A capital improvement eviction is a temporary eviction where a landlord is either required to, or desires to, make substantial improvements to a tenant-occupied building. The tenants may be evicted while that construction is taking place and the tenant is presumed to be able to return to their home as soon as the construction is concluded.
The landlord must pay relocation funds to the tenant at the initial time of the service of the temporary eviction notice. The law in San Francisco requires that the landlord get all permits and approvals for the construction before issuing the notice of eviction and they must have a good faith belief that the construction will not take more than three months to complete.
If a reasonable person would believe that the construction will take more than three months, the landlord is required to get pre-approval from the Rent Board before they issue the capital improvement eviction notice.