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June 10, 1997

June 10, 1997B>

 

 

 

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

Tuesday, June 10, 1997 at 6:00 p.m. at
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70, Lower Level

  1. Call to Order

    Vice-President Wasserman called the meeting to order at 6:06 p.m.

  2. Roll Call

    Commissioners Present: Becker; Bierly; Gruber; Marshall; Mosser; Palma; Wasserman.

    Commissioners not Present: Moore.

    Staff Present: Grubb; Wolf.

    Commissioner Lightner appeared on the record at 6:11 p.m.; Commissioner Murphy arrived at 6:19 p.m.

  3. Approval of the Minutes

    MSC: To approve the Minutes of May 20, 1997.
    (Palma/Becker: 4-0)

  4. Consideration of Appeals

    1. 3435 Mission St. R002-19R

      The tenant’s petition alleging an unlawful increase in rent and substantially decreased housing services was dismissed due to her failure to appear at the properly noticed hearing. On appeal, the tenant claims that she missed the hearing because she had to be out of town on an emergency.

      MSC: To accept the appeal and remand the case for a new hearing. (Palma/Marshall: 4-0)

    2. 38 Dearborn St. R001-57A

      Two tenant petitions alleging unlawful increases in rent were granted and the landlords were found liable in the amounts of $5,170.00 and $2,699.85. On appeal, the landlords maintain that the decision is unfair because the excessive increases were imposed by the prior owners of the property and the fact that petitions had been filed was not disclosed prior to the closing of escrow on the purchase of the building. Additionally, for one of the units, the landlord points out that a refund was given for a 12-month period when only 7 months were at issue.

      MSC: To deny the appeal except to remand the case to the hearing officer for the issuance of a Technical Correction. (Marshall/Becker: 5-0)

    3. 1450 Washington St. #7 R002-21R

      The tenant’s petition alleging an unlawful increase in rent and substantial decreases in housing services was dismissed due to her failure to appear at the properly noticed hearing. On appeal, the tenant states that her flight to San Francisco was delayed, and her roommate had not received notice of the hearing because she had not been listed on the petition.

      MSC: To accept the appeal and remand the case for a new hearing. The remand hearing shall be held in abeyance pending the issuance of the Decision of Hearing Officer regarding the landlord’s petition for a determination as to whether one of the subject tenants is a new tenant for purposes of raising the rent pursuant to the provisions of Rules and Regulations Section 6.14. (Marshall/Becker: 5-0)

    4. 2030 - 23rd St. R001-58A

      The tenant’s petition alleging substantially decreased housing services due to serious habitability problems in the unit was granted, in part, and the landlord was found liable to the tenant in the amount of $6,533.75. On appeal, the landlord claims that he failed to attend the properly noticed hearing because he did not receive notice, and attaches the requisite Declaration of Non-Receipt of Notice of Hearing.

      MSC: To accept the appeal and remand the case for a new hearing. (Becker/Palma: 5-0)

  5. Old Business

    1. Proposed Procedural Changes

      Senior Hearing Officer Sandra Gartzman followed up on her appearance at the May 20, 1997 Board meeting concerning several proposals advanced by staff in order to expedite the processing and adjudication of petitions. Regarding proposed regulations allowing for the dismissal of operating and maintenance and comparables petitions which are defective and/or incomplete due to inadequate documentation or some other problem, the Board voted as follows:

      MSC: To put the proposed regulations pertaining to administrative dismissal of certain landlord petitions out for Public Hearing on July 1, 1997, with a change to make it clear that such dismissals, as well as dismissals of capital improvement petitions pursuant to Rules and Regulations Section 7.17, will be without prejudice to re-filing. (Gruber/Lightner: 5-0)

      Regarding the possibility of offering the public the option of "Minute Orders" instead of full decisions, the Commissioners expressed their support for a 6-month Pilot Program with monthly reports to be brought back to the Board. Informational materials will be developed and provided to the Commissioners at the July 1st meeting. There was no support expressed for the concept of an independent appraiser that could be used by the Board for comparables petitions.

    2. 2714 Webster St. (Q001-55A) (heard May 20, 1997)

      The Board discussed this case, which was the subject of an appeal hearing at the meeting on May 20th, in light of a Memorandum from the Deputy Director outlining possible approaches to resolution. The following motion was passed:

      MSC: To find that the landlord is not liable to the tenant for the amount of $3,025.20, which is the remainder after sums owing from each party to the other are offset, due to laches and other equitable considerations. (Gruber/Lightner: 3-2; Becker, Palma dissenting)

    3. 1077 - 1081 Ashbury/1038 Clayton (R001-80R thru -84R)
      (heard May 6, 1997)

      The Board discussed this case, which concerned allowable increases under the RAP Program, in light of a Post-Hearing Submission from the tenants’ attorney. The Commissioners went through the file and verified which of the invoices and receipts for rehabilitation work on the building constituted "maintenance" and which was more in the nature of capital improvement. Prior to their discussion, the Commissioners passed the following motion:

      MSC: To recuse Commissioner Murphy from consideration of this matter. (Murphy/Lightner: 5-0)

      As Commissioner Becker was not present at the subject appeal hearing, he went off the record during the discussion.

  6. Communications

    In addition to correspondence concerning cases on the calendar, the Board received the following communications:

    1. A copy of the Notice of Entry of Judgment Denying Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the case of Susoeff v. Rent Board (Superior Court Case No. 984130).

    2. A letter from Deputy City Attorney Mark Barmore to Attorney Clifford Fried regarding the case of Larsen v. Rent Board (Superior Court No. 979-777).

    3. Two "Daily Journal" articles regarding several recent court cases on the issue of regulatory "takings."

    4. A letter from Executive Director Joe Grubb to Al Goodwin of Rent Board Petition Associates regarding on-going problems with petitions filed by Mr. Goodwin.

    5. A report on useage of the City’s Web sites for the month of May.

  7. Director’s Report

    Executive Director Grubb reported as follows:

    1. It is now possible to download the Ordinance and Rules and Regulations in their entirety through the Internet.

    2. The Chinese version of the Info-To-Go voicemail information line is now on-line; the Spanish version will, hopefully, be available next week.

    3. The Board has the use of the Mayor’s Box for a Giant’s doubleheader on July 27th.

  8. Calendar Items

    June 17, 1997
    5 appeal considerations
    Old Business:

    Proposed Procedural Changes: Minute Orders

    June 24, 1997 - NO MEETING

  9. Adjournment

    President Lightner adjourned the meeting at 8:25 p.m.

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