Action/Alerts

The Rent Board wants to take away your right to control your building!

Please come out to speak at the rent board hearing on Tuesday December 13 at 6:30 P.M. 25 Van Ness Suite 70 (lower level) to let them know that their proposed change is not acceptable. This is the only chance for public comment. The Rent Board can make changes to the rules, so this will not go to the Board of Supervisors.

The rule change is about an owner's ability to unilaterally change or impose house rules on the renters in your building. This is about you being able to control your building in a manner that you see fit, it will affect the quality of life for you and the other occupants in your building.

The Rent Board Commission is proposing to amend Section 12.20 of the Rent Ordinance. The proposed amendment will prohibit an owner's ability to institute reasonable house rules on a month to month tenancy.

The proposed amendments would prohibit an owner from instituting basic tenancy rules, including but not limited to:

Quiet hours
Maintenance of common areas
Refuse and Recycling rules
Maintenance of and alterations to the unit

Currently, owners have the ability to impose, by a written 30-day notice, new terms of tenancy onto occupants whose lease terms are month-to-month.  

The current rules do not allow evictions based on unilaterally imposed lease covenants.  However, under the current rules, an owner could change the lease to impose (1) immaterial rules, (2) authorized rent increases, and (3) covenants required by law or to protect the health, safety and quiet enjoyment of other building occupants or neighbors.  This compromise has worked for many years, there is no need to change it

The proposal before the rent board states that a change-in-terms-of-tenancy is allowed only if the renter signs a lease addendum, or the change is otherwise permitted by the rent law.  Gone are the health, safety, and quiet enjoyment allowances.  In managing your building you encounter renters who have no leases, poorly drafted contracts, or incomplete agreements that often require changes to impose new rules for sound, health, safety, and quiet enjoyment for the other occupants.  

When managing your building, it is often necessary to spell out basic house rules regarding noise, refuse, unit care, and use of common facilities to protect yourself and other occupants in the building. Otherwise, absent a clear lease covenant outlining a resident's responsibility, a renter could refuse to comply with many issues regarding your quiet enjoyment of your home.

Therefore, we are asking that Section 12.20 continue to include the health, safety, and quiet enjoyment exception, as it has for the past decade.

Some house rules that you should be able to impose to protect your and your other renters' quiet enjoyment of the property include:

(1)  Noise and Behavior
An occupant should not be able to make any noise or engage in any other conduct that disturbs or offends you or other occupants or neighbors. 

(2) Building Appearance
Garbage cans, brooms, boxes and similar articles are to be kept inside the Premises.  In order to preserve the appearance and cleanliness of the building, occupants shall take care to prevent waste from dropping or spilling on carpeting, concrete, walkways and/or other common areas.

(3)  Unit Care
Before washing or cleaning walls, drapery or carpet, occupant must consult the owner for the appropriate method or for recommended vendors to perform such work. Occupant shall not paint the premises or any portion thereof without prior written consent of owner. In the event such permission is given, the renter shall restore the original paint colors prior to vacating the premises and be responsible for all costs involved in such repainting.
 
(4)  Floor Covering
Owner may, in Owner's discretion, require all rooms with hardwood or hard surface flooring to be 80% covered by carpeting. Carpet covering may be necessary to abate and control noise.  

I am sure that you as property owners can think of many other rules that you need to impose to make your building habitable for you and your other renters.

Please come out on December 13 for the hearing. It is important that there is a big showing of small property owners.