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Can Move I Out and Sublet to New Roommates?

Can Move I Out and Sublet to New Roommates?

Can Move I Out and Sublet to New Roommates?

I was researching on how to add new roommates to my lease in SF, and found your super article, “Tenant Troubles: Can I add a new roommate to my lease?”

I would love some help. I have a 1-bedroom rent controlled apartment, and I would like to keep it, as I love the location. The lease is originally for 1 adult occupant (myself) and my son (a teen now, a toddler when we started renting). I’ve lived there for 10 years. I entered into a new lease in a different bay area city a month ago. I need more space for a home business, and it was getting very cramped with a teen son. I work in SF and it’s convenient for me to switch up and stay in this SF apartment at times, plus it’s nice to be in my old neighborhood/stomping grounds.

I have a couple who are interested in becoming new roommates. I read your article, it was a really nice confirmation of my understanding of Rent Board Rules & Regulations § 6.15E.

I’ve notified the landlord, and let him know that I am requesting to add 2 roommates, and remove my son as an occupant, so it ends up becoming 3 occupants total, for a 1 bedroom. I’ll be responsible for full payment. The landlord is unwilling to approve of it and he did not give a reason.

I have a few questions:

1. I would like to ask what are my options in challenging this? I see that your article suggests to petition for a rent decrease for a reduction in housing services. If I go this route, can I ask for 2/3 reduction since they are refusing for me to add 2 occupants?

2. Alternatively, can I ask the Rent Board to allow the new roommates, since the landlord has no reason to reject, and it is a roomy 1 bedroom, 550 square feet? What are my chances in pursuing this option? The roommates need a place, and they were expecting to move in soon, and it would be my preferred outcome.

3. Would you recommend I use a lawyer such as yourself? I have never approached the Rent Board before.

If you have read my other articles about absentee master tenants, you know that I advise potential new roommates to never, ever move into an apartment with an absentee master tenant. See, e.g. My Absentee Master Tenant Was Scamming Me And My LandlordWhy An Absentee Master Tenant Is A Bad Idea; and I Think My Master Tenant Is Scamming Me.

Arguably, the landlord’s refusal to sublet is per se unreasonable because he did not give you a reason for his refusal. Arguably, you can simply allow the new “roommates” to move in. But I still think it’s a bad idea and here’s why.

First, you should understand how a lawyer or a judge, including an administrative law judge at the Rent Board, might read your facts if they were offered as some sort of statement under oath:

“I have a 1-bedroom rent controlled apartment, and I would like to keep it, as I love the location.” You want to keep your apartment, but you don’t need to keep it.

“The lease is originally for 1 adult occupant (myself) and my son (a teen now, a toddler when we started renting). I’ve lived there for 10 years. I entered into a new lease in a different bay area city a month ago. I need more space for a home business, and it was getting very cramped with a teen son.” Your son is a minor and he still lives with you. He moved out because you did. You have a home business. You moved out of your San Francisco apartment to get more living and working space.

“I work in SF and it’s convenient for me to switch up and stay in this SF apartment at times, plus it’s nice to be in my old neighborhood/stomping grounds.” Earlier you said you have a home business, now you say you work in SF. Which is it? I’m not saying you can’t have both, but it’s not apparent that you must come to San Francisco on a regular basis for work. You confirm that, by saying you want to come to San Francisco, occasionally, to hang out.

Based upon the facts you’ve presented here (and I’m not saying that there aren’t more), I could conclude that you want to maintain a San Francisco pied-à-terre to which you could return once and awhile to get drunk in the old neighborhood and sleep on the couch to avoid driving home.

Second, think about the new “roommates.” I’m sure they’re delighted at being able to pay below-market rent, that is unless you’re charging them airbnb rates. They may even be willing to reserve a place on the couch for you when you come to the City, but for how long?

Moreover, if the landlord gets wind of your arrangement, he will likely serve a 60-day notice to increase the rent based upon the fact that the unit is not your permanent place of residence per the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which, hopefully will be repealed in November. The landlord can allege that he has the right to increase the rent because the new “roommates” are subsequent occupants and the unit is not your permanent place of residence.

The landlord also could attempt to evict them outright under Rent Ordinance § 37.9(a)(7):

“A landlord shall not endeavor to recover possession of a rental unit unless The tenant holding at the end of the term of the oral or written agreement is a subtenant not approved by the landlord.”

I don’t think an attempt to evict, based on this section would hold much sway over a court because the landlord has unreasonably refused such approval. But that doesn’t mean that the landlord won’t try to evict, subjecting you and your new “roommates” to the massive cost of defending an eviction in court. I also believe that this section of the Rent Ordinance should be eliminated, given the Kim Amendments.

Finally, your decision to sublet rather than to simply move out weakens rent control for the rest of us. As the campaign against Costa Hawkins repeal heats up, we’re going to see ads on TV depicting crying little old ladies, the “mom and pop landlords” crying and whining about how nasty tenants, like you, usurped landlords’ god-given right to increase the rent by moving out and subletting apartments to new roommates.

To briefly answer your questions: 1) For the reasons above, I wouldn’t advise you to try to seek a decrease in rent at the Rent Board, other lawyers might, but I wouldn’t; 2) The Rent Board does not have the jurisdiction to require that the landlord accept the new “roommates”; and 3) We would not take your case, others might, but we wouldn’t.

Bad idea! Don’t do it!

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My Absentee Master Tenant Was Scamming Me And My Landlord

My Absentee Master Tenant Was Scamming Me And My Landlord

My Absentee Master Tenant Was Scamming Me And My Landlord

So in December 2011 I started living in an apt with 3 other girls in SF. Lo and behold I found out that the man who we were paying our rent to was the master tenant not an actual landlord and that he actually lived in San Diego. So since he was there he designated one of the roommates as his spokesperson. She kept in contact with him about any problems with the apartment was in charge of finding new roommates etc. She told me that the way deposits work is that the new roommate writes the deposit out to the old roommate that moves out and whenever I move out the same would be done for me. I have this all in writing in my original rental agreement that I was given.

Now at the end of July 2012 I ended up moving to Chicago for my job. When I asked his “spokesperson” about when I would receive my deposit back she told me that it wasn’t her responsibility and for me to deal with the master tenant. When I did he told her no its your (his spokesperson) job since you deal with the apartment’s business. I have not heard from her since then. In fact she ended up abandoning the apt without notice and supposedly no one has seen her since. It has been almost 3 months and I still do not have my deposit.

I have been in constant contact with the master tenant and he constantly says that he hasn’t heard anything from the landlord and that he doesn’t know what to do. I felt bad for him until I received a forwarded letter in Chicago about a landlords petition where we (I was still included on the list even though i moved out already) were supposed to show up to a court hearing. All of our names were included even though it was dated almost 2 months after I left. Clearly the landlord is not sitting idly by. I brought it up to the master tenant and he says he had no idea and never received a notice (although his address included with his name on the petition was the same address we mailed our checks to.)

Since then I have contacted the SF Rent Board and was told I had the right to bring the master tenant to small claims court. When I brought it up to him in a very civil manner (I even gave him until the end of the month and have the email as proof!) he responded very nasty saying that I could bring him to court but he wouldn’t ever pay me so what good would that do and that I didn’t pay the deposit to him so what could I possibly do to him.

I find it hard to believe that somebody that is not doing all that he can to get us our deposit back is able to just do that with no sort of consequence. What can I do?

I find it hard to believe that you can actually muster up some concern for this sociopath after he blatantly ripped you off.

Before I tell you that your chances of recovering your security deposit are only slightly better than Mitt Zomney’s chances of winning last night’s election, you should call the Rent Board again and find out if decision was made on the landlord’s petition and get a copy of that decision.

I think the landlord probably discovered that the master tenant did not live in the unit and was likely making a profit on the rent by overcharging the roommates. The landlord probably filed a petition under Rent Board Rules & Regulations §1.21 alleging his right to increase the rent to market rate based upon the fact that the master tenant did not reside in the unit.

I’ve written about this issue several times. See, for example, “Tenant Troubles: Why An Absentee Master Tenant Is A Bad Idea” and “Bad Master Tenant.”

Simply put, your ex-master tenant is a liar. He received the notice from the Rent Board and he never talked to the landlord about getting your money.

Essentially a landlord can collect a security deposit at the inception of the tenancy, when the tenant or tenants sign a lease. The deposit is held, as security against damage, nonpayment of rent, etc. Even if roommates come and go, the landlord does not have to return the security deposit until the tenancy ends, until a new lease is signed with, presumably, new tenants. The building owner/landlord has no duty to return your portion of the security deposit.

The master tenant knew this. He would never jeopardize his little enterprise by contacting the landlord for you.

It is also likely that the lease provided that he had to seek the landlord’s permission to sublet. Do think he did that? You’re actually lucky that weren’t named in an unlawful detainer (eviction lawsuit). I recommend that you contact the real landlord and inform him that you moved out in July just in case he decides to evict the rest of the roommates.

Normally I would advise you to sue ’em all and let the court sort it out. But master tenants rarely have assets or jobs that you can lien and/or attach. That’s why they set up these schemes in the first place. To complicate matters, the roommate/manager (thief number 2) absconded with your security deposit and you don’t know where she is to be able to serve her with a summons to appear in Small Claims Court.

You don’t mention the amount of your deposit, nor do you say if you still live in Chicago. Each of those factors should be considered before you file a claim. Will the amount of the security deposit justify flying back to California to present your case when it’s likely you’ll be suing two deadbeats?

If you want to find out more about the small claims process read Everybody’s Guide to Small Claims Court from Nolo Press.

Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Tenants: Never, ever rent a room from an absentee master tenant!

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Am I Still The Master Tenant If I Moved Out Of My Apartment For Six Years?

Am I Still The Master Tenant If I Moved Out Of My Apartment For Six Years?

Am I Still The Master Tenant If I Moved Out Of My Apartment For Six Years?

I live in an apartment building that has six units, built in 1907, in the Mission, near Dolores Park, in San Francisco. My brother and I and a 3rd roommate signed a one-year lease in 2004. In the last 8 years our apartment has been a revolving door of tenants, each we have subleased without the landlord knowing. They are very hands off and don’t ever visit or seem to care about the property as long as they get a check each month.

In 2005, I moved out along with the 3rd roommate on the lease, leaving my brother as the only original lease-signer living in the apartment with two subletters. We never told the landlord.

Fast forward 6 years and I move back in to the apartment, around January 2011, with my brother and a 3rd roommate not on the lease, let’s call her Jamie. Sorry as this gets complicated. My brother moves out in August 2011 and now I am writing the check to the landlord every month for the entire rent amount and I am now the only original lease-signer living here.

I subleased to somebody else, let’s call him John, when my brother moved out, and now our relationship is very rocky. I want to kick John out, and he wants me to leave. I am unsure of my rights and his rights at the moment.

He wants me to leave, but I think that since I’m the only original lease-signer still living here, if I left, Jamie and John would probably be kicked out and the rent would increase; if my landlord even allowed them to stay or sign a new lease.

As far as my landlord knows, I’ve been living in the apartment since my original lease signing, with my brother and the original 3rd roommate, and they have no idea other people live here other than us. This apartment is rent controlled as well.

So, what happens if I leave and nobody on the original lease lives here to write them a check? Am I within my rights to evict John who I’ve been subletting for the past year? What happens if John and I cannot resolve who leaves the apartment, and neither of us will leave willingly?

Whew! Before I answer your question, I have to tell you, “Warning! Warning! Danger! Danger!” If your landlord gets wind of these facts, he may be inclined, given the current rental market, to evict you for illegal subletting. If you plan to stay in the apartment, you should begin to seek permission to sublet for each new roommate you you take on. But that’s for the future.

Technically you are not an original occupant because you moved out for six years. If you find yourself in a Rent Board hearing of some sort, you will not be able to testify, under oath, that you are an original occupant. That could be a problem. You won’t have a great defense based upon the fact that the landlord has continued to accept your rent checks. The landlord can claim that he was ignorant of the facts and that he would not have accepted your checks had he known the truth.

Hypotheticals aside, when you vacate, the landlord will very likely assume that you are the last remaining original tenant. He will certainly be able to increase the rent to market rate pursuant to Rent Board Rules & Regulations §6.14.

Moreover, the roommates are unapproved subtenants and the landlord can evict them using Rent Ordinance §37.9(a)(7) which articulates a just cause allowing a landlord to evict holdover subtenants if “[t]he tenant holding at the end of the term of the oral or written agreement is a subtenant not approved by the landlord.”

You are correct in your first assumption.

I don’t think you have the right to evict John because you don’t have the standing to do so. In law, standing means the status of being qualified to bring a legal matter before a court because a plaintiff has a sufficient and protectable interest in its outcome. Only a master tenant can evict a subtenant. Technically speaking you are a master tenant, but you cannot demonstrate that you are an original occupant because you moved out for six years, unless you lie. Problem.

Even if you do have standing to evict John, unless he signed a sublease or other document that clearly stated his subtenancy was exempt from the just cause provisions of the Rent Ordinance, you cannot simply serve him a notice to vacate without cause. (See Rent Board Rules & Regulations §6.15C.)

As you presented them, the facts don’t seem to rise to the level of a just cause under the Rent Ordinance.

So, no, I don’t think you can evict John, but he cannot evict you either.

Finally, if you and John can’t resolve the issues between you, it looks like somebody’s gonna have to move. But to paraphrase the late Rodney King, Why can’t you all just get along?

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My Master Tenant’s Fallen In Love, Am I Screwed?

My Master Tenant’s Fallen In Love, Am I Screwed?

My Master Tenant’s Fallen In Love, Am I Screwed?

Renters wait for hours to apply for a Tenderloin studio apartment priced at $2500.00 per month.

Master tenant in love

So in the midst of Rentpocalypse 2012, I managed to score a nice room in a spacious flat at a reasonable rate. I know, right? It’s been a good year. Concurrently, however, the master tenant has fallen a little head-over-heels for someone and has increasingly been spending time at their place. As in enough time that even her cat spends more nights over there than in the apartment lately.

I’m thinking there’s a non-zero possibility that she could be moving out, and possibly soon. Not to push my already good luck, but I was wondering: As a subtenant, what are my rights if she gives notice? Would I have to negotiate a new lease entirely? Would I inherit any rent protections? The only interaction I’ve had with the landlord, in writing or otherwise, was a check written out to him personally for August rent, which he cashed.

Master tenant in love? Welcome to Rentpocalypse 2012! Have a seat, but don’t stay too long.

As you might guess, this is a common scenario, but at least you are in the position to gather information and make some plans.

You don’t mention how rent the landlord is receiving for the flat. If your roommate has leased the unit for fifteen years and the rent is $2,000 per month below market, the landlord will have plenty of incentive to increase the rent if your roommate departs. On the other hand, your roommate will have plenty of incentive to keep the place until she is absolutely certain she wants to move.

You need to speak to your roommate and ask her if she has any future plans to move. Point out that it is important to understand her plans because it’s likely that you will either have to pay increased rent or move as well. Read last week’s column to understand why.

Essentially you are a subsequent occupant as defined by Rent Board Rule & Regulations §6.14(c). Your landlord will be entitled to increase the rent when you vacate.

I don’t put too much stock in the argument that because the landlord cashed a couple of your checks, you’ve established a new tenancy. The Costa Hawkins Rent Housing Act (which should be repealed) in Civil Code §1954.53(d)(4) states:

“Acceptance of rent by the owner shall not operate as a waiver or otherwise prevent enforcement of a covenant prohibiting sublease or assignment or as a waiver of an owner’s rights to establish the initial rental rate unless the owner has received written notice from the tenant that is party to the agreement and thereafter accepted rent.”

You should keep paying the rent to the landlord because the longer that goes, the stronger the argument that you are a party to the agreement. But you should not have any illusion that you can keep renting the flat at the current rate simply because you paid rent directly to the landlord.

Go to the San Francisco Tenants Union to more fully discuss your potential issue.

More importantly, talk to your roommate. Hopefully, she doesn’t have any immediate plans to move. Knock on wood. Maybe you can ride out Rentpocalypse.

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My Absentee Master Tenant Was Scamming Me And My Landlord

I Think My Master Tenant Is Scamming Me

I Think My Master Tenant Is Scamming Me

I thought this might be a good question for people like me who sublet temporarily in SF for a couple of months to give themselves more time to look for more permanent housing.

I am subletting an apartment in a 5 unit old Victorian in the Mission District of San Francisco for about 3 months from the original tenant who I met off Craigslist.  The tenant was temporarily leaving to take care of an ill family member on the East Coast.  I offered to write up the sublet contract because she was leaving for the East Coast in 5 days and was clearly distraught and still had a lot of things to take care of.

The tenant asked for an initial payment of the rent for the first month and the last month and an additional security deposit of a month’s rent of $1700 (in cashier’s check), plus utilities of about $60 in addition to rental reference and credit check.  She also asked me to include an option in the contract letting her move back in a week earlier and she promised to pay me back the prorated one week’s worth of rent before I vacated the apartment.  She has 30 days to return my security deposit.  She told me some other things to put in the contract about her plants and keeping the place clean and we agreed on the final version over phone and by email before meeting in person.

Before I moved in I asked to meet her landlord but she assured me she already talked to him.  We met the day before she left, went over the contract together and signed it then she gave me her keys.  A month into the sublet I ran into the landlord who was surprised to meet me and asked if I was living in that apartment.  I explained to him that I was subletting for about 3 months and was equally surprised that he didn’t know about it.  He told me the tenant had previously sublet to another people without telling him and he was unhappy about it but that generally she was an okay tenant who had lived there four years.  After some small talk, we exchanged contact information and he told me to let him know if there were any problems or anything that needed to be fixed.

Since that time, the tenant has exhibited more worrisome irrational behavior. 

1.     She called me trying to change the move back date in the contract to a much earlier date (not what we agreed to) and then promised both over the phone and by email to mail me the payment for the week’s rent plus utilities before my move out date in March (it’s been two weeks and I have not received it).  There is a specific provision in the contract saying that she needs to pay me that amount before I vacate.

2.     When we discussed the security deposit she was cagey saying that she would mail it back to me but she needed to hang on to it for the 30 days. Honestly, there is nothing in her apartment repair or otherwise that would be $1700.  I’ve kept everything the way she left it, watered her plants for her, and I don’t use her dishes or cookware because I have my own

3.     When discussing move out the date, she asked me to vacate the apartment and leave the keys in an envelope in her mailbox because she was going to “emotional” coming back to her apartment and wanted to be alone.  I objected saying that I felt more comfortable handing her the keys in person to make sure she received them, also that we should inspect the apartment together before I left so she could point to things that were “broken” she would use the security deposit to fix.  She reluctantly agreed but I have the feeling she wanted to avoid me.

I am worried that she is going to try to keep both my security deposit and also my week’s rent.  What can I do?  Refuse to vacate the apartment until she pays me at least the week’s rent?  Should I ask for a cashier’s check?  Get her landlord involved in this?  If she doesn’t pay me my security deposit what would I be able to do?  Small claims court?

Do I have any rights as a subletter?  What can I do to protect myself at this point?

I feel bad thinking this way but she has given me the impression that she is hanging on to my money because she’s not doing so well financially.  I don’t think she’s working right now.  Of course, I am hoping for the best but in our interactions with each other she has given me a negative impression of her in a short amount of time.  At first, I felt bad for her and thought this arrangement was mutually beneficial but now I feel like she’s trying to take advantage of me. 

Cases like this drive me crazy. It’s not enough that we in the tenant defense business have to deal with unscrupulous and/or uninformed landlords, we have to deal with tenants who decide they own their units and rent them out like landlords.

Master tenants who sublet in this manner rarely obtain the landlord’s consent to sublet. I write thousands of words complaining about landlords who don’t give a rat’s ass about their tenants. It’s always money. money, money, me, me, me.

The master tenant here is no different. She didn’t bother to consider that she could be subjecting you to a costly lawsuit that could ultimately effect your credit rating to the extent that future landlords won’t rent to you, not to mention that this could be a scam. She’s a Bad Master Tenant.

Luckily you’re not presenting the worst case scenario. The landlord could have served a notice to cure or quit alleging illegal subletting. Then the master tenant and you could spend the next couple of months defending an unlawful detainer (eviction) action–a lawsuit that the landlord would likely win. I have to say , your landlord gracefully handled the news that you were the new subletter.

The master tenant is either oblivious to the Rent Ordinance or she is relying on your naiveté. Bad.

To understand the scope of your rights as a subtenant you should first read Rent Board Rules & Regulations §6.15C. The regulation is very specific. Unless the master tenant has informed you in writing, before you sublet, that you are not subject to the just cause eviction provisions of the Rent Ordinance, the only way the master tenant can evict you is by alleging one of the just causes like nonpayment of rent, nuisance, habitual late payment, etc.

Even if you have been informed that you are not subject to “just cause” eviction, the master tenant would have to serve you a 30-day notice to quit.

Essentially, you have obtained most of the rights of a subtenant and you could tell your new “landlord” that you plan to live in the unit forever.

You also have to ask yourself if she’s simply scamming you. Believe me, that’s more common than one might think. Is she charging you more rent than she pays? What’s with the $5,100.00 charge for a temporary sublet? Did she use the dough to finance her trip? Check the Superior Court website to see if she has been sued for this before.

And here’s a thought for you: It’s not usually a good idea to give a stranger you’ve met on Craiglist over $5,000.00 unless the services are performed immediately.

So what do you do?

The landlord won’t want to get involved and he doesn’t have any duty to you anyway. He might get fed up and evict the entire household, but that does you no good.

I think you should simply tell the master tenant that you will move out, if she returns all of the unused rent  including the security deposit. (BTW, Civil Code §1950.5 provides that the landlord must return the deposit in 21 days, not 30.) She needed to hang onto to it for thirty days? Bad.

When you move out, the transaction should be a “cash for keys” exchange. That’s cash or a cashier’s check, not a rubbery gotcha note.

If the master tenant balks, you’ll know she spent your money. As distasteful as this may be, you may have to tell her that she just acquired a new roommate until she pays you.

You can also move out and sue her in small claims court, but the likelihood of ever collecting is small. The master tenant is unemployed and, think about it, her only source of income may be the next sucker she finds on Craiglist.

Why am I so freaking nasty when it comes to master tenants like this? They screw it up for the rest of us. Ironically, whatever the internal justifications master tenants sublet in this manner–ineptitude, desperation or greed–those justifications provide the fodder for landlords to demand the repeal of rent control. Of course, the repeal of rent control would further subject tenants to landlords’ greed, desperation and ineptitude.  Bad, bad, bad.

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Why An Absentee Master Tenant Is A Bad Idea

Why An Absentee Master Tenant Is A Bad Idea

Why An Absentee Master Tenant Is A Bad Idea

Our issue is this: we have a ‘new’ housemate that just is not working out well. She’s constantly being a nuisance despite many verbal and written requests to change her behavior and has a habit of damaging other housemates property as well as the unit itself. We would like to have her out but don’t know if it is legal for us to ask her to move or do we ask the master tenant to evict her?

She’s been living here 8 months and there has been some issue each month that causes us utter consternation at her lack of respect of property and forgetfulness as to the written house rules (despite the verbal and written reminders). If nothing else, due that I cannot keep my property from being damaged (I’m not talking normal wear and tear), I have to now keep furniture/appliances/etc… in my room and have lost space in the house–would this constitute a loss in services and may I reasonably ask for a rent reduction because of it?

When I received this question, my first inclination was not to answer it at all. Why? Because you are asking me a question, in your capacity as a landlord, for advice on how to evict a tenant. I don’t give eviction advice to landlords, period. But, as you can see, I think your issues need to be addressed because they are, after all, very common.

What you have here is a personality conflict. The San Francisco Rent Ordinance does not articulate a just cause to evict someone because of a personality conflict. Your facts, as you state them, do not indicate that your roommate is at all a nuisance in the legal sense. So, based on your question, I don’t believe it would be legal for either the household or the master tenant to attempt to evict your roommate. In fact, you could be liable for any damages she suffers from any “wrongful endeavor” or “harassment” to evict her.

Work out your problems with your roommate. If you need help to resolve your differences, you should try mediating the dispute with Community Boards. I don’t have any direct experience with them, but I have heard, from many sources, that they provide effective, professional and successful meditations for disputes like these.

With respect to a claim for decrease in services, I don’t see that moving your stuff into your room constitutes a substantial decrease in services. Besides, who would you name in your petition? The landlord? The so-called master tenant?

This brings me to real tenant issue implied in your question. The master tenant doesn’t live in the unit and he may not have permission to sublet.

With every complaint to the landlord you run the risk that he will begin an “inquiry” into subletting in the unit. He could claim that, despite any prior permission he gave the master tenant to sublet, he never gave permission to sublet to the current set of tenants. This happens all the time. The landlord was fine with the situation as long as there was no trouble. If he has to deal with trouble anyway, why not just get rid of all the tenants and raise the rent? The fact that the landlord lives in the same building and probably knows you and your roommates is a good thing, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t be spared a long and costly legal battle to save your tenancy.

Every complaint to the “master tenant” increases his desire to evict you. As I pointed out in, “Tenant Troubles: What Rules Govern Master Tenants?” many master tenants like to throw their weight around.

Let’s say the “master tenant” is a great person who isn’t profiting on his control of the unit and won’t try to evict you. (An unlikely scenario, as I point out in my blog post, “Bad Master Tenant.”) What if the landlord sells the building or dies? Do you honestly believe that your tenancy wouldn’t be jeopardized?

Tenants, it’s always a bad idea to rent a room in an apartment with an absentee master tenant. Too many things can go wrong.

Your problem, simply put, is that you have too many landlords. You’re a landlord wannabe. The master tenant is an absentee landlord. To top it off, the real landlord lives in the building. I see a shit storm in your future.

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My Absentee Master Tenant Was Scamming Me And My Landlord

What Rules Govern Master Tenants?

What Rules Govern Master Tenants?

If you’re a sub-tenant/not on the lease, what are your rights? Can the master tenant kick you out, or raise the rent, at his/her discretion?

Some master tenants just can’t resist throwing their weight around. The really bad ones think they own the unit. They can be as oppressive as the worst landlords. “It’s my way or the highway, Chucko!”

The worst master tenant doesn’t even live with you. He tells you that his stuff in the closet means he’s a roommate and he can drop in whenever he wants. He charges the subtenants $1,000 per month per room. Because the total, rent controlled, rent is only $400.00 per month, he can rent a really cool loft in Los Angeles while he works on his screenplay…until your landlord finds out.

Imagine the brouhaha when the landlord finds out he’s losing, say, $2,600.00 per month or $31,400.00 per year. You can bet that everybody’s going to get the boot. Not to mention that master tenants who pull this shit are the stuff of urban legend to the landlord class. They screw up rent control for the rest of us. But I digress…

Your rights in San Francisco with regard to a master tenant can be found in the Rent Board Rules and Regulations § 6.15C. A master tenant may be able to evict you without one of the just causes in the Rent Ordinance only if, “prior to commencement of the tenancy, the Master Tenant informs the tenant in writing that the tenancy is not subject to the just cause provisions of Section 37.9.” Section 37.9(a) lists the just causes, like nonpayment of rent, nuisance, etc.

Usually a master tenant will include that language in a sublease. If you were not informed

in writing that you could be evicted at will, the master tenant cannot just throw you out. Even if a master tenant can evict without cause he must provide you with a 30-day notice or a 60-day notice if you have lived in the premises for more than one year.

Master tenants don’t raise rent, landlords do. One of the more controversial provisions of Rules and Regulations 6.15C(3)(a) provides that a master tenant cannot charge a subtenant more than his proportional share of the rent, with differential calculations including services provided by the master tenant, room size comparison, etc. Arguably, if the master tenant increased your rent without a corresponding increase from the landlord, he may be in violation of the Rules and Regs.

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