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President Peskin introduces ordinance to expand rent control if state preemption lifts
Summary
Board President Aaron Peskin introduced a local ordinance to extend rent control automatically to multifamily buildings built as of Nov. 5, 2024, contingent on the lifting of state preemption (identified in the transcript as the Costa Hawkins Act) and tied rhetorically to a statewide ballot campaign he called the Justice For Renters Act (proposition 33).
Board President Aaron Peskin told the board he is introducing an ordinance that would expand rent control protections to all renters in multifamily buildings in San Francisco built on or before Nov. 5, 2024, to take effect if state preemption known as the Costa Hawkins Act is lifted.
Peskin said the ordinance is designed to protect "roughly 100,000 San Francisco renters" who currently lack coverage under the 45-year-old law. He emphasized the measure would not affect new housing construction, saying the policy is intended to extend tenant protections only to existing multifamily housing. He also urged support for a statewide measure he referred to as the "Justice For Renters Act proposition 33," which he said could lift state preemption and allow the local ordinance to take effect.
"Instead of theoretical arguments, I say we put our money where our mouth is and take action to extend equal protection to all multifamily housing already built," Peskin said. He thanked supervisors Preston, Walton, Ronan and Chan as early cosponsors.
What it means: The ordinance is a contingency plan that would expand local rent-control coverage if state law changes; it signals the board's intent to pursue tenant protections in coordination with a possible statewide shift in law. The board did not vote on the ordinance at this meeting.
