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Rent Control

CALIFORNIA

San Francisco

Ordinance Adoption Date

6/79; (San Francisco Administrative Code, Chapter 37), latest amendment 12/18/92.)

Exceptions 

Units constructed after 6/79, buildings over 50 years old and "substantially rehabilitated" since 6/79, owner occupied single‑family residences, duplexes, triplexes, and four-plexes. [Sec. 37.2(p).]

Administration 

Appointed five-member Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board, [Sec. 37.41, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 320, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-554-9550 (automated information system) and 415-554-9551 (counselor).

Registration not required.

Rent Formula 

Rents may not be increased by more than 7% in any 12-month period. (Increase allowed each year is 60% of the "Urban All Items Consumer Price index" for the San Francisco/Oakland Metropolitan Area, but not more than 7%.) The Board publishes the figure each year. [Sec. 37.3.] A landlord who has not increased the rent during a previous 12-month period may accumulate his/her rights to increases and impose them in later years. Landlord may apply to Board for certification of capital improvements the amortized cost of which may also be passed through to the tenant, but such increases are limited to 10% of the base rent each year. [Sec. 37.7.]

Individual Adjustments

Landlord may apply to Board for higher increase based on increased costs, including utility and capital improvement costs. Hearing officer decide case based various factors, including operating and maintenance expenses, but not "negative cash flow" based on recent purchase. Hearing officer may also consider rent increase history and failure to make repairs. Tenant may contest any claimed pass‑through of utility costs, or request rent reduction based a decrease of services or poor maintenance. Either party may request an "expedited hearing." [Sections. 37-8.]

Rent Increase Notice Requirements 

Landlord must give tenant written itemized breakdown of rent increases-for example, what portion reflects costs of capital improvements-on or before the date of service of the rent-increase notice. [Sec. 37.6(b).]

Vacancy Decontrol 

Landlord may charge any rent after a tenant vacates voluntarily or is evicted for good cause. Once the property is re-rented, it is subject to rent control based on the higher rent. [Sec. 37.3(a).]

Eviction

  Landlord must show just cause to evict. [Sec. 37.9.]

Penalties 

Violation of ordinance, including wrongful eviction or eviction attempts, is a misdemeanor punishable by maximums of a $2,000 fine and six months imprisonment. [Sec. 37.10.]

Other Features 

Landlord must pay 5% annual interest on deposits held over a year, with payments made on tenant's move-in anniversary date each year and when the deposit is refunded at the end of the tenancy. [Administrative Code, Chapter 49.]