Tenant Law
Tenant Rights are Human Rights
Contributors
SF Chron: Foreclosure Crisis Victimizes SF TenantsFriday, August 15, 2008
The Chronicle today published a good if somewhat belated piece documenting the fallout of the ongoing housing and foreclosure crisis on San Francisco and Bay Area renters. As we've been hearing for months, the banks foreclosing on properties and the agencies they hire to 'manage' the properties and prepare them for resale often have been neglecting and abusing the tenants in those properties, tenants who have done nothing wrong. These tenants have been subject to repeated aggressive demands to move out, and have sometimes had their utilities abruptly (and wrongfully) cut, leaving them in untenantable conditions, as the agents try to exert pressure on the tenants to leave the property vacant so it can sell higher and more easily.
As reported in the Chronicle, SF tenants' rights and protections are supposed to continue after their landlord's property has gone into foreclosure. However, tenants do not always understand their rights or the extent of their protection in these situations, and the banks and property agents are not always interested in learning (or following) the laws. Many are relatively new to the business of landlording -- especially in a strong rent- and eviction-control jurisdiction -- and their design for these properties is nothing more then to turn them over quickly for the highest price they can muster. The tenants are all too often disregarded, neglected, even harassed as they are seen more as an obstacle to the banks' bottom line rather than as humans with legitimate needs and rights in their homes.
Any S.F. tenant whose landlord has been foreclosed upon, and who is now being told or pressured to leave, or suffering from unilateral lease changes instituted by agents for the foreclosing banks -- stand up for your rights! Contact one of the supportive agencies (there are some links on the left side of this blog page) or a qualified attorney specializing in (and dedicated to) the needs and rights of tenants. Find out your options, and where possible you may be able to successfully fight off the bank, and maintain the quiet enjoyment of your home.
Our own Ken Greenstein was interviewed for the article, and was quoted therein. Excerpts appear below (follow this link to read the whole article):
The Chronicle today published a good if somewhat belated piece documenting the fallout of the ongoing housing and foreclosure crisis on San Francisco and Bay Area renters. As we've been hearing for months, the banks foreclosing on properties and the agencies they hire to 'manage' the properties and prepare them for resale often have been neglecting and abusing the tenants in those properties, tenants who have done nothing wrong. These tenants have been subject to repeated aggressive demands to move out, and have sometimes had their utilities abruptly (and wrongfully) cut, leaving them in untenantable conditions, as the agents try to exert pressure on the tenants to leave the property vacant so it can sell higher and more easily.
As reported in the Chronicle, SF tenants' rights and protections are supposed to continue after their landlord's property has gone into foreclosure. However, tenants do not always understand their rights or the extent of their protection in these situations, and the banks and property agents are not always interested in learning (or following) the laws. Many are relatively new to the business of landlording -- especially in a strong rent- and eviction-control jurisdiction -- and their design for these properties is nothing more then to turn them over quickly for the highest price they can muster. The tenants are all too often disregarded, neglected, even harassed as they are seen more as an obstacle to the banks' bottom line rather than as humans with legitimate needs and rights in their homes.
Any S.F. tenant whose landlord has been foreclosed upon, and who is now being told or pressured to leave, or suffering from unilateral lease changes instituted by agents for the foreclosing banks -- stand up for your rights! Contact one of the supportive agencies (there are some links on the left side of this blog page) or a qualified attorney specializing in (and dedicated to) the needs and rights of tenants. Find out your options, and where possible you may be able to successfully fight off the bank, and maintain the quiet enjoyment of your home.
Our own Ken Greenstein was interviewed for the article, and was quoted therein. Excerpts appear below (follow this link to read the whole article):
In early June, a handwritten note appeared on the front door of Bing Ling Zeng's San Francisco apartment, written in a language she couldn't understand.
"You will be needing to vacate this property soon," it said.
The following month, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. shut off the power. The food in the refrigerator spoiled, forcing Zeng to go out several times a day to buy groceries and milk for her three young children. Her 62-year-old mother-in-law couldn't recharge her electric wheelchair.
Zeng and the other Chinese family sharing the space hadn't fallen behind in their rent or bills. The only thing they did wrong was to lease an apartment from a landlord who fell into foreclosure, an unforeseeable mistake that hundreds are grappling with across San Francisco.
Tenants' groups around the city report a sharp rise in such cases, as lenders repossess growing numbers of local homes. Renters are being told to leave, are living in the dark or are receiving little response to their complaints as their homes fall into disrepair.
* * * * *
The issue was virtually unheard of a year ago. The San Francisco Tenants Union had to circulate a memo to its counselors earlier this year because few had ever encountered it before.
The exact number of tenants dealing with the aftermath of a landlord foreclosure is difficult to ascertain. Three tenants groups contacted by The Chronicle reported around 130 cases this year, but most counselors believe that many more tenants aren't contacting the organizations. What is known is that lenders foreclosed on 492 homes in San Francisco during the last year and a half, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
* * * * *
Unless tenants have stopped paying rent or otherwise have misbehaved, generally they can be forced out only when a new owner plans to demolish the property, has secured the necessary approvals to convert into it condominiums or plans to move in family members or him or herself, according to the city's rent ordinance. Even then, the owner typically must provide several months' notice and thousands of dollars in relocation costs.
In addition, new owners - a bank, a trustee or otherwise - generally become liable for the same obligations of the previous landlord, said Robert Collins, deputy director of the San Francisco Rent Board. That means that if the original lease said the landlord pays for electricity, as Zeng said was the case for her Excelsior apartment, the company that bought it is responsible now.
* * * * *
Even if the law is largely on the tenants' side in these circumstances, relaying the rights of tenants and responsibilities of landlords is a challenge, said Ken Greenstein, partner at San Francisco tenant law firm Greenstein and McDonald.
* * * * *
If a renter is harassed into leaving an apartment, or if he or she vacates without receiving the proper amount of notice or relocation money due under local regulations, that person could have a case to sue, Greenstein said. Likewise, when a new owner doesn't pay for or shuts off utilities, the tenant could have grounds to sue under the state civil code, he said.
But tenant protections do have their limits. While Zeng and her family probably can't be evicted by the current owner, she remains worried about what will happen when the building is sold again, as Medina says the company intends to do. The new owners may want to move in, which probably would allow them to begin legitimate eviction proceedings.
"It will be very difficult to find a place we can afford in San Francisco," Zeng said through a translator, adding that rents have increased and landlords often don't want to lease to families with children. "We're very scared that we won't be able to find a new place to live. It makes me very sad."
<< Home