March 16, 1999B>
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR
MEETING OF
THE SAN FRANCISCO
RESIDENTIAL RENT
STABILIZATION &
ARBITRATION BOARD,
Tuesday, March 16, 1999 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 6:09 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Commissioners Present: Becker; Bierly;
Gruber; Justman; Lightner; Marshall; Wasserman.
Commissioners not Present: Moore; Mosser;
Murphy.
Staff Present: Grubb; Wolf.
III. Approval of the Minutes
MSC: To approve the Minutes of March 2,
1999.
(Lightner/Gruber: 5-0)
IV. Old Business
A. Costa-Hawkins (Civil Code Section 1954.53)
The Board continued their discussion of
issues associated with the implementation of the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing
Act of 1995. The Commissioners went through a re-draft of suggested amendments
to the Rent Ordinance prepared by Deputy City Attorney Marie Blits as the
result of the Board’s discussions at the meetings on January 5th and February
2nd, 1999. The Board re-visited the issues of vacancy control or vacancy
decontrol/recontrol when prior tenancies were terminated pursuant to 30-day
notice or when health and safety code violations remained unabated for
6 months or longer preceding a vacancy that occurred proximate to the exemption
date of January 1, 1999; and discussed which provisions of Costa-Hawkins
pertaining to assignment and subletting affect San Francisco’s Ordinance
and Rules and Regulations, particularly Rules Section 6.14. As to the question
of how to treat rooms in a single family dwelling that are not separately
alienable, but are rented out as separate rental units, the consensus of
the Board was that once there are 3 separate tenancies, not including the
owner, the premises are no longer exempt as a single family dwelling or
condominium. In the event that the number of separately rented rooms should
fall below 3, any tenants who had resided on the premises when there were
3 separately rented units would continue to be covered. However, if such
a unit were vacant, it would be exempt from rent control until such time
as 3 rooms were separately rented. It was agreed that only an owner, and
not a Master Tenant, could claim exemption pursuant to Costa-Hawkins.
As to the question of whether the concept
of "anniversary dates" will still apply to units that are otherwise exempt
from rent increase limitations pursuant to Costa-Hawkins, the Board passed
the following motion:
MSC: To find that the concept of "Anniversary
Date" as defined in Rules and Regulations Section 1.11 shall not apply
to units exempt from rent increase limitations pursuant to Costa-Hawkins;
landlords of such units shall not be limited to "annual" rent increases.
(Lightner/Gruber: 3-2; Becker, Marshall dissenting)
The Deputy Director will forward changes
agreed upon by the Board to Ms. Blits for incorporation into a new draft;
this issue and discussion of proposed amendments to the Rules and Regulations
will be re-calendared for a future meeting.
B. Rental Unit Fee
Executive Director Grubb informed the Commissioners
that the proposed increase in the Rental Unit Fee necessitated by the 85%
increase in workload over the last 3-year period will be $16.00 per unit;
$8.00 per residential hotel unit. The fee increase will fund the following
positions: 4 Permanent Hearing Officers; 3 Temporary Hearing Officers;
1 Permanent Senior Hearing Officer; 3 Permanent Citizens’ Complaint Officers;
and 1 City Attorney Investigator to assist with investigation and monitoring
of complaints of wrongful eviction. The fee will be deducted from the interest
due on the tenant’s security deposit; landlords who are current in the
payment of such interest will be allowed to continue to bill separately
for collection of the fee. Landlords will be able to "bank" the fee, just
as they are allowed to "bank" the annual allowable rent increase.
V. Communications
The Board received a copy of an article
from The Independent of March 16, 1999 regarding a lawsuit being filed
by property owners challenging the constitutionality of Proposition G and
recently enacted legislation requiring a Conditional Use Permit for conversion
to non-rental use, including owner-occupancy, in buildings containing 3
or more units.
VI. Calendar Items
March 23, 1999 - NO MEETING
March 30, 1999
9 appeal considerations
Old Business:
A. Interest Rate When Capital Improvement
Work is Financed with a Variable Rate Mortgage
B. Issues Possibly Warranting Amendments
to the Ordinance and Rules and Regulations
New Business: Proposed Amendment to Rules
Section 1.17 Regarding Non-Residential Use of a Unit
VII. Adjournment
President Wasserman adjourned the meeting
at 9:05 p.m.