SUP. GONZALEZ PULLS A FAST ONE

The President of the Board of Supervisors, Matt Gonzalez, is promoting a radical change to the Rent Ordinance that would prohibit evictions and rent increases for the addition of occupants. He introduced the legislation recently at the Board of Supervisors, despite his promise to housing-industry leaders not to launch it until he meet with them again. The proposal would permit the addition of occupants to rental units—up to a maximum of two occupants “per habitable sleeping room” except in situations where the total number of occupants would exceed the Planning, Housing and Building Codes. These codes are extremely loose and would allow up to nine people for every 500 square feet. The legislation may be approved as soon as the end of this year.

This amendment completely vitiates lease provisions that specify the number of people who can live in the unit and further erodes the owner’s ability to restrict or prohibit subletting. Essentially, regardless of the provisions in their lease agreements, rent-controlled owners would have to allow their tenants to fill up all rooms in their units with a maximum of two occupants per room. My interpretation of this proposed law is that tenants could convert the living and dining rooms into sleeping rooms.

One-bedroom apartments and studios would suddenly be used to legally house up to six adult tenants. There would be nothing the landlord could do to prohibit this infusion of new dwellers except petition the Rent Board for a slight increase in rent for the higher cost of utilities. No longer would your existing and future leases govern the number of adult occupants who could reside in your units. No longer could you evict when the tenants sublet without permission or move in their friends and exceed the number of allowed occupants. The tenants could unilaterally move anyone into your units as long as no more than two adults sleep in a “habitable sleeping room,” which is every room except the kitchen, bathroom, and closet! Not only would there be rampant subletting and Section 6.14 nightmares, but the extreme (and uncompensated) wear and tear on the building’s common areas and the units could be enormous. In sum, you as owners will be running a fraternity house at rent-controlled prices.

Supervisor Gonzalez claims that this legislation is designed to allow immigrant families the opportunity to live together. This rationale is nonsense. The good news is that the legislation is so unconstitutional that our lawyers will undoubtedly stop its enforcement. The bad news is that this is an election year, so the proposal will probably pass. Therefore, this is now a crucial time for all members to contribute to the SFAA’s Legal Fund. Otherwise, by next year, your units may be converted into crowded dormitories.

– David Wasserman