1. Brook Turner from the Coalition for Better Housing
said that his organization opposes the Rules because they believe that Prop.
H is unconstitutional, and regulations cannot make it constitutional. Mr.
Turner believes that "after the courts have their final say",
representatives from the landlord and tenant communities should work out
a reasonable compromise.
2. Robert Pender from the Parkmerced Residents’
Organization (PRO) gave a short history of that organization and urged the
Board to pass rules and regulations to enforce Proposition H.
3. Tenant George Buffington commended the Board
on the proposed Rules and urged them to "prevent passthroughs."
4. Tenant Edward Evans urged the Board to implement
Prop. H because seniors and working class individuals are being affected
by passthroughs, and one will "have to be a millionaire" to live
in San Francisco pretty soon.
5. Tenant Alma Morris from Lombard Place expressed
outraged that her landlords are considering litigation after what the tenants
have been through. Ms. Morris’ position was that: "We changed the law,
now implement it."
6. Small landlord Inge Weidman expressed her opinion
that Prop. H is not constitutional. She said that someone could put an Initiative
on the ballot to rescind PG&E rates and that such an Initiative would
pass, but it wouldn’t be legal.
7. Landlord Carlton Johnson is a retired teacher
and pensioner who only has one rental unit which needs repairs due to leaks.
Mr. Johnson told the Board that he is not unique.
8. Landlord Gary Briggs predicted that Prop. H will
be the "bane of the housing stock." He said that owners won’t
be able to make necessary repairs if everyone doesn’t pay their fair share.
He believes that many tenants will be evicted due to retroactive amounts
owed should Prop. H be thrown out by the courts.
9. Small landlord Andrew Long stated his opinion
that the fair return formula in the proposed regulations is a "joke"
that will have "real world consequences." Mr. Long said that he
was going to replace a brick foundation in his building, but there was now
no reason for him to make improvements.
10. Robert Haaland of the Housing Rights Committee
requested that the Commissioners instruct staff to stop processing capital
improvement petitions, since the Judge gave the Board the discretion to
do so. Mr. Haaland said that, since the voters passed Prop. H and the Board
of Supervisors passed a Moratorium on the Rent Board’s processing of petitions,
it is time to stop.
11. Carolyn Cahn, President of PRO, said that constitutionality
shouldn’t be a concern when 57% of the voters passed the Proposition. She
expressed concerns about having to commute should she have to move.
12. Landlord Burton Greenberg said that a means
test should be applied to rent control coverage: that those who can afford
to pay should absorb some of the costs, and that there should be hardship
relief for those who can’t. Mr. Greenberg said he had a negative cash flow
for 6-8 years. He filed a capital improvement petition in October of 1999
but didn’t receive a decision until July of 2000, so he is affected by Prop.
H and feels he should be repaid.
13. Nancy Tucker of the Small Property Owners of
San Francisco used her and Karen and David Crommie’s time to make the following
points and ask the following questions, among others: since debt service
is accepted as a legitimate business expense by the IRS, why should it be
excluded?; it is in the City’s best interest to keep small landlords in
business, or units will be lost; causing property values to go down constitutes
a "taking"; owners of small buildings are being penalized over
owners of condominiums and single family dwellings; how does one calculate
the value of owner-occupied and vacant units?; what if there is a loss in
the landlord’s base year?; senior and disabled landlords living on Social
Security won’t be able to maintain their properties, which will contribute
to the deterioration of the housing stock; and "over-regulation"
is driving small landlords out of business.
14. Samuel Peacock said to implement Prop. H, since
it is a "lifeline" for seniors.
15. Small landlord Marian Halley said that this
crisis was caused by large corporations, and that soon one will have to
be a large corporation in order to be able to afford to own property. She
said that small buildings don’t have much turnover so the landlords’ income
doesn’t go up.
16. Tenant Lorraine Calcagni of Lombard Place Apts.
said that it is a "nightmare" to live through a passthrough; that
the tenants in her building experienced horrendous conditions; the landlord
is making "exorbitant" profits; and that the tenants’ rights were
denied at their hearings before the Rent Board’s Administrative Law Judge.
17. Tenant Alan Geller expressed his view that it
is "well-intentioned" to improve property, but not to pass on
years of neglect. He said that the tenants of Lombard Place should be covered
by any regulations to implement Prop. H.
18. Tenant Chieko Yushida of Lombard Place is retired
and has lived in the building for more than 20 years. Ms. Yushida said that
she is "too old to move" and asked that the Board implement Prop.
H.
19. Tenant Ernestine Weiss blamed past administrations
for not building units, so the demand for housing has grown faster than
the supply. Ms. Weiss said that landlords are making "unconscionable
profits"; complained about hotelization; and said that "ignoring
the will of the people equals an obstruction of justice."
20. Carolyn Blair of the Housing Rights Committee
said "if the laws were fair, we wouldn’t have Prop. H." She said
that the landlords should open their books and, if they weren’t receiving
a fair return, it would be obvious. Since a hardship appeal is "hard
to go through", Ms. Blair asked that the Board stop processing petitions.
21. Ted Gullickson of the Tenants’ Union said that
the proposed regulations are not perfect, but they seem fair, and were drafted
by the person who has to defend the lawsuit against Proposition H. Since
the Supervisors have passed a Moratorium, Mr. Gullickson said it is "ludicrous"
for the Rent Board to continue processing petitions, and that this should
be stopped immediately.
22. Garfield Powell, co-Vice President of PRO, said
he was speaking for those who couldn’t be at the Public Hearing. Mr. Powell
said that between annual increases, PG&E passthroughs, and 7% O&M
increases, tenants at Parkmerced are faced with almost 10% increases. Mr.
Powell maintained that services at Parkmerced have gone down since the Carmel
Corporation took over.
23. Shirley Bierly of the Senior Action Network
said that it was crucial for the Board to pass Rules and implement Prop.
H immediately.
24. Tenant Michael Barrett said that landlords get
a 100% annual write-off on their taxes, and don’t need passthroughs. Mr.
Barrett believes that capital improvements must be major, for example, adding
an elevator. He said that "doghouses" are worth $1,000,000 in
San Francisco, and complained about abuses of the Ellis Act.
25. Landlord Bill Quan said there is something wrong
when examples run by staff show that landlords would not get rent increases
based on lack of a fair return. Mr. Quan thinks that proposed amendments
to the Regulations are an "improvement". He thinks that any regulations
shouldn’t be "set in stone" and that flexibility is required.
26. Tenant Keltie Morris of Lombard Place said that
she lived with extreme mildew for many years, while the landlord refused
to effectuate repairs. She believes that window replacement constitutes
a repair, rather than a capital improvement.
27. Tenant Arnold Cohn said that Judge Robertson
said that Prop. H was constitutional. Mr. Cohn believes that tenants shouldn’t
have to pay for deferred maintenance, and that the reduced purchase price
of the building should compensate new owners for capital improvements they
have to make. Mr. Cohn said that small owners aren’t the problem, but that
"nobody’s making them hold on to their properties." Mr. Cohn suggested
that any tenant worried about their landlord’s income could make a tax-deductible
gift of up to $10,000.00.
28. Small landlord Will Sprietsma said that he couldn’t
afford to get a loan to fix the leaks in his building, and can’t access
the equity in his property because the units are rented at below market
rents. Mr. Sprietsma thanked the tenant community because he has realized
that it would be cheaper to buy a building in the South of France and move.
29. Jim Casio informed the Board that he purchased
a TIC. His old landlord had fixed up the building, and Mr. Casio said that
he was glad to pay the passthrough because he was raised not to "get
something for nothing." Mr. Casio believes that San Francisco is about
to become a "49 by 49 foot slum."
30. Small landlord Peter Holden said that his 4-unit
building is currently worth $300,000 but, if he Ellised it, it would be
worth $800,000. He asked that the Regulations provide a fair rate of return,
including mortgage, interest and legitimate business expenses. He also said
that Prop. H didn’t address landlord hardship, and it could have.
31. Tenant Rennie O’Brian said that if improvements
to a landlord’s property can be passed on to tenants, landlords should have
to share any capital gains with their tenants when they sell the property.
32. Tenant Ann Doherty of Marina Cove said that
the Board should stop processing capital improvement petitions, and instead
schedule the petitions filed by the tenants at that property. She believes
that small landlords should be treated differently.
33. Janan New, Director of the S.F. Apartment Association,
said that the Board couldn’t re-work Prop. H to make it constitutional.
Ms. New believes that most landlords won’t get a cent under the proposed
regulations, especially small landlords. Ms. New believes that this will
lead to the degradation of neighborhoods and raise "life-safety issues";
and remarked that Supervisor Daly has introduced TIC legislation when Proposition
N was defeated by the voters.
34. Tenant Angelique Duvall said that the Rent Board
hasn’t enough authority to do its job of protecting average income tenants
because it can’t award damages, nor make landlords make repairs.