Information on Tenants Legal Rights
Volume XX, Number 1
Landlords/Realtors Sue For
The "Right" To Evict Seniors
The Landlords Suing Are
A Dazzling Collection of
The Dumb Meet The Greedy
Landlords say the American way is kicking seniors onto the streets and claim Proposition G violates their "pursuit of happiness." Meet the cast of landlords suing. They raise the question again: Does greed cause stupidity or is it the other way around?
Unsurprisingly, the landlords lost the first round in court in July when Superior Court threw out the suit (landlords will appeal and the cuit continues).Evictions Plummet!
After doubling every year the last few years, OMI evictions are now just one-third of what they were a year go, thanks to Proposition G and the Bierman legislation.Are Ellis Evictions The New Threat?
The landlords are searching for new loopholes—is Ellis their next one?McKay Ellis Eviction Unmasks
Real Estate Speculators
The Ellis Eviction of Lola McKay shows how the real estate speculators who use to hide behind OMI evictions can hide no longerVacancy Control Possible in 1999
The Costa Bill—which many think ended any chance for vacancy rent control—may actually provide the opportunity for San Francisco to adopt vacancy control.Capital Improvement
Rent Hikes Up
Rent increases for capital improvements have more than tripled. Reasonable reform of these outrageously unfair rent increases is failing at the Board. Is it time to abolish capital improvements?
Landlords Finding "Pretexts" For Phony Evictions
The latest landlord fad is pretext evictions—phony evictions based on phony reasonsAmos Brown Looking At Rent Control Repeal!
Sup. Amos Brown—who's becoming increasingly mean-spirited—now has introduced legislation backed by landlords to "study" rent control. The real aim, of course, is to repeal it!
Run Tom, Run!
Tom Ammiano is probably the one candidate who could beat Mayor Brown. He's also the one candidate who's in tune with the voters–from tenants rights to MUNI to ATM fees.
Homes Not Jails's
Claims Ownership of Squat
Via Adverse Possession
Homeless people pay $6,000 in taxes on abandoned property and file legal claim of ownership.Hotel Fires Displacing Tenants
Ellis evictions, pretext evictions and OMI evictions are not the only ptoblem—fires in SRO hotels have resulted in the loss of hundreds of low-cost units.Eviction Defense Services Funded
Tenant and other community-based groups pushed hard for a budget which represents the needs of the people who live in San Francisco–like money for eviction defense legal services.Rent Board Fee Increases
The Rent Board Fee—charged to tenants—goes up to $16. But tenant groups support it as it means more Rent Board staff. Most importantly, there is now an eviction investigator.