From the October 2007 Newsletter:

Homeownership Summit draws overflow crowd
By Gideon Kramer

The Sept. 20 TIC Homeownership Summit sponsored by Plan C San Francisco and the TIC Coalition had phenomenal attendance. Two additional room dividers had to be opened up at St. Mary’s conference hall to accommodate the nearly 300 people who came to learn about tenancies in common (TICs), new “fractional” loan programs, and the dismal state of condo conversion in the city. The message conveyed by the huge crowd was unmistakable: San Franciscans want to own their own homes.

Summit guest speakers included City Assessor- Recorder Phil Ting, City Treasurer José Cisneros, and District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd. Also present were representatives from several Bay Area lenders in the vanguard of innovative new loan programs for TICs. Only recently have buyers been able to qualify for individual (fractional) loans when purchasing a TIC building. Fractional TIC loans are designed to facilitate TIC purchases and allow buyers to avoid much of the potentially risky financial entanglement with other owners in the building.

Our Board of Supervisors’ hostility to homeownership and its ever-tighter restrictions on condo conversions have driven first-time homebuyers to TICs, the last refuge of relative affordability in the city. Most TIC owners enter into a TIC partnership hoping to one day convert to condomimiums. However, with only 200 units allowed to convert annually, the number of applicants has nearly doubled since 2002, and most applicants can expect to wait 10 to 12 years before winning the right to own their own home.

Recently-passed legislation that disqualifies any building tainted by a no-fault eviction from condo conversion—has eliminated the last conceivable justification our supervisors can offer to limit condo conversion. Yet San Francisco supervisors continue down this counter-productive road, hurting newhomeowners and helping no one, including tenants. So what can we do about it? As Supervisor Elsbernd and Plan C’s Mike Sullivan both remarked at seeing the huge turnout, if we‘re really serious about retaining our middle class, we’ll need to translate that impressive turnout and the political sentiments it represents into hard votes and lots of face-time at City Hall. There’s no other way to make our collective voices heard. The stakes are just too high.  

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