A San Francisco Rent Ordinance limits rent increases on certain units and regulates the reasons for which a landlord can evict a tenant.
The first step in understanding your rights as a tenant is to determine if your unit is covered by the San Francisco Rent Ordinance. Units built before June 13, 1979 are covered under the Rent Ordinance. However, single family homes and condos — even if built before June 13, 1979 — are exempt from the Rent Ordinance’s limits on rent increases.
Units built after June 13, 1979 are not covered by the Rent Ordinance, meaning there are no eviction protections (except those provided by state law) and there is no limit on rent increases.
The Rent Ordinance limits rent increases to 60% of the CPI for the Bay Area. For rent increases that go into effect between March 1, 2014 and February 28, 2015, the maximum allowable rent increase is 1.0%. However, if a landlord does not impose a rent increase in a given year, the landlord is permitted to “bank” that rent increase and impose it in subsequent years.
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