Rent Ordinance Measure Moves Forward at City Hall

Yesterday's Land Use Committee added yet another ridiculous restriction to an already overbearing rent policy. This time, however, the Supervisors are concerned about parking and storage.

From today's BeyondChron,

The residential rent ordinance would clarify existing law and require landlords to prove just cause when severing services included with a rental unit. The specific services in question were primarily related to common areas including access to garages and parking spaces, laundry facilities, lobbies, storage units, and yards. The measure was sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and co-sponsored by Supervisors Daly and Peskin.

The meeting included testimony from nearly a dozen citizens citing personal examples of landlord abuse and harassment. Tenants recalled incidents in which their parking spaces were revoked without explanation as well as returning home to find personal possessions removed from storage and thrown down to the street. By the end of the hearing Supervisor Sophie Maxwell from District 10 asked to be added as a co-sponsor of the measure. She stated simply “It’s about fairness,” and her words seemed to accurately describe the rationale behind altering the existing law.

As it stands, section 37.2r of the residential rent ordinance does not specifically compel landlords to present just cause when rescinding services. A tenant’s recourse involves taking a landlord to small claims court or, more likely, applying to the rent board for a decrease in rent. But as Ted Gullicksen of the San Francisco Tenant’s Union points out, “People want the service that was promised as a part of the rental unit, not the money.”

For many, it seems that the rent decrease would never make up for the loss of services. Catherine Averill had lived in her apartment for eleven years when without notice a landlord evicted her from the use of the garage. [more...]

What does this mean to current and future renters? Anyone who doesn't have a very clear item in their lease concerning parking and/or storage may end up losing that right, or they might end up with a separate agreement with higher costs or tighter restrictions.

Landlords? Property owners? Perhaps you should consult an attorney on how to draft parking and storage agreements...

Help a few, while hurting everybody else. That will be the legacy of the 2006 Board of Supervisors.

Just beware, short-sighted Supervisors, of the unintended consequences.