The owners of 639 Geary Street issued letters last month to 33 low-income tenants informing them that their rents were going to be raised to market rates after more than 20 years of being rent-controlled units. The city helped subsidize the development back in 1988 with the condition that 20 percent of the units in the building would be kept affordable — an agreement the landlord says expired in April of this year. In truly classy fashion, they wasted no time in informing all 33 of their less fortunate tenants that their rents would be promptly raised beyond their means. City Attorney Dennis Herrera is now stepping in to get a judge to rescind the rent increases until this can get worked out. more ›

You've heard the unfortunate news, right? With a shiny new tech boom getting into full swing, apartment hunting in S.F. is once again a contact sport that may require you to maim a Zynga middle-manager just to get your foot in the door at an open house in the Mission. And today we get a report from the NYT/Bay Citizen on the burgeoning trend of landlords charging application fees — and in one documented case, at $40 a pop with 250 applications for a single swanky loft, a landlord stood to rake in ten grand before he'd even rented the place. more ›

Roach motel owner, millionaire, and Tiburon resident, Richard Singer, has been arrested and is facing a ten year prison sentence, a $125,000 fine, and arson charges for allegedly plotting to torch his Oakland Menlo Hotel for insurance money. more ›

New laws proposed and authored by City Supervisors Eric Mar and Chris Daly last fall and receiving their final votes yesterday would make it illegal for landlords to a) impose banked rent increases, in which allowable percent increases are saved up and imposed all at once; b) evict families with children under existing owner move-in provisions; c) increase a tenant's rent to more than 1/3 of their income; d) increase rents for tenants who have lost their jobs, whose income has fallen 20%, or whose sole income is from government assistance. Though we are not property owners and wonder about the constitutionality of all this, it all sounds relatively reasonable to us -- especially since landlords shouldn't be raising rents in a shitty economy anyway. But certainly this all would make it extra-impossible for any landlord ever to get rid of any tenant for any reason. Supes Mirkarimi, Chiu, Avalos and Campos joined in supporting the proposals, most of which are expected to be vetoed by Mayor Newsom. more ›

There have been four new laws proposed this year that would make it harder for landlords to raise rents and evict tenants. Three of the laws would increase the rights of rent-controlled tenants by allowing them to add roommates and by suspending or limiting rent increases that are a hardship. The fourth law would give eviction protection to tenants in non-rent-controlled units, specifically homes that are being foreclosed. more ›

Software engineer Kip Macy, 33, and real estate agent Nicole Macy, 32, were arrested the other day for "waging a war of terror"on their tenants occupying their six-unit, three-story SOMA house. It seems that the Macys bought the place a few years back and have since been trying to have the old tenants evicted. more ›