Tenant Rights

Know Your Rights!

Tenants in San Francisco:

You have rights! If you’re experiencing harassment or pressure from your landlord, or fear you might be evicted or have to move, click on your issue below. Find a list of tenant rights groups who can offer help here.

Visit sf.gov/renthelp for help paying rent.

You do not have to silently suffer through rodent infestations, broken pipes and leaks, damaged sewage systems, cold water spells, and other unaddressed repairs. Local and state laws set minimum standards for habitability and consequences if your landlord does not maintain them. You are entitled to:

  • Water and weather-proof structure. There should not be holes in the roof, exterior walls, windows, doors, etc.
  • Working plumbing and gas systems
  • Legally installed electrical system
  • Sufficient garbage receptacles
  • Cold water, hot water and heating, lawful sewage system
  • No pest infestation
  • Intact structures like floors, stairways, and railings in functional state
  • No lead contamination
  • Deadbolts on some windows and doors, locking mailboxes
  • Natural light in each room
  • Emergency exits and uncluttered, clean building and grounds

If there is a violation in your home, you should be able to contact your landlord or property manager for repairs. If they do not respond in a timely manner, you can reach out to a housing counselor and the San Francisco Rent Board for support. If you live in a rent control unit, you may be eligible for a rent reduction through the Decrease in Housing Services petition. If your unit is not covered by rent control, you may still use California Civil Code 1942.4 to take action. We strongly urge you to talk through these options with a tenant counselor first! Visit Get Help for a list of tenants rights groups in San Francisco.

Below is a detailed list of steps you can take to get the repairs you need:

1. Complain to the landlord in writing and if possible, keep picture and video evidence. This step is crucial and must be done before anything else. Keep a copy for your files. One way to create proof of delivery is to send the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested.

2. Talk to a tenant counselor to help you assess if you should contact the Department of Building Inspection (DBI) to come out to your building and make an inspection.

3. Petition the Rent Board for a rent reduction until repairs are done. If you’re not under rent control or these initial steps don’t work there may be further steps to consider, such as making the repair yourself and deducting the expense, claiming a “constructive eviction” and moving out, suing your landlord, or withholding rent. However, we strongly urge you to talk through these options with a tenant counselor first!

4. Talk with your neighbors and organize. If others have similar problems, you can work together to solve them together through collective bargaining, protest, and media outreach.

You don’t have to leave just because your landlord tells you to! An eviction follows a very specific legal process that your landlord must follow. All eviction notices must be in writing. Additionally, most tenants can only be evicted for a specific set of reasons called “Just Cause.”
TALK TO A TENANTS RIGHTS COUNSELOR IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE BEING EVICTED. VISIT Get Help FOR A LIST OF TENANTS RIGHTS GROUPS IN SAN FRANCISCO.
JUST CAUSES for EVICTION
Under section 37.9(a) of the SF Rent Ordinance, landlords of rent-controlled apartments must have just cause to evict tenants from those units. For a full list of allowed reasons for eviction, see www.sftu.org/justcauses/
Some causes for eviction are because the tenant has violated their lease agreement or the law. These are called “For-Fault” evictions. Some common examples include:
  1. Nonpayment of rent, habitual late payment, or frequent bounced checks.
  2. Breach (violation) of a term of the rental agreement that has not been corrected after written notice from the landlord.
  3. Nuisance or substantial damage to the unit (waste), or “creating a substantial interference with the comfort, safety, or enjoyment of the landlord or other tenants in the building.”
There are a limited set of reasons that a landlord can evict a tenant who did not violate their lease or the law. These are called “No Fault” evictions. Often, tenants have the right to relocation payments. Some common examples include:
  1. OMI: Move-in of the landlord or a close relative of the landlord (if the landlord lives in the building).
  2. Sale of a unit which has been converted to a condo. Seniors and permanently disabled tenants cannot be evicted for condo conversions.
  3. Capital improvements or rehabilitation. The tenant has the right to re-occupy the unit at the prior rent, once the work is completed.
  4. Ellis Act evictions, which require withdrawal from rental housing use all of the units in the building.
EVICTION NOTICES:
Eviction notices can’t be given verbally. A real eviction begins with a written notice, usually for 3, 30 or 60 days. You do not have to leave your home by the end of this notice, and your landlord can’t force you out. If you haven’t moved by the end of the 3, 30 or 60 days, the landlord can then begin the court eviction process with a summons (Unlawful Detainer).
If you receive a “Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer.” YOU MUST RESPOND TO THIS IN FIVE DAYS, or you may lose your right to a trial and the eviction will move much quicker. Weekends and court holidays do not count towards the 5 days. If you do not respond, you will lose automatically and can be evicted by the Sheriff in a week.
THE ANSWER: You respond to the Summons by completing a court form called an “Answer.” You may also be able to first file court motions attacking the validity of the eviction. It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you can get help filing these at the Eviction Defense Collaborative.
EVICTIONS ARE DONE THROUGH COURT:
Landlords don’t evict: judges and sheriffs evict. When you rent, you have a legal right to stay until you either choose to leave or the landlord gets a court order. Before you can be evicted, you have the right to bring your case to a jury. If you win, you get to stay. If you lose, only the sheriff has the right to remove you. All San Francisco tenants facing an eviction are entitled to free legal representation.
LEGAL ASSISTANCE:
To respond to an Unlawful Detainer, you need to obtain legal assistance. The Eviction Defense Collaborative (EDC) assists tenants in responding to the court papers. Bring your papers to the EDC (976 Mission St, 1st Floor San Francisco, CA 94103) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday from 10am-11:30am and 1pm-2:30pm. Do not call. Drop in to talk to a counselor during counseling hours.
RETALIATORY EVICTIONS:
California Civil Code 1942.5 says a landlord cannot retaliate against tenants by evicting them or raising the rent. If your landlord tries to evict you within six months of an action you have taken to assert your rights, you may have a defense against it. Make sure you keep copies of all actions which might be cause for retaliation, such as Rent Board notices, Building Inspection notices, etc.


(Information provided by the San Francisco Tenants Union and Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco and can be downloaded as a flyer here.)

Your rights don’t change just because your landlord does. You can’t be evicted, have your rent raised, or have your rental agreement changed just because your building was sold.
So don’t panic! This is a time when knowing your rights is important, but there are certain steps you can take to protect yourself and stay in your home.
When a building is sold, typically one of three things happens:
  1. The building is converted into condos or a form of joint ownership called “tenancy in common (TIC)” for sale as homes for buyers.
  2. The landlord seeks to live in one or more of the units and may want family members to live in other units.
The landlord might be able to do an owner move-in (OMI) to move into your apartment, but they must follow the legal OMI process. Many OMI evictions are fake and apartments are found vacant or re-rented to new tenants at market-rate, illegally.
  1. The building continues as investment rental property (the landlord lives elsewhere).
Buying a building in today’s market is expensive, and new landlords may be looking for ways to increase their profits:
  • They may try to get tenants to sign new, more restrictive rental agreements or they may try to take away services to get more out of your rent money.
  • They may encourage tenants to move out by offering money to leave (a buyout offer). You do not have to accept this offer. It likely will not be a good deal for you.
  • Sometimes harassment is aimed at longer-term tenants paying affordable rents, because once a long-term tenant is out, they will be able to raise the rent to whatever they like.
What is an “Estoppel Agreement” or “Rental Questionnaire”? Should I sign it?
When a building is for sale, the realtor often gives tenants an “estoppel agreement” or “rental questionnaire” to sign. The landlord is seeking information in this form to solidify what you do and don’t have access to and what you can and can’t do on the property. You do not have to fill out or sign this form unless your rental agreement requires you to. You might want to write your own informal letter instead, which will be less likely to be held against you if you left something out, and could allow you to document verbal agreements such as additional roommates, pets, parking, use of the backyard, etc.
If the landlord questions whether or not you are a “protected tenant” for purposes of owner move-in evictions (i.e., senior, disabled, or family with children), you must answer this in order to assert your protected status later.
Do I have to sign a new lease?
Many new landlords try to force tenants to sign a new rental agreement. You do not have to sign a new agreement which is significantly different from your current agreement!! Only if your landlord offers you the same agreement which you now have could you be forced to sign it. If you had a lease when you moved in, but are now on a month-to-month agreement, it would probably be safer to sign another lease. Also, it may be to your advantage to sign a lease that will protect you from the no-fault evictions (such as the Ellis act evictions or OMI) during the period of the lease.
RAISING YOU RENTS:
A new landlord cannot raise the rent above the allowable amount, unless they are ‘banking’ on rent increases the previous landlord did not take. Those increases must be the allowable ones for the years in question. The rent increase requires a written 30-day notice. If the banked rent increase is 10% or more, a 60-day written notice is needed.
ELLIS ACT:
If you building in for sale, you should know about the Ellis Act. This is a state law that allows landlords to go out of the rental business by evicting all the tenants and taking the building off the market. This law gets used as a loophole around rent control, by getting new tenants in a building paying market rents. It also increases the sale of a building as property sells for more without tenants in it.
Tenants facing an Ellis Act eviction have 120 days to move, unless they’re seniors or disabled, in which case they have one year. They also receive relocation money. Though it is possible to fight these Ellis Act eviction by drawing attention to its dishonest usage.
TALK TO A TENANTS RIGHTS COUNSELOR (AND DON’T SIGN ANYTHING BEFORE DOING SO IF YOUR BUILDING IS FOR SALE. VISIT WWW.SFADC.ORG FOR A LIST OF TENANTS RIGHTS GROUPS IN SAN FRANCISCO.


(Information provided by the San Francisco Tenants Union and Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco and can be downloaded as a flyer here.)

A buyout is an offer of money in exchange for the tenant vacating the premises. Often landlords offer buyouts when they have no grounds for a legal eviction, or to get around the constraints of the legal eviction process, including potential restrictions on what happens to the unit after the tenants are out.
Buyouts are almost never a good deal for tenants, especially with the cost of living in San Francisco at all-time high. Let’s look at an example to see how quickly buyout money can disappear in today’s housing market:
Carla moved into her 2-bedroom apartment in 2003. Her apartment cost $2,000. With allowable rent increases each year, her rent is now $2,532.07.
Carla’s landlord offers her $10,000 to move out. She negotiates and gets the offer raised to $20,000. She accepts the offer!
Now Carla has to move. She searches and searches her neighborhood, where the average rent is now over $4,500. She decides she can squeeze into a 1-bedroom to make rent more affordable, and finds a place for $3,500.
Before signing the lease, she sits down to do a budget.The new landlord wants first month’s rent, last month’s rent, and a security deposit up front. That’s $10,500.
She decides she’ll pay for the cost of hiring movers with the money she makes from selling off all of the furniture that won’t fit in her new, smaller apartment.
Now Carla has $9,500 left of her buyout agreement. But rent on this new place is an extra $968 month. That means she’ll have spent her entire buyout on that extra rent in less than 10 months.
Carla realizes that $20,000 isn’t a good deal after all. She had 45 days under city law to rescind her buyout agreement, and so she tells her landlord that she has changed her mind, and that she plans to stay in her home.
Many tenants who have taken buyouts would have preferred to stay in their apartments but were pressured through intimidation, harassment, or threat of eviction. Buyouts are now regulated by the City and a tenant has 45 days to change their mind and rescind a buyout agreement. Some things to consider when offered a buyout:
  • How much is rent on a new lease in your neighborhood?
  • How much time did you plan to stay in your unit or your neighborhood?
  • Will you find another place here in SF?
  • There is a reason your landlord wants you to take a buyout. Is your apartment worth more to you than the money?
Information about the new law regulating buyouts:
A landlord must register a buyout offer with the Rent Board via a “pre-buyout negotiations disclosure form” and also give the tenant a second form that includes a list of tenants’ rights groups, before negotiations can begin.
A tenant does not have to agree to enter into a buyout negotiation, but if they do, they may consult a lawyer and back out of the agreement within 45 days of signing it. The final agreement must be filed with the Rent Board within 46-59 days.
Any violation of this law can be enforced via civil action in state court. A landlord’s ability to condo convert may be effected by buyouts if a senior, disabled or catastrophically ill person is given a buyout, or if two or more tenants got buyouts up to ten years before the condo conversion is approved.

(The information above can be downloaded as a flyer here.)

Your landlord can’t verbally or physically harass or threaten you, or call the police to try to force you to leave. •Your landlord cannot refuse to accept/acknowledge receipt of your lawful rent payment or refuse to cash a rent check for over 30 days. Your landlord cannot discriminate against you because of your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, immigration or citizenship status, religion, age, parenthood, marriage, pregnancy, disability, AIDS or because you have a kid. Threats about your immigration status are harassment and are illegal under the rent ordinance.
LANDLORD ENTRY
Your landlord must give you 24 hours’ notice in writing to enter your unit, and they can only come in to:
  • Make necessary or agreed-upon repairs or services.
  • Show the unit to prospective tenants, buyers, mortgage holders, repair persons, or contractors.
  • Inspect the unit at the request of the tenant for a security deposit refund.
  • When there is a court order authorizing entry by the landlord.
If a landlord illegally enters your home, you should write a letter demanding 24 hours’ notice for future entries, and stating that you want the illegal entries to stop. You can also demand that the landlord only schedule times to enter during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, 8am – 5pm). Realtors may enter on weekends to show the unit on a limited basis.
UTILITY SHUT OFFS
Your landlord may not shut off any of your utilities for purpose of evicting or harassing you. If your utilities have been turned off, call the utility company and try to have them turned back on. If that doesn’t work, try the Public Utilities Commission at 415-703-1170. If it’s a water turnoff, call 415-551-4767 to get the bill put in your name.
Keep a list of all incidents, the dates, and the length of time that your service was turned off. You should also inform your landlord in writing that you know your rights and that the utility cutoff is illegal, Keep a copy. If it’s your landlord who is not paying the utility bills, you can get them turned back on in your name.
Go to the SF Rent Board file a ‘decrease of services petition’ (25 Van Ness Ave.) for a potential rent reduction.
LOCKOUTS
Your landlord cannot lock you out of your home.
If you have been locked out:
  • Under Penal Code 418, your landlord is guilty of a misdemeanor and could be arrested.
  • You have a right to regain entry to the premises even if you must break in. Keep proof of your tenancy with you at all times.
  • Keep a record of these incidents and write a letter to your landlord stating that you are aware of your rights and that you want the situation stopped without further harassment. Keep a copy.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO…
  • Keep a written record. Save copies of letters you send to your landlord. Save receipts. Keep a log of what the landlord said or did to you, noting the place and date that each incident took place. In the case of harassment, note any witnesses as well.
  • If the harassment persists, write a letter to the landlord spelling out the offensive behavior. Include dates and times. If the harassment continues, you might consider a decrease in services petition at the Rent Board (if you’re under rent control), a Small Claims Court action or consulting with an attorney about some other kind of legal action.
  • You have the right to file for a Restraining Order in Superior Court restricting when your landlord may contact you. Forms are available at the Superior Court Clerk at the Superior Courthouse, corner of Polk and McAllister Streets.

(The above information can be downloaded as a flyer here.)

In many cases, your landlord is allowed to raise your rent, but there are state and local laws that determine how much and how often it can be raised. Depending on where you live, different laws apply. If you think your rent increase was illegal, contact a tenant rights counselor for help. Visit SFADC.org/help for a list of tenants rights groups in San Francisco.

Is your unit covered by the San Francisco Rent Ordinance?

If you live in San Francisco, your unit is covered by the Rent Ordinance, unless you live in a single family home, subsidized housing, or a building built after 1979. Under rent control, your landlord can only raise the rent once per year by an amount tied to inflation (CPI – consumer price index). The Rent Board announces the annual allowable rent increase each year. For example, effective March 1, 2024 through February 28, 2025, the annual allowable rent increase is 1.7%.

Your landlord may also choose to “bank” the annual allowable rent increase, which means they do not raise your rent the year it is allowed to be imposed, but can impose one or more banked (delayed) rent increases at a future date. This is more common when a new landlord buys a building where a previous owner did not impose rent increases, but any landlord can choose to impose previously banked rent increases. You can find a list of current and past annual allowable rent increases at the San Francisco Rent Board website.

Valid Rent Increase License with Rent Board Required

A landlord must have a current rent increase license on file with the Rent Board before any annual or banked rent increase can go into effect. Licenses are granted annually when the city’s housing inventory is updated with information about the property. You can search the Rent Board Portal to see if your landlord is up to date with their rent increase license. If you receive a notice of rent increase that goes into effect while the landlord is unlicensed, you may file a Tenant Summary Petition with the Rent Board.

State Rent Control

Even if your unit is exempt from local rent control, you may be protected. State rent control will apply if your home was built after 1979 but is at least 15 years old. State rent control will also protect you if you live in a single-family home if the landlord is a corporate entity, or if your lease was not changed to inform you that you were exempt from the state protection. The state law limits rent increases to CPI plus 5%. The rent increase requires a written 30-day notice. If the total rent increase is more than 10%, a 90-day written notice is needed.

Please visit Tenants Together for more resources on statewide rent control legislation.

1942.4 Code Violations and Unaddressed Repairs

Civil Code 1942.4 states a landlord may not demand rent, collect rent, issue a notice of a rent increase, or issue a three-day notice to pay rent or quit if the unit or the building has an active Notice of Violation from the Departments of Public Health or Building Inspection for over 35 days.

If you live in “affordable housing”, including Section 8 and Public Housing:

Rent control laws do not apply to affordable housing, where rents are subsidized or required to be at a certain level by the government. This includes Section 8, Public Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing, BMR (Below Market Rate) and Tax credit (LIHTC) and some other small programs. This does not mean that you do not have protections from rent increases however. In subsidized housing, your rent is linked to your income (usually set at 30% of income), so your rent should never go above that amount, unless your income or household composition changes, or unless you fail to comply with the requirements of the program (eg. annual recertification paperwork). In other affordable housing programs, rent is regulated so that there is also a limit to how much your rent can be raised. For help with rent increases in these types of programs, call the Housing Rights Committee at 415-703-8634 or Bay Area Legal Aid at 415-982-1300.Your landlord can’t verbally or physically harass or threaten you, or call the police to try to force you to leave. •Your landlord cannot refuse to accept/acknowledge receipt of your lawful rent payment or refuse to cash a rent check for over 30 days. Your landlord cannot discriminate against you because of your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, immigration or citizenship status, religion, age, parenthood, marriage, pregnancy, disability, AIDS or because you have a kid. Threats about your immigration status are harassment and are illegal under the rent ordinance.

(The above information can be downloaded as a flyer here.)

As of April 11, 2022, tenant associations in San Francisco in buildings with five or more units have new rights and protections under the Union at Home Ordinance.

We will update this page with more information soon, but a summary of protections below is courtesy of Housing Rights Committee of SF:

With this new law:

  1. You will have the protected right to form an association with the neighbors in your building. For the first time ever, SF tenants have the legal right to “certify” an association in their building. If your building is five units or more and owned by a private landlord, then you and your neighbors are eligible to form an association using this new law. The process is simple: Submit a letter to your landlord with a majority (50%+1) of existing units signed on (just one leaseholder per unit is sufficient).
  2. New protections for flyering, door-knocking, and holding tenant meetings on-site. While SF tenants have had the right to flyer their buildings, tenants now have expanded rights to door-knock in their buildings, hold tenant meetings on-site in common areas and their units, and allow non-resident advocates to enter their buildings and speak with tenants about their rights.
  3. New legal requirement for the landlord to meet and negotiate with the association. For the first time ever in the country, a landlord whose tenants form an association has the legal obligation to “meet and confer” with the association. An association can request a meeting, decide on their own who attends (including non-resident advocates), raise issues to the landlord, present proposals to resolve those issues, and request agreements in writing.
  4. These new rights and protections become classified as official housing services. Just like plumbing and heat, all these new rights—called “organizing activities” in the law—will be classified as an official housing services. This means that tenants’ right to flyer, door-knock, form an association, and negotiate with their landlords are all on par with tenants’ rights to working appliances and quiet enjoyment.

    What topics might an association negotiate? Possibilities include:

    • Building maintenance and improvements, safety, and security
    • Construction projects and noise levels
    • Rent levels and passthroughs
    • Parking, storage, and other housing services
  5. If the landlord violates any of these rights or protections, then you and your neighbors are entitled to rent reductions. Instead of relying on civil court and lawsuits for enforcement, this law empowers tenants to seek rent reductions if landlords disrupt any organizing activity. Because all these rights are now housing services, a tenant association can submit a multi-unit petition at the Rent Board for rent reductions for all members—a more immediate and impactful remedy than a lengthy lawsuit.

If you are currently unhoused, living in a shelter, or living in a vehicle, you have rights to your belongings and rights with the police in public spaces. There is also help available for finding food, shelter, medical services, legal help, and more.

WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS?

City policy requires 72 hour notice of encampment removals, and you have the right to get your belongings back if they are taken by the city. It is a good idea to document your belonging in any way you can and tag them to show they are not abandoned. You also have rights during encounters with law enforcement. You can learn more about these rights here in this helpful guide created by the Coalition on Homelessness.

If you are living in your vehicle, you may be able to get a fee waiver if your car is towed or get parking tickets fines reduced or dropped, and can sign up for notification before your vehicle is towed here. Find more information about where to get help in the legal support section of this list of resources.

If you are staying in a shelter, you also have rights. The Shelter Client Advocate Program at EDC can help. Find more information here: https://evictiondefense.org/services/shelter-client-advocacy/

WHERE CAN I GET HELP?

The Coalition on Homelessness has gathered a list of services/resources here. This list includes basic necessities distribution centers, shelters, legal support, and medical services. For assistance or more information, please contact the Coalition on Homelessness at 280 Turk St/415-346-3740 from Monday-Thursday (9am-5pm) & Friday (9am-noon). 

The SF Service Guide is an online directory of homelessness and housing services in San Francisco. Anyone with access to a smartphone, tablet, or computer can use the guide to learn about a variety of programs from education to legal aid to seniors services: https://www.sfserviceguide.org/