Sample Our Newsletter
Featured in our March Issue:
- The President's Message
- 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
The President's Message
By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI PresidentPity the poor vacant apartment. Everybody seems to think they know what's best for it.
The President's Letter
By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI PresidentDear 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.
2024 New Year resolutions for rental property owners
By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI Board MemberMost 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.
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.
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.
Rent control is a violation of our property rights; we are pushing back!
By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI PresidentUpdating your building to mercury-free thermometers
By Gideon Kramer, Editor/SPOSFI NewsIn 2006 the California legislature banned the sale of mercury-added thermostats.
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.
Senate Bill 466 is another attack on property rights
By Gideon Kramer, SPOSFI News EditorDespite 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.
Protecting Costa-Hawkins is a top priority!
By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI PresidentWe 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?
Using criminal background checks in evaluating rental applicants is risky business
By Justin A. Goodman, Esq., SPOSF/SPOSFI Board MemberOutright 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.
Ironically, there's a lot of insecurity in security deposits. It just got worse.
By Daniel Bornstein, Esq., Bornstein LawAfter 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.
California's “Second-Chance” and criminal record sealing legislation ignores the state's high recidivism rate
By Kevin M. Solan, Esq. (retired), SPOSFI memberAccording 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.
New proposal would put some new construction under rent control
By Brian Wallace, SPOSF/SPOSFI Board MemberSupervisors Aaron Peskin and Matt Dorsey are introducing legislation that would require certain new housing developments in San Francisco to include rent-controlled units.
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.
Adding two more moderate supervisors is a top priority
By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI PresidentIt 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.
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 ServicesEpiscopal 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.
What you need to know about San Francisco's new Rental Unit Registration Ordinance
By Justin A. Goodman, Esq., Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PCOn December 18, 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted unanimously Ordinance 265-20, which implements the city's first rental unit registration ordinance.
Quiet enjoyment? Two legislative directions are likely to strain owner-renter and renter-renter relations
By Peter Reitz, SPOSF/SPOSFI Executive DirectorAmong the most basic “amenities” a rental property owner must provide the renter is “quiet and peaceable” possession of the leased premises.
As the pandemic recedes, our supervisors keep proposing laws as if it were permanent
By Noni Richen, SPOSF/SPOSFI PresidentWe 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.