Sample Our Newsletter

SPOSFNews

Featured in our March Issue:

  • SPOSFI and SFAA team up to challenge Prop. M
  • Responding to “Michael Weinstein 3.0”
  • A Vacancy Control example
  • Small property owners hit hardest by eviction costs
  • SPOSFI Business Members Resource Guide
 
From the March 2024 Newsletter:

The President's Message

By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI President

Pity the poor vacant apartment. Everybody seems to think they know what's best for it.


From the February 2024 Newsletter:

The President's Letter

By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI President

Dear Small Property Owners of San Francisco, As your new president, I look forward to continuing all the hard work of my predecessor, Noni Richen, and I look forward to working with all of you in 2024.


From the December 2023 Newsletter:

2024 New Year resolutions for rental property owners

By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI Board Member

Most New Year resolutions revolve around renewed commitments to personal health and fitness. Rental property owners should begin 2024 by also re-committing themselves to the health of their relationship with their renters, the safety and quiet enjoyment of the premises, and the “physical fitness of their buildings.


From the November 2023 Newsletter:

What documents must you provide to your renters before they move in?

Many small property owners are uncertain about what documents they are required to include before handing over the keys to a new tenant.


From the October 2023 Newsletter:

Utility scams are on the rise. PG&E advises customers how to avoid becoming a victim

With reports of scams targeting utility customers at an all-time high PG&E officials share tips with customers to help recognize the signs of a potential scam. Educate yourself about typical scams so you don't become a victim.


From the September 2023 Newsletter:

Rent control is a violation of our property rights; we are pushing back!

By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI President


From the July 2023 Newsletter:

Updating your building to mercury-free thermometers

By Gideon Kramer, Editor/SPOSFI News

In 2006 the California legislature banned the sale of mercury-added thermostats.


From the June 2023 Newsletter:

Understanding subletting and roommate replacement in San Francisco is an important responsibility of landlords.

By Corinne D. Brophy, Esq., Associate Attorney, Steven Adair MacDonald & Partners, P.C.

In California, a tenant (or roommate) who pays another tenant to live in a room or rental unit is a subtenant. The person the subtenant pays rent to is the master tenant.


From the May 2023 Newsletter:

Senate Bill 466 is another attack on property rights

By Gideon Kramer, SPOSFI News Editor

Despite valiant efforts by rental housing providers statewide, including tens of thousands of e-mails and phone calls, the Senate Judiciary Committee has approved various amendments to SB 466.


From the April 2023 Newsletter:

Protecting Costa-Hawkins is a top priority!

By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI President

We have received questions, especially since Zoom became part of our lives, about recording and broadcasting our meetings. We've decided repeatedly against doing so. Why?


From the March 2023 Newsletter:

Using criminal background checks in evaluating rental applicants is risky business

By Justin A. Goodman, Esq., SPOSF/SPOSFI Board Member

Outright refusal to rent to applicants with a criminal record may seem like a simple and efficient way to mitigate certain unwanted risk. But housing discrimination law adds nuance in your approach to drafting your advertisements to include criminal background preference, in performing background checks for certain applicants, and in exercising preference for those applicants without a criminal history.


From the February 2023 Newsletter:

Ironically, there's a lot of insecurity in security deposits. It just got worse.

By Daniel Bornstein, Esq., Bornstein Law

After being embroiled in a lawsuit, now is a good time to remind small property owners about the importance of following security deposit rules to the letter.


From the January 2023 Newsletter:

California's “Second-Chance” and criminal record sealing legislation ignores the state's high recidivism rate

By Kevin M. Solan, Esq. (retired), SPOSFI member

According to FBI estimates, 73.5 million people in the United States had a criminal record as of June 30, 2022. The U.S. Census Bureau puts the U.S. adult population at just under 250 million.


From the November 2022 Newsletter:

New proposal would put some new construction under rent control

By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI Board Member

Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Matt Dorsey are introducing legislation that would require certain new housing developments in San Francisco to include rent-controlled units.


From the October 2022 Newsletter:

The future of cars is electric. Should you install a charger in your rental property?

With electric cars becoming increasingly common, many rental property owners who offer parking are considering installing on-site charging as an amenity that helps their rental stand out from the rest.


From the September 2022 Newsletter:

Adding two more moderate supervisors is a top priority

By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI President

It may seem early to focus on the November elections, but there are many items on the ballot that are of vital importance to property owners.


From the July 2022 Newsletter:

New program incentivizes SF housing providers to rent to homeless individuals and families

By Dina Mendoza, Associate Director of Housing Stability and Partnerships, Episcopal Community Services

Episcopal Community Services (ECS) has provided essential services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1983, utilizing a holistic approach that addresses the multiple causes leading to homelessness.


From the June 2022 Newsletter:

What you need to know about San Francisco's new Rental Unit Registration Ordinance

By Justin A. Goodman, Esq., Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC

On December 18, 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted unanimously Ordinance 265-20, which implements the city's first rental unit registration ordinance.


From the May 2022 Newsletter:

Quiet enjoyment? Two legislative directions are likely to strain owner-renter and renter-renter relations

By Peter Reitz, SPOSF/SPOSFI Executive Director

Among the most basic “amenities” a rental property owner must provide the renter is “quiet and peaceable” possession of the leased premises.


From the April 2022 Newsletter:

As the pandemic recedes, our supervisors keep proposing laws as if it were permanent

By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI President

We have welcomed spring, and what may be the end to our pandemic way of life. But we still face a “pandemic” of new legislation from our elected officials.

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