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Supervisors file tenant hardship ordinance to freeze rent increases for households hit by income loss
Summary
Supervisor Chris Daly filed an ordinance to allow tenants with a 20% income drop or those paying more than one‑third of income for rent to apply to freeze annual or banked rent increases; Rent Board staff warned of administrative and legal complexities while tenant groups urged voter approval.
Supervisor Chris Daly introduced an initiative ordinance amending the rent stabilization and arbitration code to allow tenants who have suffered a 20 percent income decline in 12 months, who are unemployed, or who pay more than one‑third of income on rent, to apply for a hardship finding that would suspend annual and banked rent increases.
Deline Wolf, Executive Director of the Rent Board, said the proposal was well‑intentioned but raised concerns: current hardship rules are broader than the draft measure, the initiative could unintentionally harm very low income tenants (including many seniors and SRO residents), and administrative timelines could leave tenants unable to pay retroactive increases if hearings take months.
Tenant advocates including the San Francisco Tenants Union, Community Tenants Association and SRO Family United urged filing the item for the June ballot as a necessary protection in the recession, citing examples of seniors on fixed incomes and families facing eviction. The committee filed the hearing for ballot consideration.
