Closing The Loopholes
The measure will effectively halt most Ellis Evictions, since Ellis is used primarily by real estate speculators buy buildings, evict tenants, and convert the units into condos.
A huge loophole in the condo law allows for the eviction of tenants and the conversion of the units to condominiums by hiding the sale of the individual apartment on the deed. The initiative closes this loophole by simply requiring that whenever a unit is sold as a condo, it must be recorded on the deed as a condo.
Evicting for condo conversion is the number one cause of eviction in San Francisco these days, with over 1,000 such evictions a year. With evicted tenants unable to afford the average $2,200 rent or to buy the average $149,000 condo, those evicted are forced from the city. Tenants live in fear of coming home and seeing a "for sale" sign on their building, knowing it probably means their home is being sold as a condo.
There's big stakes involved in making sure condo conversions remain covered by the condo law. The 1979 law is actually very strong. It limits conversions to just 200 units each year and before a unit can be converted the landlord must actually have the okay of 40% of the tenants in the building. Further, senior tenants can't be evicted for condo conversion, all tenants must get the first right of refusal to buy their apartment (at the initial offering price) and any non-senior tenants who can't buy get relocation benefits and effectively receive a one year notice.
By avoiding the condo law, real estate speculators can make millions. A typical condo conversion brings the real estate investor involved a typical profit of $250,000 per unit_or $1 million in profit on a 4 unit conversion.
Using the loopholes in the condo law, condo conversions are unlimited. Further, the convertors is not encumbered by the need to get the tenant's okay prior to the conversion and can sell each unit on the open market without having to offer it to the tenant first. Also, seniors can be evicted at will for condo conversion.
Bypassing the senior protection in the condo law is actually critical to the real estate speculators. The prime targets for conversion are buildings occupied by long-term tenants paying affordable rents (because such buildings can be bought cheaper thus yielding greater profit when the units are resold individually). Thus nearly every backdoor condo conversion is in a building with at least one senior tenant in it.
Lola McKay, who recently died following an Ellis eviction, is a prime example. Her 4 unit building was slated for condos and she and all the other tenants had been living there for 30-40 years and were paying affordable rents. Or, 1345 Grant_an 8 unit building slated fro condo conversions where all the tenants also got Ellis Evictions last year. Every unit is occupied by seniors_2 units have tenancies of more than 50 years!
Thus the question of closing or keeping open the loopholes has huge ramifications: the real estate industry stands to lose millions of dollars if the loophole is closed. The tenant community will see thousands of evictions and thousands of rental units lost if the loophole remains open.
Making The Annual Cap Permanent
The loopholes in the condo law must be closed but there's a looming issue as well: the cap on condo conversions is about to expire and indications are that Mayor Brown and City Hall have every intention of letting it expire. Thus rather than 200 conversions a year, the number will be unlimited.
Without the annual cap, real estate speculators won't have to use loopholes: they will simply be able to convert apartments at will. And because condo conversion is a just cause for eviction under Rent Control, this means that evictions will become unlimited. Not only will real estate speculators not have to use the loopholes, nor will they have to use the Ellis Act. San Francisco will be in for an epidemic of gentrifying evictions which will make the current eviction rate seem tiny.
The tenant initiative addresses this problem too. Besides closing the loopholes, it makes the annual cap on condo conversions permanent.
If We Want To Save San Francisco
We Must Stop Evictions For Condos
While great gains have been made in recent years to slow the tide of evictions, the real estate industry's greed for profits is insatiable. Unfortunately, their profits come off our evictions. The force behind gentrification in the city is the conversion of rental units to condos: those buying these condos are people moving into the city with lots of money; those being evicted for the condo conversions are seniors, families, working people, and communities of color (in fact, San Francisco is becoming such a city for the rich that even the middle class is being evicted out).
Preserving the diversity and character of the city means we must stop the wave of evictions condo conversions and let the real estate speculators know that out homes are not for sale.
16,000 Signatures Needed
To get the condo measure on the ballot, tenants need to collect about 16,000 signatures by July 10 and the grass roots effort to accomplish that has begun.
Getting the measure on the ballot and winning the campaign will take a strong grass roots campaign by tenants. Volunteers are needed now to help collect signatures and over upcoming months many people will be needed to help drop literature door to door. While tenant groups have little money, we do have vast resources of people and hope that all Tenants Union members and other tenants will help out by collecting signatures and committing a few days to dropping literature.
In signature gathering, every little bit helps. People who can spend an afternoon on a street corner or in front of a supermarket are needed. But if you can't do that, help out by getting a petition and having your friends and family sign it. If every TU member simply signed the petition and got 4 friends to sign it, we'd be done!
Measure Will Stop Evictions Happening Now
The inclusion of all types of condos in the condo law has a retroactive effective date will take effect on July 10, meaning that any types of condos sold on or after this date will be covered by the condo law.
This is important because in cases where an eviction is ongoing or pending, it is unlikely the real estate speculator will be able to sell the condo units prior to July 10. Even if the landlord were able to evict the tenants by that date, the units would be unsalable. Since most evictions are for Ellis, the landlord would then have to offer the units back to the evicted tenants (at the same rent). In fact, the landlord would have no other real choice: after evicting all of the tenants, the building would be ineligible for condo conversion since there has to be at least one tenant living in the building for it to be eligible.
The same is true for any evictions which are issued between now and Election Day: landlords will not be able to sell the units or rent them, except to rent them back to the evicted tenants at the same rent. In fact, landlords who evict tenants and sell the units after July 10 can be sued by the tenants for triple damages and can also be criminally or civilly prosecuted.
Tenants facing an eviction_or fearing one_thus have a strong interest in working to see that this measure passes.