(415)552-9060
Can I Get Evicted For Adding A Lock To My Closet?

Can I Get Evicted For Adding A Lock To My Closet?

Can I Get Evicted For Adding A Lock To My Closet?

I have been having a hard time with my landlord/management (the building was sold in July-no one was notified) and someone entered my apartment (which is in an SRO hotel) and put some nasty stuff in my closet.

I am 67 years old and I’ve lived here for over 20 years. Because of this incident, I want to put a lock on my closet. Is that permitted in a hotel?

Before I answer your question, I want to point out that it is a violation of Rent Ordinance 37.9(k) to fail to inform tenants that a building is on the market. The ordinance also provides that tenants must be informed of their rights in a notification that the building is for sale.

If real estate agents know about this they’re not letting on. I see many cases in which landlords have failed to inform the tenants of a pending sale.

As you may be aware, Single Room Occupancy Hotels (SROs) are covered by the San Francisco Rent Ordinance and state law. You have the same rights as a tenant in an apartment.

You need to check your lease to see if it allows you to “alter” the apartment without the consent of the landlord. If you don’t have a lease, you may install a lock on the closet without further ado.

If your lease states that you can only alter the apartment with consent of the landlord, you have two choices. You can write the landlord and request written consent or you can install the lock and see what happens.

If the landlord notices the lock and wants you to remove it, he must serve you a three-day notice to cure or quit, meaning that you have three days to remove the lock before the landlord can serve you with an unlawful detainer lawsuit to evict you. You can choose to remove the lock to avoid an unawful detainer or you can choose to fight the eviction.

Luckily, seniors (60+ years old) can receive free unlawful detainer representation at Legal Assistance for the Elderly. The program has a staff crackerjack housing attorneys who know how to defend evictions.

Frankly, I don’t think a jury would toss you out of your home simply because you put a lock on a closet, but as I have said in several columns, fighting an eviction in court is tricky. Before you decide to defend an eviction, talk to LAE or the San Francisco Tenants Union to develop a strategy.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060

Adding A Roommate, Losing A Garage

Adding A Roommate, Losing A Garage

Adding A Roommate, Losing A Garage

I have been in my current (rent-controlled) two-unit apartment here in San Francisco since September 2008. The property manager states they will not process nor approve any application until they have received a positive verbal or written referral from the prior landlord/property manager/roommate.

I am not aware of any city, state or federal law supporting this requirement and understand that a property manager/landlord may only use personal information from an application to rent to confirm proof of income and credit worthiness, and the approval must be completed within a reasonable period of time (as far as I can tell, five business days).

This requirement by the property manager nearly sabotaged my new roommate when, after almost two weeks, they refused to allow him to move in because his prior landlord/roommate apparently wasn’t returning their calls.

My second question: the property manager has also refused to allow me to remain the master tenant on the lease, but instead insists that the new roommate be a co-tenant despite the fact that I have never been late paying the rent (with and without a roommate) since I moved in.

I would like to remain the master tenant (and the new roommate was aware of this wish and agreed to it prior to applying), but the property manager created a “Modification to Lease” placing my new roommate on the lease as a co-tenant.

Under the lease, I am entitled to park two motorcycles and a vehicle in the garage, and since I moved in, have neatly stored items in the storage area (I essentially have sole access to the garage since the tenant downstairs does not drive). After the new roommate moved in, the property manager sent me a letter stating that we must remove all items in the garage despite knowing of the storage matter and no one (that we know of) complained about our storage. I checked the lease and it states, “storage in unit only.”

Are the first two issues lawful, and do I have to move our things despite their constructive notice that I/we have always stored things in the garage/storage room?

All of your issues involve gray (unclear) areas of the law. By that, I mean that your issues, if litigated, will be subject to administrative or judicial interpretation. All of your issues are interesting. And you should understand that when a lawyer says your case is “interesting” that translates as “expensive.”

Can the property manager refuse to process a roommate application without a reference from a former landlord? Rent Board Rules and Regulations § 6.15A and B govern the process by which a roommate can be added to a tenancy. Assuming you have a clause in your lease that allows subletting with the landlord’s written consent (most leases do) the applicable section is 6.15B(b)(ii):

“The proposed new tenant or new subtenant, if requested by the landlord, has completed the landlord’s standard form application, or, in the event the landlord fails to provide an application or has no standard form application, the proposed new tenant or new subtenant has, upon request, provided sufficient information to allow the landlord to conduct a typical background check, including credit information, income information, references, and background information.”

I imagine that most “standard applications” ask for the name of a former landlord. Read narrowly, one could interpret the rules as only requiring the tenant to fill out the application. However, no one is going to argue that the landlord cannot, upon receiving the application, “conduct a typical background check.” There’s the rub. I would certainly argue that a new roommate should not be penalized by a former landlord’s recalcitrance in providing a reference. What if the guy is on an extended silent meditation retreat in an ashram in India? Or recently deceased? What if the new roommate doesn’t have a former landlord, having just moved out of her parents’ house?

The problem is that there is no clear answer. Would it be worth a shot to litigate this at the Rent Board? Perhaps, but in your case you would not have standing to do so because your roommate was, finally, approved.

Can the property manager insist that a new roommate become a co-tenant? Frankly, I’m surprised that they would want to. Your roommate will have all of the rent ordinance protections you now have. Simply put, the landlord cannot increase the rent to market rate if you move out.

The only advantage of being a master tenant is the ability to evict a subtenant, either with or without just cause. (See Rules and Regulations §6.15C.) If your roommate becomes a co-tenant you would not be able to evict her at all because co-tenants cannot evict each other. Personally, I don’t see a problem because I don’t think anyone should want to be a landlord.

That said, you may not have to sign a new lease with the modification as proposed by the property manager, but the law is not completely clear. Rent Ordinance §37.9(a)(5) provides that a tenant can be evicted if he or she refuses to sign a new lease “under such terms which are materially the same as in the previous agreement.” Your roommate is a party to the lease not a term in the lease, yet the modification itself is, arguably, a material new term.

Finally, the storage issue is also subject to interpretation. Your lease specifically requires “storage in unit only.” Did the property manager “waive” that requirement? Waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right. That the property managers knew about your storage in the garage is not necessarily enough to prove their intent.

I think the best strategy is to remove the items from the garage. Then consider filing a petition for decrease in services at the Rent Board. Bear in mind that you will have to show that losing the storage has some monetary value; that losing the storage is a substantial decrease; and that the property managers intended to give up their right to demand that you remove the items. It’s a close call.

When presented with cases like this, I ask my clients to think long and hard before they risk their tenancies based upon unsettled issues in the law. For example, if you were my client, I may have advised you not to allow your new roommate to move in had the property manager refused to accept her based on their inability to contact the old landlord.

Defending evictions is expensive, time consuming and stressful. Often it’s better to make a business decision. Ask yourself, “Is my tenancy going to be worth it after I amortize these costs?”

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060

Toilet Traumas

Toilet Traumas

Toilet Traumas

I am a huge fan of your column, but because my property managers are usually pretty great and responsive to problems, I never thought that I would have a question for you.

However, I have an ongoing problem with the toilet in my bathroom, which has been “fixed” twice before already (I’ve lived in my place three years), but is acting up again.  The problem has to do with the hose that fills up the tank that holds the clean water; it gets clogged and then will suddenly spray water all over my entire bathroom–often when I’m doing things like….oh…trying to get ready for work in the morning.

Anyway, this same thing just happened again, for the third time. Since it happened on a Sunday, I had to call the “emergency line” for my property managers.  I left them a voicemail, but never heard back.  They will be in the office on Monday, and by the time you answer my question, I’ll have dealt with this issue, but since I’m sure I’ll have this plumbing problem again, I thought I’d ask for future reference:  If I have called several times and can’t get in touch with the property managers, and if the toilet is unusable (which it is), is it within my right to call a plumber myself, have that person fix it, and deduct that bill from my next month’s rent?

My other question is this: at what point can I get a “second opinion”about the plumbing (and I’m prepared for your answer to be “never,” if that’s the case)?  I feel that the problem with my toilet may even be the toilet itself, or even the pipes (the pipes in my neighbor’s apartment sprung a huge leak in Dec., sending a flood of water into the restaurant below his unit.  What I’m saying is that I have a feeling whatever “fixing” has occurred with my toilet may just be temporary “quick-fixes” designed to stave off replacing things (like the toilets and maybe even the pipes) that need to be replaced rather than “repaired.”  So…if I think that’s the case, can I call out a plumber to assess what’s happening with my plumbing and see how that person’s “diagnosis” compares to the one arrived at by the contractor who works for my property managers?

I’m channeling Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, the irascible doctor from the original Star Trek: “Dammit, Jim, I’m a lawyer, not a plumber!” Except that I was a plumber of sorts in a past life. Back in my painter/handyman days, I crawled under a lot of toilets. No, I’m not going to regale you with any anecdotes about what you can find there.

Let’s face it; toilets are a big part of our lives. That’s why you should know how they work.

If you are experiencing a leak in the supply tube or supply line, the spray or dripping will likely occur at the fixture connecting to the tank or the pipe coming from the wall. There should be a valve at the wall as illustrated. If there isn’t a valve, the landlord should install one. If the supply line leaks, you should be able to turn it off.

In older buildings, the line could be ¼ inch copper tubing. Usually that’s the culprit. Copper tubing can crimp and bend at the fitting points and lose the ability to seal. When I was working in the trades, we routinely replaced copper tubing with flex hose. You can go to Cole Hardware or any plumbing supply store and find the appropriate length for about five bucks. Turn off the water, remove the old supply line and replace it with the flex hose.

Or print this and show it to the management repair person.

If the leak is or spray is coming from the valve, it should be replaced. It is unlikely that the line is clogging up. If it is that means there is something wrong with the water supply.

You’d likely see clogging in other faucets in the unit. That’s a problem, you’re drinking it!

Indeed, given your description of the neighbor’s leak, there could be serious issues with the plumbing.

California Civil Code §1942 provides that a tenant can “repair and deduct” if the tenant gives the landlord reasonable notice and if the amount is less than one month’s rent. The law presumes that reasonable notice is 30 days unless circumstances warrant otherwise.

In your case, it would be reasonable to call a plumber and bill the landlord because loss of the toilet could be considered to be an emergency. If, at the end of the month, the landlord serves a three-day notice to pay the amount you deducted, pay it. Then file a petition for decrease in services with the Rent Board.

You can always get a second opinion, just don’t expect the landlord to pay for it.Depending on other conditions in the apartment, you may want to call a Housing Inspector from DBI.

Next week I’ll talk about jiggling the handle and “Oh my God! What’s that?!”

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060

How Do I Ask For Permission To Get A Dog?

How Do I Ask For Permission To Get A Dog?

How Do I Ask For Permission To Get A Dog?

I’ve been living in a fourplex since December 2005. I’d really like to get a small dog, but I don’t know how to go about asking my landlord. Cats were negotiable, and I know that my neighbor has two cats. My lease states: “No pets of any kind shall be kept on the premises without the prior written consent of the Owners. If such consent has been established, the Tenants agree to the following rules:” And then there’s a lengthy paragraph about keeping cat litter a certain way, bird cages, cats being spayed and neutered, but nothing about dogs.

So my question is: how can I ask my landlord for permission to have a dog, without getting rejected?

Fear of rejection…a huge factor in the human condition. Because I have recently bleached my hair, I’m feeling it. Will she think I’m attractive? Will I lose credibility with my clients, or worse, the judge? Why did I let Laura, my hairdresser, convince me to do it? Now do I look like an over-the-hill Billy Idol? Will anyone say Yes! to me ever again?

As the old saw goes, life carries with it few guarantees. Maybe that’s why many of us are so attracted to dogs. They usually offer unconditional love, unlike landlords.

First, I have to say that you are approaching this issue correctly from a legal standpoint. As I have said several times in these columns, you don’t want to get a pet without permission and, after you’re threatened with eviction for breach of the lease, have to send it to the pound or move out. For purposes of this column I’ll assume that you have no disability issues and cannot request a dog as a reasonable accommodation.

I’m also going to assume that you’re rent is below market rate because you’ve lived in the unit for almost five years. Unfortunately, then, you likely don’t have the leverage of threatening to move if the landlord denies your request.

We know the landlord in your case isn’t completely opposed to pets. That’s a good thing. But cats don’t dig and chew and bark. Maybe your landlord is a cat person. That could be a problem.

Before you ask for permission to get a dog, try to anticipate the landlord’s objections. Be ready to explain your concept of a “small dog.” If you get an adult dog, rather than a puppy, you have some good built-in arguments. You already know the adult size of the dog. The dog might be housebroken and not so inclined to chew up the landlord’s precious 1898 door jambs. Be ready to answer the question, “What if the dog gets lonely and barks all day while you’re at work?” Ask the other tenants how they feel about a dog on the premises. If they’re okay with a new dog, that could go a long way in assuaging the landlord’s fears of potential liability.

SF Appeal readers, please share your experiences about this.

There’s an old Butthole Surfers song called “Sweat Loaf” that starts with a question:

Child: Daddy?
Father: Yes, son.
Child: What does regret mean?
Father: Well, son a funny thing about regret is that it’s better to regret something that you have done than to regret something you haven’t done…

The point here is that there is no perfect way to ask your landlord for permission to get a dog. You may be rejected, but you gotta ask.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060

Rents Are Dropping, Can I Renegotiate?

Rents Are Dropping, Can I Renegotiate?

Rents Are Dropping, Can I Renegotiate?

Rents are dropping.

I signed a lease on 3-1-09 for $1425/month, but rents have dropped in my building and area. Same unit on the top floor rented for $1300, I am on the 2nd of 3 floors. How should I negotiate? Write a letter now or wait until lease renewal on 3-1-10, when it goes month to month? I love the building and I am a great tenant. Help!

Rents are dropping. Should tenants rejoice? Hardly. I think that would be akin to celebrating when Capital One lowers your interest rate from 29.9% to 27.9%. Whoopeee! I talk to many tenants who are searching for apartments. Anecdotally, I just don’t perceive that rents are going down that much, more vacancies for sure, but the rents still seem to be sky high.

I do, however, know that some landlords are willing to lower their rents, especially for good tenants.

Technically you are bound by the contracted rate until the lease expires, however you and the landlord can agree to modify the lease at any time. If you live in a rent controlled apartment in San Francisco, I don’t see why there is any reason to wait. The rent will be fixed anyway, with increases according to the allowable annual rate. Beginning March 1, 2010, the allowable increase is 0.1%.

When you begin to negotiate with your landlord you should understand that there may be a time in the future when he will want to increase your rent back up to the contracted rate, i.e. $1,425.00 per month. The Rent Board’s policy, when considering tenant petitions alleging illegal rent increases in these cases, is to inquire if the decrease was based on the tenant’s hardship or a change in the market.

If the Board decides that the landlord decreased the rent because you were having a hard time, in the future they will allow the landlord to increase the rate based on the original contract. If the Board decides that the landlord decreased the rent solely based on the softer market, they will find that he can only increase the rent based on the rate you negotiated.

Landlords who are aware of this policy, even if they want to negotiate a decrease, may want to depict the decrease as one based on hardship. They are usually very reluctant to attribute the decrease to market conditions.

It sounds like you are in a good position to negotiate. The top floor just rented for $1,300.00 per month, so you can justify your request using the pure logic of mathematics. The market has been established at $1,300.00. If you move and the landlord tries to rent your unit for $1,425.00 and it stays vacant for just one month until he gets a tenant, it will take him more than 10 months to amortize the cost of the vacancy. You already know that he can’t rent it for $1,425.00 anyway. The math is powerful.

Assuming you agree on a new price, it will be tougher to get the landlord to acknowledge that the decrease is based on the market. The best way to do this is to write it in the lease modification document. The next best way is to make sure that all of your negotiations are in writing. You can prove at a later date that you never asked for a favor, and that you based your request on the market rate. Everything should be in writing anyway.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060

Prohibited Pets Could Put You In The Doghouse

Prohibited Pets Could Put You In The Doghouse

Prohibited Pets Could Put You In The Doghouse

A couple years ago I fell in love with my now 12 pound, somewhat disabled, dachshund-terrier and brought her home to my one bedroom apartment in the city. The problem is, it is clearly checked off on my lease ‘no pets’. She doesn’t make noise, never poops or pees (in the apartment), has never damaged any part of the apartment, and generally doesn’t bother anyone in the building. In fact, new tenants are often surprised there is a dog in the building when I leave to walk her sometimes.

My worry is that, if the landlord somehow finds out about her, can he evict me? Can he evict her?

I hope you didn’t name your dog I.P. Freely or Killer. It doesn’t seem that your dog is causing any damage or threatening the neighbors, but that is not the issue. The fact is that you are in breach of your lease and could be evicted for having your pooch because it seems like the lease has a clear “no pets” provision. Your landlord could serve you a 3-Day Notice to Cure or Quit. That is, get rid of your dog or move. If you do not comply, you could be served with an unlawful detainer (eviction) lawsuit alleging that you are in breach of your lease.

Sometimes we see cases where the landlord who lived in the building visited the tenant and even played with the pet. In one instance we heard from a tenant whose landlord illegally entered the unit to express the puppy’s anal glands! In those cases one can argue that the landlord waived the “no pets” provision in the lease. You imply that your landlord is unaware of your dog. That’s a problem.

If you live in a rent controlled apartment and your rent is lower than market rate, that’s another problem. You may have provided your landlord the perfect excuse to get rid of you in order to double the rent.

So what do you do now? You can ask your landlord to allow your dog to live in the premises. If the landlord agrees, you should ask him to put it in writing. As you can see this option is fraught with pitfalls because you have alerted the landlord to the fact that you have a dog. You should get as much information as you can before you talk or write to the landlord. For example, ask around the building to see if the landlord has permitted other tenants to have pets. You can also offer to increase your security deposit to take care of any damage that you dog may cause.

If you are disabled you can request that the landlord provide you a reasonable accommodation and allow you to keep the dog as a companion animal. This is a common and legal request that has been consistently supported by disability case law. Low income pets owners can get help from PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support).

Or you can do nothing. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. If the landlord sells the building, it is common practice for new owners to ferret out tenants who are breaching their leases. Usually they want to increase their income and that’s a great way to do it. Beware of a pending sale and consult an experienced tenant counselor before you reveal that you have a pet to potential buyers in what is commonly called an estoppel certificate.

Interestingly there is a growing movement to forbid landlords from discriminating against pet owners. The San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission is currently considering a resolution supporting the idea that could lead to a new ordinance. You should write them to support their efforts: City Hall, Attn: Commission of Animal Control & Welfare, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 362, San Francisco, CA 94102, (415) 554-6074.

I unequivocally support these efforts, but I still need to berate you a little. As a lawyer, it is extremely frustrating to me to speak to tenants who have knowingly violated their leases by acquiring a pet and who are forced to either give up their cherished animal or face eviction. I don’t enjoy assuming the role of hard-hearted bastard to tell them their case is a loser. In general, if you have a clause in your lease prohibiting pets, don’t get one until you receive permission, in writing, from the landlord.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060

Read Your Lease!

Read Your Lease!

Read Your Lease!

If you are living in an apartment with more people than provided for on the lease, but the landlord knowingly accepts rent checks from the extra parties, does this constitute a sort of “oral agreement” in which the landlord must abide the same laws governing his relationship with the other tenants? More simply, if he accepts my rent check as one of the “extra parties,” can he still “evict me” because I’m not on the lease?

Ah, leases…scintillating, page tuning reading, NOT! Imagine a Broadway musical called, “Lease!” No amount of nudity could keep it from flopping.* Unfortunately you need to understand your lease to answer many questions about your tenancy. So my general advice to tenants is: “Read your lease.”

Most leases have a clause governing assignment and subletting. Interestingly, many tenants think that subletting only occurs when one vacates an entire unit and turns it over to somebody else. When you add or replace roommates you are subletting part of the unit, so the subletting cause in your lease applies.

Typical leases provide that tenants may not sublet without the written consent of the landlord.

Assuming your lease is typical; your case is relatively straightforward. Your landlord accepted and presumably cashed your check. It’s likely that he signed the back of it when he deposited it into the bank. By accepting rent directly from you he has waived (given up) his right to evict you and your roommates for breach of the covenant against subletting.

We lawyers also argue that by his conduct of directly accepting your check, the landlord is estopped (prohibited) from claiming that he did not accept your tenancy.

The landlord may attempt to serve you and your roommates a 3-day notice to perform covenant or quit for breaching the lease. If you don’t move out after 3-days, theoretically he can serve an unlawful detainer (eviction) lawsuit to evict everybody. A landlord cannot legally evict one tenant in the premises; he must sue to get possession of the entire unit.

Given what you’ve told me, if the landlord tries to accuse you of breaching the lease, you have a good defense. You should contact your bank and get copies of all of your checks indorsed by the landlord to use as evidence that he accepted your tenancy.

Mind you, more lies per square foot are told in court than anywhere else but church. And landlords suffer more amnesia than soap opera starlets. Just because you have a good defense to an eviction doesn’t mean the landlord won’t try to boot you out.

I’d like to take my husband off our rental agreement because he left and refuses to pay rent. How can I do that without having hassles from my landlord that I can afford to live in my apartment on one earning? Do I have to enter into a new lease, with a new rent? I’m on the lease now, and the building is protected under rent control, (if that matters.)

It does matter that your tenancy is rent controlled. The just cause eviction provisions of the Rent Ordinance allow your lease to continue on a month to month basis because you can only be evicted for one of the 16 just causes. The Rent Ordinance also provides that your rent can only be increases by the allowable annual increase.

If you are named on the lease you probably don’t have to do anything. You certainly do not have to sign a new lease with a new rent. Rent Board Rules and Regulations §12.20 specifically prohibits a landlord from endeavoring to evict a tenant based on a breach of a term in a lease that “was unilaterally imposed by the landlord and not agreed to by the tenant and either was not included, or is not materially the same as an obligation or covenant in the rental agreement mutually agreed to by the parties.” A new rent amount, unless it is lower, will qualify as such a term. How many times has your landlord tried to lower your rent?

Read your lease. If there is a term requiring you to notify the landlord that your husband moved, do so. Other than that, you should be fine.

Call the Tenant Lawyers now for a free consultation.
(415) 552-9060