Rules Committee forwards ordinance to bar ‘bad-faith’ rent hikes used to push tenants out

The Rules Committee on Dec. 5 forwarded to the full Board of Supervisors an ordinance that would make an excessively large rent increase imposed in bad faith — where the landlord’s intent is to defraud, intimidate, or coerce a tenant into vacating — an act of tenant harassment subject to enforcement and damages.

Supervisor Hillary Ronan, who introduced the ordinance, said the measure is narrowly targeted at a small number of landlords who use dramatic rent increases to evade just‑cause eviction protections. Ronan cited press accounts of tenants whose rents were raised from $2,145 to $8,900 and told the committee the city sees “50 or so” cases a year where similar tactics are attempted.

Housing advocates and tenant attorneys urged support. Sarah Sherburn Zimmer, director of the Housing Rights Committee, said the ordinance “stops obscene rent increases when these increases are only to get around just‑cause eviction protections,” and that it would affect primarily landlords who are already harassing tenants. Tenant speaker Kyle described returning home to find a three‑day eviction notice and later facing a demand for more than $10,000 and a doubled rent.

Landlords and some homeowners urged caution. Several public commenters noted that voters rejected Proposition 10 and warned that new local rules could discourage small single‑family homeowners from renting. Speakers representing homeowners argued that overly broad language could create unintended lawsuits or cause owners to withdraw housing from the rental market.

Committee members discussed how the ordinance would be applied. Deputy City Attorney John Givner said the question of bad faith is a “question of fact” for an administrative law judge at the Rent Board or a superior court judge. Supervisors agreed the ordinance should be narrowly tailored; several members asked staff to work with the City Attorney to add clearer criteria (including references to market or objective benchmarks) and to clarify the drafting so ordinary rent increases are not unintentionally treated as harassment.

The committee voted without objection to forward the item with a positive recommendation to the full Board, with the authors committing to prepare targeted amendments before the Board hearing.

Next steps: the legislation was forwarded to the full Board with the intention of adding clarifying language on definition and standards for “bad faith” rent increases prior to final adoption.