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Committee advances ordinance to strengthen verification of unauthorized dwelling units
Summary
The committee voted 3-0 to adopt amendments and recommend as amended an ordinance that would require applicants to disclose unauthorized dwelling units, direct planning and building staff to investigate misrepresentations, and expand DBI enforcement tools; committee duplicated the file and continued an alternate version to the call of the chair.
The Land Use and Transportation Committee on July 28 recommended, 3–0, an ordinance to strengthen verification and enforcement related to unauthorized dwelling units (UDUs) and to protect tenants in rent-controlled units during redevelopment reviews.
Sponsor Supervisor Mirna Melgar told the committee she has worked with tenant-rights advocates and city staff for about 18 months on the proposal after seeing cases in which property owners omitted information about tenants or UDUs from permit applications to avoid displacement protections. The ordinance would require applicants to disclose unauthorized dwelling units and require the Planning Department to investigate UDUs reported as part of a development application. It would also require the Planning Department to document when property units are subject to regulatory agreements under the San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance and require inspections before recommending approval of removals of residential units or UDUs.
The measure also amends the Building Code to expand the Department of Building Inspection’s (DBI) Expanded Compliance and Control Program to address fraud, bribery and inaccurate representations of the presence or number of UDUs. Planning Commission staff told the committee the commission recommended approval with modifications that were largely incorporated, including working through DBI’s compliance program, limiting certain reporting tasks, and defining a 10‑year lookback for UDUs.
Aaron Star, Manager of Legislative Affairs for the Planning Commission, described the Planning Commission’s recommended changes; DBI staff reported the Building Inspection Commission unanimously recommended approval July 18. Public comment included support from the San Francisco Anti-Displacement Coalition, which told the committee the ordinance closes a loophole that lets project sponsors evade replacement obligations by omitting tenancy history or UDUs.
Chair Melgar moved to adopt the staff-proposed amendments she read into the record and to transmit the amended ordinance to the board as a committee report. The committee recorded three ayes and the motion passed. The committee also duplicated the file and continued the duplicated version to the call of the chair for further work suggested by community members.
Key points and next steps: the ordinance relies on Planning and DBI for investigations and enforcement, uses DBI’s Expanded Compliance and Control Program for penalties and enforcement, and seeks to prevent “renoviction” by making misrepresentation of UDUs a basis for application cancellation or penalty. The committee’s action sends the amended ordinance to the full Board of Supervisors for consideration on July 29, 2025.
