The number of renting tenants receiving notices of eviction is rapidly on the rise. Since March, the number of eviction notices filed per month with the San Francisco Rent Board has risen to 32 percent if compared with the previous three years' average, while the owner move in evictions are up by 131 percent. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, during that same period, the average number of evictions has risen from 151 per month to more than 200, while the number of owner move-in evictions per month has jumped from 23.7 to 54.7.
The reason can be attributed to very high rents that are way up through the roof. For example apartment complexes with more than 10 units sold for an average of $357,000 per unit during the first half of 2015 almost double the amount per unit seen in 2011. Therefore investors paying that much money for apartment building have a huge motivation to evict tenants who pay below-market rents.
But the rapid increase since March 2015 is provoking counsels for both landlords and tenants to debate that the spike is a result of something else, for example a new pro-tenant law regulating buyout deals between landlords and tenants.
On March 7, an ordinance went into effect that calls for property owners to disclose all cash settlements with tenants. Furthermore, it dictates that the landlord should register with the San Francisco Rent Board at the start of takeover negotiations. It also imposes a 10-year ban on condo conversions in units where a buyout has taken place as reported by the SF Chronicle.
Attorney Joe Tobener, who represents tenants, said he sees a direct cause and effect between the legislation and the jump in eviction notices. He said that, "There is no incentive to buy someone out versus filing an eviction notice."
