Mark your calendar for this important court hearing, as it demonstrates our commitment
to fight for the rights of San Francisco’s small property owners. We encourage you to attend, even though there will be no opportunity for public comments.
WHERE: San Francisco Superior Court
400 McAllister Street (at Polk), Dept. 501
WHEN: Friday, August 9, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
What It’s All About
In November 2022, Proposition M, Supervisor Dean Preston’s “Empty Homes Tax,” was passed by 54.5% of the voters. This draconian measure invokes a “tax“ of $2,500 to $5,000 per vacant unit in the first year, increasing up to $20,000 by the third year for every unit that has been empty for longer than six months. Despite some legal wrangling, Superior Court Judge Charles Haines allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
Earlier this year, SPOSFI joined in a lawsuit (Debbane v. CCSF) against the city to invalidate the Empty Homes Tax. The plaintiffs believe that the scheme violates the Takings Clause, the
right to privacy, and the Ellis Act. While the challenge will not be fully litigated until the end of the 2024 tax year, we were hoping to obtain a court date and an early victory at the initial Superior Court level. We now have that date, thanks to the attorneys and housing providers who wouldn’t give up.
Tell Me Something I Didn’t Know
In April, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story entitled, “Data shows what people are paying in S.F.’s rent-controlled apartments versus their neighbors,” that stated what is painfully obvious to us: that due to San Francisco’s Rent Ordinance, “renters moving into apartments recently may be paying thousands of dollars a month more than those who moved into similar units years ago. In other words, there are some huge perks to renting the same San Francisco apartment for 46 years—such as paying around $1,000 for a home in Pacific Heights,” while the renter next door may be paying four times as much.
Glaring Examples Of Inequity
According to the city’s database of rent-controlled homes, that is the case for the aforementioned renter on the 1700 block of Broadway. “Most of the other renters in the same 41-unit building pay $2,750 to $3,500 for a one-bedroom apartment of similar size.
But because of San Francisco’s 1979 Rent Control Ordinance—passed a year before the Broadway renter moved into the building—many residents who stayed in their apartments for decades, now pay far less than their neighbors, the housing inventory data shows.”
So there you have it! Stories like these are not rare, make-believe urban legends. The above
information comes from San Francisco’s very own Rent Board Housing Inventory.
Reprinted with permission of the Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute (SPOSFI) News. For more information on becoming a member of SPOSFI or to send a tax-deductible donation, please visit their website at www.smallprop.org or call (415) 647-2419.