San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting joined tenants rights advocates in San Francisco today to announce a new outreach program for tenants of properties facing foreclosure, designed to inform them of their rights and direct them to local resources.
Ting said the program is an effort to keep tenants affected by the foreclosure crisis in their homes.
As part of the program, which will go into effect within the next two weeks, the assessor's office will send letters notifying tenants of legal protections available to them. The letter will include information on local agencies that offer additional advice and information.
Ting emphasized that tenants at risk of displacement due to foreclosure are innocent victims of the mortgage crisis. He said remedies are available for impacted tenants willing to remain in their homes.
"Do not leave," Ting said. "Stay in your home. We can help you."
According to a March 2008 report by RealtyTrac, 38 percent of foreclosures nationwide are thought to be in renter households. The National Low-Income Housing Coalition recently released a report revealing 25 percent of single-family homes foreclosed on in California were occupied by renters. In San Francisco, the number of foreclosures has jumped from 31 in 2006 to 213 in 2008.
At today's news conference hosted by the Housing Rights Committee, a tenant counseling agency participating in the outreach program, two impacted tenants stepped forward to talk about their struggle to keep their homes. One woman held a baby in her arms as she discussed through a translator having to live without such basic services as electricity and water for six months during her pregnancy.
"I would ask for water from my neighbors and carry the water back (home)," she said.
Another tenant related that she has been without gas in her house since October.
Housing Rights Committee Executive Director Sara Shortt said renters have suffered severe hardship and have even lost their homes because bankers and brokers often do not know local laws or choose not to obey them.
"Tenants need to know that they have the right to stay in most foreclosure situations, even if they are being told to leave by uninformed owners," Shortt said.
Executive Director of the San Francisco Rent Board Delene Wolf echoed this sentiment by stating that tenants in re-controlled buildings are protected by the need for a 'just cause' reason for eviction and that foreclosure is not one of them.
Ting said that the city is working to close this communication gap with the lenders.
"This is the beginning," Shortt said. "We will work to strengthen legislation to remedy this problem."
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