All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I once had someone show up with flying squirrels. No Bullwinkle, I'm not joking. 

Fortunately, she decided to move back in with her Mom. Probably better for everyone. Except her mom.

I own a single-family home in San Francisco. I typically rent to 3 roommates and hold a room for myself. With the possible repeal of costa-hawkins, I am considering selling and downsizing to a 2-bedroom condo or TIC. I would sell my current place, buy the smaller one, and rent one bedroom to one lodger (a lodger is not a tenant and the associated relationship is not likely to be regulated by the rent board).

I would like to get a rough idea of the TIC/condo price differential. Is there a rule of thumb for the increase in value associated with a condo conversion? If so, this is probably the same as my "TIC discount".

Here is a very detailed San Francisco rental question.

I rented to a group of 3 roommates. The last one is moving out, but the deposit belongs to all of them. Do I ask only the last one to give his forwarding address or do I need to contact all of them? 

If I ask only the one who is departing, the other two will be pissed off. If I ask all of them, I have to wait for them to get their act together and agree.

The deposit refund check will be issued to "Tenant A, Tenant B and Tenant C" regardless of where it is sent.

I tried posting this in the landlord forum, but ended up getting replies from people in other parts of the country who don't know the rules specific to California.

I normally have a good handle on who is going to leave damage behind. This is the first time that I've had someone who I think might produce significant damage. Thus, I'm going through the pre-moveout inspection process in a very thorough way.

I've been wondering about the inherent conflict between the clause in the lease which states that they cannot perform their own repairs (for fear of low-quality work, especially shoddy work that might not be immediately visible) and the law surrounding pre move-out inspections. 

If I identify items that should be fixed, are they prevented from fixing these things themselves because of the lease or are the lease terms overridden by the law?

I normally have a good handle on who is going to leave damage behind. This is the first time that I've had someone who I think might produce significant damage. Thus, I'm going through the pre-moveout inspection process in a very thorough way.

I've been wondering about the inherent conflict between the clause in the lease which states that they cannot perform their own repairs (for fear of low-quality work, especially shoddy work that might not be immediately visible) and the law surrounding pre move-out inspections. 

If I identify items that should be fixed, are they prevented from fixing these things themselves because of the lease or are the lease terms overridden by the law?

I have a home in San Francisco that I'm considering leasing (most of) to a tenant who would live there and operate an Airbnb. The tenant would pay me a fixed rent, which would be more than typical if no airbnb was allowed, and operate the airbnb themselves. Is there landlord insurance that will cover me for allowing a tenant to operate a short-term rental?

I don't trust the "insurance" that Airbnb offers.

Hi Thomas, 

I see that you are from Ontario, Canada. 

I am well versed in the law in my locality. However, San Francisco is a magical place where the rules often do not matter. In addition to courts, we have a "Rent Board" which makes unpublished court-like decisions. They often ignore the law and frequently break the rules. Real courts slap them down all the time.

In SF, you need someone who has recently dealt with them on a daily basis to tell you the current "interpreation" of the law.

I originally posted this in the San Francisco forum, but then realized that it has very little traffic.

I own a single-family house and have roommates. Unfortunately, they're giving me the San Francisco landlord-tenant blues.

Does anyone know whether the SFAA's advice service is worth the $400/year? Is there another advice service that I should consider, or should I apply that money to a lawyer directly?

Also, does anyone know whether a dispute over the amount of rent to be paid on a single-family home (rent control exempt, but not eviction control exempt) in which the homeowner lives (eviction control exempt) goes before the rent board or small claims court?

If a tenant-roommate tries to send it to the rent board, can one get it kicked to small claims court?

I own a single-family house and have roommates. Unfortunately, they're giving me the San Francisco landlord-tenant blues. 

Does anyone know whether the SFAA's advice service is worth the $400/year? Is there another advice service that I should consider, or should I apply that money to a lawyer directly?

Also, does anyone know whether a dispute over the amount of rent to be paid on a single-family home (rent control exempt, but not eviction control exempt) in which the homeowner lives (eviction control exempt) goes before the rent board or small claims court?

If a tenant-roommate tries to send it to the rent board, can one get it kicked to small claims court?