June 1, 2004MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF
THE SAN FRANCISCO RESIDENTIAL RENT
STABILIZATION & ARBITRATION BOARD,
Tuesday, June 1, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 70, Lower Level
I. Call to Order
President Wasserman called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Commissioners Present: Becker; Gruber; Henderson; Hurley; Justman; Mosbrucker;
Mosser; Wasserman.
Staff Present: Gartzman; Wolf.
Commissioner Marshall appeared on the record at 6:15 p.m.; Commissioner Murphy
arrived at the meeting at 6:50 p.m.
III. Approval of the Minutes
Acting Executive Director Wolf informed the Commissioners that Genevieve Callejo of the Parkmerced Residents' Organization (PRO) asked that a correction to the Minutes be made because the entirety of her comments were not reflected in the Minutes.
IV. Remarks from the Public
A. Carolyn Cahn, President of the Parkmerced Residents' Organization (PRO), said that Rules Section 11.23 doesn't state that one needs to be suffering a hardship in order to qualify for an attorney provided by the Rent Board. Ms. Cahn believes that the Parkmerced tenants uncovered fraud and other mis-representations by attending hearings at the Rent Board, and that these irregularities wouldn't have been discovered otherwise. Ms. Cahn said that PRO has exhausted their treasury on Rent Board representation, and that accommodations should be made for large groups of tenants.
B. Earl Brown of the SRO Collaborative appeared on behalf of tenant appellant Tom Alloway of 935 Geary St. #1004 (AT040049). Mr. Brown explained that Mr. Alloway is not able to read, and therefore he didn't follow up when he received the decision on his landlord's capital improvement petition. Since Mr. Alloway is on SSI, Mr. Brown asked that the Commissioners accept the appeal and remand the case for a hearing on his claim of financial hardship.
C. Tenant Tom Alloway informed the Board that everything Earl Brown said is true. Mr. Alloway told the Commissioners that he has a learning disability and is on a fixed income.
D. Tenant Olivia Wahlberg told the Board that she had been representing herself. Ms. Wahlberg experienced difficulties with estate and income property that she had.
V. Consideration of Appeals
The tenant's appeal was filed 8-1/2 months late because the tenant is illiterate and could not read the Decision of Administrative Law Judge when it was sent to him.
The landlord's petition for certification of capital improvement costs to 68 of 114 units was granted, resulting in a passthrough in the amount of $5.34. One tenant appeals the decision on the grounds of financial hardship.
The landlord's petition for certification of capital improvement costs to 4 of 12 units was granted, resulting in a passthrough in the amount of $266.75. One tenant appeals the decision on the grounds of financial hardship.
The landlords' petition for certification of capital improvement costs to 5 of 9 units was granted. However, the Administrative Law Judge determined that garages in the building also benefited from the work, and allocated the costs accordingly. On appeal, the landlords argue that: in terms of square footage and rental income, the garage spaces are not comparable to the residential units and only the residential units should be counted; any benefits accruing from the seismic strengthening project to the garages is incidental; costs of an exterior paint job in a prior case were not allocated to the garages; the issue of cost allocation was not mentioned at the hearing; and the effective date of the passthroughs should be September 1, 2003.
The tenant's petition alleging decreased housing services in this residential hotel was denied because the Administrative Law Judge found that the tenant had failed to provide notice to the landlord regarding the alleged conditions. The tenant appeals, maintaining that: the Administrative Law Judge abused her discretion; a fictitious address was given for the landlord; inspection reports were submitted in 1988-89; and there were problems with the walls, plumbing, sink and vanity in the room that was the subject of the petition.
This appeal was withdrawn prior to the Board meeting.
The subtenant filed a petition requesting a determination as to whether he was paying more than his share of the rent for the subject unit. The Administrative Law Judge found that the Master Tenant's bedroom is 60% larger than the subtenant's bedroom. With credit for amenities furnished by the Master Tenant, the Master Tenant was found liable to the subtenant in the amount of $1,602.30. On appeal, the Master Tenant claims that: the square footage differential was not considered relative to the total square footage of the unit; evidence provided by the Master Tenant was ignored; the subtenant's bedroom has amenities that the Master Tenant's does not; the Master Tenant is in "substantial compliance" with the intent of Rules and Regulations Section 6.15(c)(3); and the Decision presents the Master Tenant with a financial hardship.
The landlord's petition seeking a determination pursuant to Rules and Regulations Section 1.21 was granted and the Administrative Law Judge found that there is no "Tenant in Occupancy" at the subject unit. On appeal, the tenant claims that her due process rights were violated because a requested postponement was not granted; and that she has met many of the indicia of principal place of residence enumerated in the regulation.
VI. Communications
The Board received the following communications:
A. A copy of the Action Apartment case, concerning tenant harassment provisions of the Santa Monica rent law.
B. The office workload statistics for the month of April, 2004.
C. A June 1st letter from landlord Bill Quan regarding proposed amendments to Rules and Regulations Section 4.11.
VII. Director's Report
Acting Executive Director Wolf told the Board that the process of replacing prior Executive Director Joe Grubb is underway. President Wasserman, who is on the interview committee, said that four candidates have been interviewed thusfar.
VIII. Old Business
At the meeting on May 18th, Neutral Commissioners Justman and Wasserman offered the following compromise proposal: for tenants who never had a utility passthrough or who had a passthrough in effect on 12/31/03 but there are not records to prove costs in the base year, the base year shall be 2002 but after five years the base year shall be moved up five years; and for continuing passthroughs where a base year prior to 2002 can be proved, there will be no indexing for years prior to 2002, but every year thereafter shall be indexed by the CPI. Commissioner Justman reported that he has been working with staff to draft this proposal, but that implementation problems have become apparent. Commissioner Justman will continue to confer with Senior Staff and will bring forward a draft proposal at a future meeting.
The Parkmerced Residents' Organization (PRO) has requested that attorney representation be provided to them pursuant to the language of Rules Section 11.23, which provides as follows: "If the Administrative Law Judge determines that a party cannot afford the services of an interpreter, the Board shall assist in obtaining an interpreter or attorney (emphasis added) at no cost to the party." The Board briefly discussed this provision, and asked that staff draft an amendment to this Section to clarify that the Board shall provide interpreters but not attorneys to low-income individuals. Draft language will be provided to the Board for discussion at the next meeting.
IX. Calendar Items
June 8, 15 & 22, 2004 - NO MEETINGS
June 29, 2004
8 appeal considerations (1 post. from 6/15/04; 1 rescheduled from 7/6/04)
Old Business:
A. Rules and Regulations Section 4.11
B. Rules and Regulations Section 11.23
New Business: Rules and Regulations Section 2.13
X. Adjournment
President Wasserman adjourned the meeting at 7:07 p.m.