The San Francisco Board of Supervisors just unanimously amended the Rent Ordinance to strengthen eviction protections for school employees and tenants with children under the age of 18. The new protections are:
- A landlord cannot evict a teacher, or anyone who works at a school, during the school year using an owner move-in; relative move-in; condo conversion; demolition; capital improvements; or substantial rehabilitation eviction.
- A landlord cannot evict a tenant with a child under the age of 18 during the school year using an owner move-in; relative move-in; condo conversion; demolition; capital improvements; or substantial rehabilitation eviction. Under the old law, a tenant with a child was only protected from owner move-in and relative move-in evictions.
- A landlord with a child under the age of 18, or a landlord who owns only one unit, can no longer evict a tenant with a child during the school year. The “landlord’s kid trumps the tenant’s kid” loophole has been removed.
- But, there’s a new loophole: The new protections do not prohibit a landlord from temporarily evicting a tenant in order to perform seismic work.
These protections will go into effect in time for the 2016-2017 school year. The “school year” is defined to be the school year used by the San Francisco Unified School District. For 2016-2017, the school year runs from August 15, 2016 through May 26, 2017.