As of April 11, 2022, tenant associations in San Francisco in buildings with five or more units have new rights and protections. On day one of the law, over 15 tenants associations mailed petitions to certify their new associations with the San Francisco Rent Board. From residents at the St Albans Hotel, an SRO in the Mission, to those whose homes are owned by the city’s largest landlord, Veritas Investments, tenants in San Francisco are eager to make use of these new tools to support ongoing organizing.
The new law—the first of its kind in the country—creates a mechanism for tenants to certify an association in their building, protects organizing activities like flyering, door-knocking, and holding tenant meetings on-site, and creates a legal requirement for a landlord to meet and negotiate with the association. If the landlord violates any of these rights or protections, then tenants are entitled to rent reductions. Learn more here.
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A Veritas tenants mails a petition to certify a tenant association in his building. Photo by Joseph Smooke, People Power Media
“Members in more than 15 buildings are certifying today, and it’s Day One. We will show what it is to unionize,” Madelyn McMillian. Photo by Joseph Smooke, People Power Media