Dear supervisor xxxxx,

My name is _______, my family and I are registered voters and property owners in District __ of San Francisco. I hope this message  would show you a new perspective and I really hope you would keep us in mind when you make future decision that affect a large group of people. As a small property owner, we urge you to oppose the Evictions Protection Act 2.0 Ordinance. We recognized the housing shortage problem, and believe the intention of this legislation is to help keep the city to be diverse; a place where everyone can live without fear of unfair eviction. However, stricter regulations won’t solve our housing problems; there must be better ways that will keep our economy strong and our community safe and create more housing opportunities.  As family situation changes, our needs are different. We need the law allows us the flexibility to rent it whenever we don’t need the space, and we should have ways to execute proper evictions for our need.  

Below are some primary ways of the proposed legislation which I cannot agree. We are afraid that the policies may encourage bad tenants to find any possible reason to challenge the landlord, no matter whether is reasonable or not.  Many lawsuits are unnecessary, and would result a huge waste of the legal system resources, and put a big financial burden to landlord.

1.          “For evictions based on violating lease terms or nuisances landlords must provide proof of the allegations”  - laws should protects both tenants and landlords. When people live in the same household, we each need to be responsible and obey the standard house laws. When one side is constantly challenging them, which bad intentions. I am hoping that the city can establish fair laws to solve the issues between the two parties.

 

2.          “If a landlord has been renting a residence illegally, a tenant could not be evicted for unauthorized occupancy” -  I think this proposal is very unreasonable and confusing. When it’s an illegal unit, it is not up to code, therefore  violating it, making it not safe for people to live there. Also, under State laws, illegal units with its illegal contracts and money exchanges are not recognized and are illegal - therefore, many rent scammers have been taking advantages of this and live for free in in-law units.  If you remove the way to abate illegal in-law unit or making it difficult to evict rent scammers, they can live there for free forever. What some supervisors are working toward in this ordinance is to prevent evictions under any circumstance. When it comes to safety, financial losses and emotional suffering, the owners are at the receiving end and being sacrificed.

 

3.          “Renters could also add long-term roommates without being evicted so long as the numbers don’t exceed building code occupancy limits” - this is unreasonable and can be a safety hazard. Even the City owned and managed properties do not allow tenants to bring in long-term roommates without City’s approval. When we rent our property out, we screen and select the tenants we believe will pay rent on time, have clear background, and can follow the terms on the contract and take care of the property. If this legislation passes, the owners will lose control. Most importantly, I am concerned about the safety of my family who may live with iffy strangers as well as tens of thousands of damages in our property.

 

4.          “Landlord must rent the unit at the rent amount the departing tenant had paid to ensure those evictions are not incentivized by the prospect of raising rents” - As the owner, we don’t get to decide the market rental price, the market does.  When the demand is high and the supply is low, the price raises. Therefore, this ordinance must not pass; otherwise the housing shortage will be much more severe.

Please keep in mind, as district supervisors, you not only represent tenants but also property owners. Your policies not only affect your district but also City-wide. We ask you to please keep this in mind, we have families, elders, sicks and youngs in our households too, we have our needs and struggles, we are under financial hardship and must rent out our units. We need your help.  I sincerely ask you to think through this thoroughly and vote NO to the eviction protection act/just cause 2.0 ordinance. Property owners, earnest landlords need to be represented too! Thank you for your time.  

 

Sincerely,

 

XXXXXXX