To view graphic version of this page, refresh this page (F5)

Skip to page body

February 03, 1998

February 03, 1998B>

 

 

 

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF
THE SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTIAL RENT
STABILIZATION & ARBITRATION BOARD,

Tuesday, February 3, 1998 at 6:00 p.m. at
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70, Lower Level

  1. Call to Order

  2. President Lightner called the meeting to order at 6:05 p.m.

  3. Roll Call

    Commissioners Present: Becker; Bierly; Gruber; Lightner; Moore; Wasserman.
    Commissioners not Present: Mosser.
    Staff Present: Grubb; Wolf.

    Commissioner Justman appeared on the record at 6:08 p.m.;
    Commissioner Marshall arrived at 6:10 p.m.; and
    Commissioner Murphy at 6:25 p.m.

  4. Approval of the Minutes

    MSC: To approve the Minutes of January 20, 1998.
    (Gruber/Bierly: 5-0)

  5. Consideration of Appeals

    1. 25 Ulloa St. S001-32A

      The tenants’ petition alleging a substantial decrease in housing services due to the revocation of his right to have a third roommate in the unit was granted and the landlord was found liable to the tenant in the amount of $4,400.00. On appeal, the landlord asserts that there was no reduction in a housing service and the tenants are therefore not entitled to a reduction in rent.

      MSC: To deny the appeal. (Becker/Bierly: 5-0)

    2. 1080 Bush St. #600 S001-50R

      The tenant’s petition alleging substantial decreases in housing services was dismissed due to his failure to appear at the properly noticed hearing. On appeal, the tenant claims that he misread the hearing date listed on the Notice of Hearing, and thought that the hearing was scheduled for the following day. It was the consensus of the Commissioners to continue consideration of this case to the next meeting in order for the Deputy Director to investigate whether the tenant appeared at the Rent Board office on the day he asserts he believed that the hearing would be held.

  6. Communications

    The Commissioners received a copy of a letter from Attorney Steven Rosenthal to a tenant regarding unilateral changes in the terms of the tenancy, stating his position that newly enacted Rules and Regulations Section 12.20 is ultra vires of the Rent Board’s powers.

  7. Director’s Report

    1. Executive Director Grubb showed the Commissioners a copy of the "Customer Survey Response" form that the Rent Board will now be using to measure public satisfaction with the services provided by the agency.

    2. Mr. Grubb informed the Board that there is some confusion surrounding the proper interpretation of Rules and Regulations Section 6.13, which reads as follows:

      1. No extra rent may be charged solely for the addition of a newborn child to an existing tenancy, regardless of the presence of a rental agreement or lease which specifically allows for a rent increase for additional tenants. Such provisions in written or oral rental agreements or leases are deemed to be contrary to public policy.

      2. Section 6.13(a) shall not be construed, by implication or otherwise, to establish a rule for cases involving other children, roommates or any other additional tenants.

      Section 6.13 was adopted to make very clear that charging additional rent for newborn children was unlawful; the intent of subsection (b) was to clarify that specifying "newborns" in (a) did not mean that rent increases for other individuals in a unit were allowable. However, since subsection (b) can be read to imply that there are not Rules regarding rent increases for individuals other than newborns, this issue will be calendared for discussion and possible amendment at the next meeting.

  8. Old Business

    1. Proposed Additions to the Rules and Regulations Pertaining to Changes in Roommates and "Master Tenants"

      The Board considered their discussion of proposed Rules and Regulations Section 6.15, drafted by Commissioner Marshall. As modified, proposed new Section 6.15 reads as follows:

      Section 6.15

      Subletting and Assignment

      1. For tenancies entered into after the date of adoption of this Section 6.15, where a lease or rental agreement contains an enforceable absolute prohibition against sublet or assignment, breach of such covenant may constitute a ground for termination of tenancy pursuant to Section 37.9(a)(2) only if such prohibition was adequately disclosed to and agreed to by the tenant at the commencement of the tenancy. For purposes of this subsection, adequate disclosure shall include, but not be limited to, satisfaction of the following requirement: (i) the prohibition against sublet or assignment is set forth in enlarged or boldface type in the lease or rental agreement and is separately initialed by both landlord and tenant; and/or (ii) the landlord has provided the tenant with a written explanation of the meaning of the absolute prohibition, either as part of the written lease or rental agreement, or in a separate writing.

      2. Where a lease or rental agreement, whether oral or written, permits sublet or assignment, or where an absolute prohibition against sublet or assignment has been waived, and the lease or rental agreement specifies a number of tenants to reside in a unit, or where the open and established behavior of the landlord and tenants has established that the tenancy includes more than one tenant, the replacement of one or more of the tenants by an equal number of tenants, subject to subsection (c) below, shall not constitute a breach of the lease or rental agreement for purposes of termination of tenancy under Section 37.9(a)(2) of the Ordinance.

      3. Where a lease or rental agreement requires a landlord’s consent to sublet or assignment, failure to obtain such consent shall not constitute a breach of the lease or rental agreement for purposes of eviction under Section 37.9(a)(2), where the landlord has unreasonably withheld consent to such change; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to assignment of the entire tenancy or subletting of the entire unit for longer than _____* months. Withholding of consent by the landlord shall be deemed to be unreasonable if the tenant has met the following requirements:

        * number of months (between 1 and 12) to be determined by Board after public hearing.

        1. The tenant has requested in writing the permission of the landlord to the sublease or assignment prior to the commencement of the proposed new tenant’s or new subtenant’s occupancy of the unit.

        2. The proposed new tenant or new subtenant, if requested by the landlord, has completed the landlord’s standard form application, or, in the event the landlord fails to provide an application or has no standard form application, the proposed new tenant or new subtenant has provided sufficient information to allow the landlord to conduct a typical background check, including credit information, income information, references, and background information.

        3. The tenant has provided the landlord five (5) business days to process the proposed new tenant’s or new subtenant’s application.

        4. The proposed new tenant or new subtenant meets the regular reasonable application standards of the landlord.

        5. The proposed new tenant or new subtenant has agreed to sign and be bound by the then current rental agreement between the landlord and the tenant.

        6. The tenant has not, without good cause, requested landlord consent to a new tenant or new subtenant more than two times one time per tenant residing in the unit during the previous 12 months.

      4. Where a lease or rental agreement, whether oral or written, permits sublet or assignment or subletting with landlord consent and, or where an absolute prohibition against sublet or assignment has been waived, and the lease or rental agreement specifies the number of tenants to reside in a unit, or where the open and established behavior of the landlord and tenants has established that the tenancy includes more than one tenant, failure of the landlord to consent to the replacement of one or more of the tenants by an equal number of tenants, subject to subsection (c) above, may constitute a decrease in housing services pursuant to Section 10.10 of these Regulations.

      5. nothing in this Section shall prevent the landlord from providing a replacement new tenant or new subtenant with written notice as provided under Section 6.14 that the replacement tenant is not an original tenant as defined in Section 6.14(a) and that when the last of the tenant(s) who meet the latter definition vacates the premises, a new tenancy is created for purposes of determining the rent under the Rent Ordinance.

      6. A landlord who is not an owner of record of the property and who resides in the same rental unit with his or her tenant (a "Master Tenant") may evict said tenant without just cause as required under Section 37.9(a) only if, prior to commencement of the tenancy, the Master Tenant informs the tenant in writing that the tenancy is not subject to the just cause provisions of Section 37.9. In addition, a Master Tenant shall disclose in writing to a tenant prior to commencement of the tenancy the amount of rent the Master Tenant is obligated to pay to the owner of the property.

        MSC: To put proposed Rules and Regulations Section 6.15, as modified, out for Public Hearing. (Becker/Justman: 4-1; Gruber dissenting)

    2. Necessary Amendments to the Rules and Regulations in Order to Implement Amendments to the Rent Ordinance Pertaining to Owner Move-In Evictions

      The Director briefed the Board on possible approaches to the development of a method for determining who will qualify as "disabled" within the meaning of the recently enacted moratorium on owner move-in evictions of senior, disabled and catastrophically ill individuals. Mr. Grubb will provide the Commissioners with copies of disability regulations used in conjunction with the SSI/SSP Disability Programs.

  9. New Business

    Calculation of Imputed Interest

    Commissioner Gruber brought up several problems with the way that the Board calculates the imputed interest rate, including: the methodology outlined in Rules Section 7.14(b) is not always followed, because the specified rates are not always available in the Wall Street Journal on the last business day of January; and the desireability of using a date more in line with the date used for calculation of the annual allowable increase. The Executive Director will investigate alternatives for discussion at the next Board meeting.

  10. Calendar Items

    February 10, 1998 - NO MEETING

    February 17, 1998
    5 appeal considerations (1 cont. from 2/3/98)
    Old Business:

    1. Proposed Rules Section 6.15: Scheduling of Public Hearing
    2. OMI Moratorium: Regulations
    3. Calculation of Imputed Interest
    4. Rules Section 6.13

  11. Adjournment

    President Lightner adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m.

Last updated: 10/9/2009 11:26:14 AM