SF Supervisor Introduces Proposal Limiting Evictions Over Unpaid Rent

Supervisor Jackie Fielder proposed new legislation preventing evictions for less than a month’s unpaid rent, which was co-sponsored by five supervisors and supported by Mayor Daniel Lurie.

San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder introduced the proposal Tuesday as the city continues to see rising rents and evictions amid a rapidly accelerating AI boom. As NBC Bay Area reports, Mayor Daniel Lurie said the city has experienced a nearly 10% increase in evictions over the past year, while rents have also climbed.

“I am really encouraged and very supportive of ... the legislation being proposed today by Supervisor Fielder and her five co-sponsors,” said Lurie.

The legislation would change the city’s current rent ordinance, which allows landlords to pursue an eviction over any amount of unpaid rent. Under Fielder’s proposal, a tenant would have to owe more than one month’s rent before a landlord could evict them for nonpayment.

Rather than basing that threshold on each tenant’s actual rent, the ordinance would reportedly use the federal fair-market-rent figures set annually by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For 2026, those amounts in San Francisco are $2,485 for a studio, $2,977 for a one-bedroom, and $3,604 for a two-bedroom apartment.

According to Mission Local, Fielder said the proposal is intended to “provide renters some breathing room in the midst of unprecedented affordability and housing crises.”

The measure is reportedly co-sponsored by Supervisors Myrna Melgar, Shamann Walton, Connie Chan, Bilal Mahmood, and Chyanne Chen.

Oakland, Berkeley, and Los Angeles have also reportedly adopted similar policies that set a one-month unpaid-rent threshold for eviction.

The Eviction Defense Collaborative, which supports the proposal, told Mission Local a significant share of nonpayment cases involve relatively small amounts of unpaid rent. Rose Thornton, an attorney with the group, said roughly one-quarter of evictions in a sample reviewed by the organization last year involved rent owed below the fair-market-rent threshold, potentially representing hundreds of evictions each year.

“We're in a classic San Francisco boom cycle, which comes with higher incentives for landlords to evict long-term, rent-controlled tenants,” Thornton said, speaking to Mission Local.

Fielder emphasized that the legislation would not eliminate a tenant’s debt or allow someone to live rent-free indefinitely. Once the amount owed exceeds the one-month fair-market-rent threshold, a landlord could still pursue an eviction.

Opposition from landlord groups is expected, although none have publicly weighed in on the proposal, per Mission Local.

The Board of Supervisors could vote on the legislation as early as October.

Comments