Legislation in Pipeline to Increase Condo Conversion Oversight

Oversight? Oversight? Yeah! Let's make it MORE difficult to do anything at the over-burdened building/planning department!

The wizards at BeyondChron are jumping for joy over yet another play by Court Jester Chris Daly to slow/stop/eliminate/delay/obliterate the condo conversion process.

"As it currently stands, when property owners wish to convert their building from rental units into condos, they must submit an application to the city. Buildings of 5 units or more get subjected to a hearing at the Planning Commission, where they routinely get approved. The applications then wind their way through city agencies before receiving the final O.K."

"The hearings serve the important function of notifying the public and tenant groups of an impending conversion. Interested parties can then air concerns about the conversion before the Commission. Because hearings aren’t held on buildings with between 2 and 4 units, the applications often remain unknown to the public until late in the process."

"The legislation likely has a good chance at passing, as a majority of Supervisors have consistently shown they believe in limiting condo conversions that occur at the expense of tenants. Earlier this year, for example, the Board approved a law that discourages conversion of buildings where senior, disabled and terminally ill people were evicted."

Chris Daly can't stop the Ellis Act, it's a state law. Chris Daly can't tell banks how to lend their money, either. When individual TIC loans become the norm, there will be no need for condo conversions. Get it? The free market ALWAYS wins. This will do nothing to slow or stop evictions of senior/elderly/disabled/ill tenants. The only thing that will help? BUILD MORE HOUSING!

The short-sightedness continues...