The public comment bell rang throughout Monday’s Land Use Committee meeting as tenant rights advocates and property owners stated their case for or against expanding just cause protection laws to housing units built after 1979.
In his raspy voice, Supervisor John Avalos
outlined his reasons for bringing the new measure to the table: the
economic crisis and increased foreclosures, and the discrepancy in just
cause eviction protections between tenants who live in pre-1979
buildings and those who live in post-1979 buildings.
“It’s nothing radical,” he said, making sure to highlight that the proposal would not extend rent control.
To underscore the latter, Delene Wolf, executive director of the Rent Board,
said that a landlord would still have the right to raise rent under the
new proposal. State law prohibits rent increase protections in all
post-1979 buildings.
“The intention is not to prevent an industry from being able to
blossom,” said Supervisor Avalos, trying to put landlords at ease.
But as far as the property owners were concerned, the new measure would do just that.
“Enough is enough,” said property owner David Ficks. “I was an excellent landlord but you drove me out.”
Ficks argued that the proposed eviction restrictions would leave
units vacant or become owner-occupied units rather than rental units.
The incentives for owners to keep rental properties would diminish.
From above her glasses, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell
surveyed the packed room as it exploded in applause. “We’ll have none
of that,” she said, and asked those in attendance for restraint.
Sara Shortt from the Housing Rights Committee
stepped to the podium and pointed out that many developers who intended
to sell condos now have to rent them out because of the economic
downturn. There are close to 10,000 new rental units on the market, she
said.
“There’s a bigger universe of renters,” argued Shortt, who added
that many post-1979 properties have been foreclosed, have become
bank-owned, and that banks automatically evict tenants. “It’s their
habit,” she said.
Planning Commissioner Christina Olague also came out in support of tenants.
“We’re here because we’re the ones sitting on the other side of the
phone,” she said. Tenants who are evicted have a difficult time as it
is moving from one rental unit to another at a comparable cost.
“This is not such a big deal,” she said, echoing Supervisor Avalos’ sentiments.
Small property owners, however, were quick to subtract themselves from the equation.
“If the problem is eviction by lenders, deal with banks, not small
landlords,” said Lena Emmory, a small property owner who feels that
landlords have been stripped of all of their property rights. “If you
have tenants you can’t evict, your rights are being infringed upon.”
The law that now covers apartments built before 1979 requires
landlords to give one of 15 reasons to evict a tenant. The Avalos
proposal would extend those same protections to post-1979 buildings.
Soon, the issue became a basic philosophical one: the inherent
rights of property owners vs. the inherent rights of tenants. While the
former were struggling to keep their rights, the latter were fighting
to further theirs.
“We don’t want to get into the good landlord-bad tenant, bad
landlord-good tenant argument,” said Josh Binding, a San Francisco
tenant of seven years. “They all exist.”
Peter Reitz, another small property owner, said he lowered a
tenant’s rent by $300. “We do everything we can” to help tenants, he
said. “And there’s no way we’d evict without a reason.”
That led the discussion back to the landlords who own post-1979
buildings and their ability to evict a tenant without having to provide
a reason.
But the goal of Monday’s meeting was to gather the testimony and get
information on the record to pull together findings that will accompany
the proposed legislation. A second meeting is to be scheduled next week.
While Supervisor Maxwell didn’t express her opposition or support, Supervisors David Chiu and Eric Mar showed their support, pending findings.
“I think the tenants really showed that it’s an issue of fairness,”
said Supervisor Mar. “But I’m sensitive to the small property owners as
well.”
A melodic interlude brought some lightness to the standoff. One gentleman broke into song during his turn at the podium.
… And I won’t ask for promises so you won’t have to lie, we both play the rental game …
At the five-minute mark, the bell rang.
“And I want to thank you for not clapping,” said Supervisor Maxwell.
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