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Vote Yes on Prop M This November to Protect San Francisco Tenants From Harassment by LandlordsFriday, September 12, 2008
This November, not only will San Franciscans be voting for President of the United States, there are dozens of State and Local propositions which will be put to a vote. We will be covering some of these in greater detail as the election approaches.
But be aware already there is a great local measure, Prop M, which if passed will amend the San Francisco Rent Ordinance to allow tenants to petition the Board for rent decreases when they are being harassed by their landlords.
Many landlords in San Francisco regularly use harassing conduct to convince their rent-controlled tenants to give up their homes, thus avoiding the protracted, contentious, and expensive litigation which often comes with an eviction attempt under the Ordinance's "Just Cause" provisions. In addition, the "no fault" just causes under the Ordinance, such as removing the property from the rental market via the Ellis Act, often require landlords to provide time and money to the evicted tenant, and often have lasting negative effects on the value of the property where the evictions took place.
Because of this, some landlords are making regular tenant harassment a regular, even cost-efficient, method of conducting business. Tenants often have to endure such measures for years, carefully documenting them, until their damages build to such a point that they can have an attorney bring suit against the landlord in Civil Court. Many more simply move out of their homes from the frustration before it gets to that point.
This measure would allow tenants to petition the Rent Board when being harassed by their landlords, just as they can now petition the Board if their services are decreased or if their landlord improperly raises the rent. The Rent Board petition offers a quick and cheap method to obtain a rent deduction for the landlord's harmful and wrongful conduct. Should this measure pass and go into effect, the widespread use of tenant harassment as a landlord business practice could be curbed significantly.
Landlord interest groups are sure to fight hard against this measure politically (and have already started doing so) and will likely mount legal challenges to the measure even after it is passed. But the voters should make clear that widespread tenant harassment in San Francisco is unacceptable.
As the tenant union states in a flyer offered on its website:
This November, not only will San Franciscans be voting for President of the United States, there are dozens of State and Local propositions which will be put to a vote. We will be covering some of these in greater detail as the election approaches.
But be aware already there is a great local measure, Prop M, which if passed will amend the San Francisco Rent Ordinance to allow tenants to petition the Board for rent decreases when they are being harassed by their landlords.
Many landlords in San Francisco regularly use harassing conduct to convince their rent-controlled tenants to give up their homes, thus avoiding the protracted, contentious, and expensive litigation which often comes with an eviction attempt under the Ordinance's "Just Cause" provisions. In addition, the "no fault" just causes under the Ordinance, such as removing the property from the rental market via the Ellis Act, often require landlords to provide time and money to the evicted tenant, and often have lasting negative effects on the value of the property where the evictions took place.
Because of this, some landlords are making regular tenant harassment a regular, even cost-efficient, method of conducting business. Tenants often have to endure such measures for years, carefully documenting them, until their damages build to such a point that they can have an attorney bring suit against the landlord in Civil Court. Many more simply move out of their homes from the frustration before it gets to that point.
This measure would allow tenants to petition the Rent Board when being harassed by their landlords, just as they can now petition the Board if their services are decreased or if their landlord improperly raises the rent. The Rent Board petition offers a quick and cheap method to obtain a rent deduction for the landlord's harmful and wrongful conduct. Should this measure pass and go into effect, the widespread use of tenant harassment as a landlord business practice could be curbed significantly.
Landlord interest groups are sure to fight hard against this measure politically (and have already started doing so) and will likely mount legal challenges to the measure even after it is passed. But the voters should make clear that widespread tenant harassment in San Francisco is unacceptable.
As the tenant union states in a flyer offered on its website:
Actions like threatening tenants with physical harm, starting repairs but never finishing them, demanding private information like citizenship status or Social Security numbers, illegally entering the tenants’ apartment, or failing to accept rent from tenants will all be defined as harassment and prohibited by our rent control law. Proposition M will also help tenant fight off serial, bogus eviction notices by making sure tenants get attorneys fees whenever a landlord issues bogus eviction notices.We will follow the political progress of this and other important State and Local measures as the election approaches. Stay tuned!
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