicated to keeping our members informed about new and proposed laws in San Francisco while fighting to protect the rights of rental property owners. Because San Francisco land use policy changes so often, it is nearly impossible for property owners to keep abreast of the new laws.
SFAA tracks new legislative activity and translates it into understandable and concise language.
Here are issues we're currently tracking. Select a link to learn more:
- Rent Board approves amendments to Section 12.20
Despite a large and lively rental housing owner and property management industry turnout on December 13, 2011, opposing the proposed amendments to Section 12.20 of the Rent Board Rules and Regulations, the Rent Board commissioners voted to approve the amendment by a vote of 3-2.
The amendment appears to be an anticipatory move to prevent the eviction of long-time, smoking residents who may have their apartments changed to smoke-free units when state law SB 332 goes into effect January 1, 2012.
The rental housing community and a few of the Rent Board commissioners contended that the proposed amendments were overly broad, and would prevent the imposition of reasonable house rules on existing tenancies.
Because of these potential ramifications to the broad amendments to Section 12.20, the Rent Board has calendared the amendment for further review at their January 31 meeting. The meeting will be at the Rent Board at 25 Van Ness Avenue in the Lower Level, Suite 70, and will begin at 6:30 pm.
Thank you to all the SFAA members who wrote the Rent Board Commissioners, volunteered their time and appeared to speak out against this amendment.
We hope to see you January 31.
To read about the amendments to Section 12.20, click here.
To read about SB 332, click here.
- November 2011 Election
SFAA has released its endorsements for the November 2011 election. Read our positions here. Our slate card recommendations are for members only.
Attention SFAA Members:
The election season is upon us! The San Francisco Apartment Association has released its endorsements for Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney and the ballot measures, and now is the time for SFAA members to become involved in the many important political races this fall.
This October 17th will be Candidate and Issue Night for SFAA members, and is an excellent opportunity to come out and meet the candidates, hear their side on important issues, and ask the questions that matter to you. If you are still undecided with whom you would like to support or if you would like to hear from the candidates in person on issues that affect housing providers, please come to our October member meeting.
In the coming weeks, the SFAA will be announcing fundraisers and events for our endorsed candidates for Mayor, District Attorney, and Sheriff. All positions are vital to our industry, and your presence and support is of the utmost importance.
Any contribution, whether it be financial or by volunteering your time, is extremely important and will support a more moderate political environment for San Francisco property owners. So please, stay tuned during this important election season, get involved in your favorite candidate’s campaigns, and be sure to come out to the SFAA’s Candidate Night October 17th at 6pm at Fort Mason.
Thank you all for your continued membership and support.
Sincerely,
Charley Goss
Government and Community Affairs
San Francisco Apartment Association**Slate card and endorsements are SFAA recommendations and are designated for SFAA members only. They can be found on the SFAA website at sfaa.org**
- Carbon monoxide regulations in 2011 and 2013
California’s Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention Act of 2010 requires that all residential property be equipped with a carbon monoxide detector when the property has a "fossil fuel" burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or an attached garage. The law provides that:
- All single-family homes, including individually-owned condominiums, (owner or tenant occupied) must be equipped with a detector on or before July 1, 2011.
- All other residential units must be equipped with a detector on or before January 1, 2013.
A carbon monoxide detector may be battery powered, a plug-in device with battery backup, or hard-wired into the dwelling unit with a battery backup.
“Fossil fuel” is defined as coal, kerosene, oil, wood, fuel gases, and other petroleum or hydrocarbon products, which emit carbon monoxide as a byproduct of combustion.
Get more details here. Read the carbon monoxide detector requirements for new construction and units undergoing alterations here. - SFAA helps pass Good Samaritan Law
SFAA was instrumental in crafting and supporting Supervisor Scott Weiner’s Good Samaritan Law, which was passed unanimously at the Board of Supervisors April 19th.
Under Supervisor Weiner’s legislation, in the event of an emergency which renders a unit uninhabitable, a building owner would be able to provide replacement housing at the tenant’s rent controlled rate for up to one year.
After one year, the legislation would allow the owner to raise the rent to market value should the tenant elect to stay in the replacement unit. With fires, landslides, and the possibility of earthquakes, this legislation is a great opportunity for our industry to build good will and help strengthen the resiliency of our city in case of emergency.
Read the San Francisco Rent Board's detailed Good Samaritan Tenancy Information for tenants who are displaced following an emergency.
Download our Good Samaritan Status Form and Lease Addendum. - SFAA puts the last nail in Daly's Prop M coffin
With the help of San Francisco Apartment Association members Round Hill Pacific, John Zanghi, Norm Larson, and the Coalition for Better Housing, SFAA wins the Prop M “Landlord Harassment” Appeal.
In a unanimous 39 page opinion, the Court of Appeal on Thursday, Feb. 24, struck down the major provisions of Proposition M in our appeal of Larson v. CCSF.
The decision:
- Strikes down the Prop M provisions granting the Rent Board the power to award rent reductions to tenants based on alleged landlord violations of the “anti-harassment” provisions of the law.
- Strikes down the Prop M provision that granted a tenant payment of their attorneys fees if they prevailed in an unlawful detainer action against a landlord (and if an action was settled or dismissed, as many evictions are).
- Strikes down the provision that forbids a landlord from offering payments to a tenant to vacate after the tenant has notified the landlord that he/she no longer wishes to receive such offers.
- Favorably construes the other two provisions that were challenged to be inapplicable to situations where a landlord simply asserts his/her legal rights, such as telling a tenant to vacate or the landlord will commence an unlawful detainer proceeding. Without this decision, a landlord would have been susceptible to harassment claims simply for asserting legal rights authorized by state law.
Thank you to our legal team and all of the SFAA members who helped in this victory by contributing to the SFAA Legal Fund. Without your contributions, a victory like this would not have been possible. - Victories for SFAA members in November election
San Francisco Apartment Association members scored some significant victories during the election cycle that ended in November 2010.
Not only is the Board of Supervisors shaping up to be more business-friendly, but SFAA’s political action committee won 10 of the 14 measures on which it took a position.
"We did very well," SFAA Executive Director Janan New told members at the November membership meeting. "On a good day, we could have five votes on the board and on a really good day, we might have six votes." Read more here.
- Amendments to Health Code as Recommended by SFAA and Partners
On Tuesday, November 16, 2010 the Board of Supervisors passed an amendment to the Health Code with a ten-to-zero final vote. Dr. Mitch Katz and Supervisor John Avalos authored the original legislation.
The original legislation was extremely punitive to rental housing providers. However, under the leadership of Mayor Gavin Newsom, Supervisor Elsbernd, Supervisor Chu, Supervisor Dufty and Supervisor Alioto-Pier, the San Francisco Apartment Association and its industry partners were able to obtain some very beneficial and worthy amendments. Read more here.
- Members of the San Francisco Apartment Association Reign Victorious!
Congratulations SFAA members!
After a long day of hearings and deliberations that ran late into the night, the Board of Supervisors voted July 20 on the proposed ballot measure to restructure the Rent Board. In a decisive 10-1 vote, the Supervisors agreed that the best option would be to continue the charter amendment, which guarantees that the measure will NOT be on the November 2010 ballot! Supervisor Daly was the sole member of the board to vote against the continuation. To all of our members who took the time to write, email, or call members of the Board of Supervisors to voice their opposition to this measure, your efforts have paid off! This is a significant victory for property owners in San Francisco and would not have been possible without your efforts. Passage of this measure would have swayed the Rent Board further towards the tenants, and would have been detrimental and extremely costly to rental owners. We are thrilled to have been able to stop the proposal!
Thank you to Supervisors Alioto-Pier, Elsbernd, Dufty, and Chu and Mayor Newsom for their unwavering opposition on this measure.
- Rent Board structure
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is placing a measure on the November 2010 ballot that will change the structure of the Rent Board and have severe consequences to our industry. Read more.
- Seismic retrofit of soft-story buildings
The City of San Francisco is working on a legislative proposal that would require rental housing owners to seismically retrofit certain soft story buildings. Learn more.
- Second-hand smoke
Current status: The San Francisco Health Code has been amended to expand protections from second-hand smoke. Get details here.