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Board advances package to limit rent hikes, expand hardship relief and restrict banking of increases
Summary
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 2009 voted to pass, on first reading, a package of ordinances that expand tenant protections by limiting banked rent increases, enabling financial-hardship waivers when rent exceeds 33% of income, and narrowing occupancy-based eviction rules; the measures include language requiring multilingual notice.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 2009 voted on a set of ordinances intended to provide relief to renters hit by the economic downturn, approving multiple measures on first reading and advancing amendments aimed at targeting assistance to tenants affected by job loss or income reduction.
The package, led by Supervisor Gavin Daly, seeks to curb several practices that supervisors said have worsened housing instability: it limits the ability of landlords to “bank” rent increases, allows the Rent Board to waive future increases for households spending more than 33 percent of gross income on rent in specified hardship circumstances, and narrows rules about evictions tied to additional occupants so that normal Housing Code occupancy limits do not trigger evictions.
Supervisor Daly said the proposals were crafted after multiple committee hearings and neighborhood testimony and that the final package includes amendments intended to focus benefits on tenants harmed by the recession. “The legislation that’s in front of you and that, will be further amended, I think, is carefully crafted to provide very real, but, albeit somewhat limited, relief for San Francisco renters,” Supervisor Daly said.
The hardship provision, as amended, targets households that have experienced unemployment, a wage reduction of 20 percent or more in the prior 12 months, or whose sole income consists of government benefits without cost-of-living increases. The amendments also expand outreach and application materials in Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese and Tagalog to improve access for non-English-speaking tenants.
Supervisor Daly moved several technical clarifications the city attorney and Rent Board staff had drafted; those changes were accepted by the board before votes. Several supervisors said they supported including a sunset provision tying the measure’s duration to economic recovery metrics. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and others urged that any long-term policy risks be limited by making the measures temporary and tied to unemployment statistics.
Supporters argued the package helps vulnerable households and preserves neighborhood diversity. Supervisor Jake McReynolds (speaking in committee) and Supervisor Mar said committee hearings drew dozens of tenant and landlord voices and led to changes the board adopted. “This package…is carefully crafted to provide very real relief and save hundreds, if not thousands, of San Francisco households,” Daly said during debate.
Opponents and recusal notes: Supervisor Maxwell was recused from consideration of one housing-related item due to an identified conflict; several supervisors registered “no” votes on specific ordinances during roll calls, reflecting concerns about fiscal or long-term market effects.
Votes at the Board: Item 49 (amending the housing code to extend protections to persons sharing housing) passed on first reading. Item 50 (amending the Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance to limit annual and banked increases) passed on first reading. Item 51 (financial hardship relief for tenants paying more than 33% of income) passed on first reading as amended. Item 52 (prohibiting rent increases or evictions based solely on additional occupants if within Housing Code occupancy limits) passed on first reading as amended.
What happens next: The ordinances passed their first-reading votes and will return for further consideration consistent with the Board’s ordinance process; several measures include sunset or eligibility conditions that will require Rent Board implementation steps and multilingual outreach noted in the amendments.
The board’s actions came as supervisors repeatedly referenced the broader fiscal crisis facing the city and urged the mayor’s office to engage on restoring services while balancing protections for renters. The package’s specifics — eligibility thresholds, multilingual application materials and the sunset language tying expiration to unemployment rates — are intended to limit the measures to households demonstrably harmed by the recession.
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Sources: Remarks and roll-call votes recorded by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors during the June 2009 meeting. Direct quotes in this report are attributed to speakers recorded in the official meeting transcript.
