Rent control is a local housing policy that limits the amount of annual rent increase that can be charged by landlords.
The SF Rent Board officially administrates rent control in the city. Their office is at 25 Van Ness Ave.
Most rentals are covered by rent control although there are a few exceptions including:
- If the building was constructed after June 1979.
- The housing is subsidized.
- It is a dormitory, monastery, nunnery or like general residence.
- A residential hotel and have less than 28 days of continuous tenancy.
There are officially 15 just causes for eviction under the current law including a few no fault reasons for which the tenant must be 'resonably' compensated. The no fault causes are:
- Capital Improvements
- Demolition
- Owner Move In
- Ellis Act
- Substantial Rehabilitation
How tenants are compensated is currently a matter of heated debate though the Ellis Act is California State Law and the representatives in the SF Municipal Government have routinely expressed that they are powerless to change it.
