Superior Court Strikes Down Educator Protections: San Francsico Tenant-Protection Violates State Law

San Francisco’s attack on property rights suffered yet another defeat today thanks to the efforts of lawyers at ZFP Law. Legislation designed to limit owners’ ability to recover possession of rental units for their own use or occupancy or to recover possession to make repairs or improvements was declared invalid by a San Francisco Superior Court judge.

The Law: In May of this year, the City amended the Rent Ordinance such that landlords who want to recover possession of rental units – such as owner/relative move-in, condo conversion sale, removal from housing use, capital improvements, or rehabilitation work – where the tenants have school-age children or are employed, in any way, by a school or school system, could not terminate the tenancies except during the Summer recess. (S.F. Ordinance #55-16) For example, a landlord who wants to move her ailing, elderly mother into a unit in her building on September 1 would have to wait until next May. The legislation was sponsored by Supervisors Campos, Kim, Mar, Avalos, Cohen, and Breed, and passed unanimously with the Mayor’s signature.
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