Hoarder tenant in San Francisco

[Jared JLemail]

Hi All, I have a property management issue so I thought this might be a good place to post. I just started helping an elderly family member that self-manages a five-unit apartment building in San Francisco. Had I known about this issue earlier I could have dealt with the situation but here we are now:

One of the tenants signed a one-year leased in 2007 and was given the right to park on one side of a two-car garage. The lease is typed, but the only reference to parking is written in pen and says, “parking only.” No new lease has been updated since. The tenant has been using the garage space for storage only, with an exceptional amount of junk and a non-operational vehicle. My family member has sent notices to the tenant to clean up his garage, but he has refused to do so. I feel that this tenant is taking advantage of them because they are elderly (currently 93). This tenant also has four occupants in his apartment when the lease is stated for only two in a one-bedroom apartment (we recently sent him a letter to correct this action).

My family member would like to have their entire garage back for their own storage and use. Is there any way we can get our garage space back or at the very least have the tenant utilize the space for parking only? Or even put the garage space on a separate lease so we can charge for its use? Ideally it would be better to not have to hire a lawyer as this could be expensive, however I realize that there may not be an alternative at this point.

I have been on the San Francisco rent board website looking up rules/regulations/ordinances but interpreting rules with our specific case has been challenging. It’s insane how much rights tenants have compared to how little rights landlords have in San Francisco. I greatly appreciate any advice. Thank you for reading!