Articles Posted in Landlord-Tenant

A recent story in The San Francisco Chronicle caught the attention of our San Francisco tenant’s rights attorney. It focuses on 467 code violations, relating to more than half of the thirty-two local properties owned by Bayview Property Managers. Violations involve raw sewage spills, extensive growth of mold and mildew, rodent infestations, dry-rot in stairways, flooding, and crumbling walls and ceilings. Disturbingly, it appears that families may have been living in horrible conditions for decades.

According to the report, Bayview Property Managers operated 137 housing units with the properties concentrated in San Francisco’s southeastern neighborhoods and with serving as home to low-income residents. The company’s president, James Blanding, previously served San Francisco’s Department of Public Works as a civil engineer. City officials suggest company management engaged in sustained, sophisticated efforts to evade housing requirements. Inspectors found egregious conditions and noted that the repair work that did occur was often shoddy and sometimes involved little more than duct tape.

Interviews with tenants reveal more detail about living condition in company-owned units. One resident, who lived with her three year old child, reported plumbing leaks and a toilet that frequently overflowed. She said that after one particularly egregious incident it looking like a swimming pool had been installed in her unit and she needed to use rain boots to enter the apartment. According to the interview, it took more than five months for the company to repair the damage, creating a mold problem and causing the ceiling in the unit below to cave in, even after the company deemed repairs complete. The renter noted that she wanted to move but was unable to find another affordable unit.

CitiApartments, owned by the Lembi family, will be facing yet another lawsuit according to KTVU.com. The news site reports that Rory Moore (62) recently died when she fell through a flight of rotting stairs in her apartment building. The three story fall left her with serious kidney damage, which caused her death after weeks in intensive care. Tenants said they previously complained about the state of the stairs. One resident even fell through the stairs before the Moore incident. The resident said that after he complained the landlords responded by bolstering that particular stair only.

Skyline Realty, a real estate company that does business under many names, including CitiApartments has seen a dizzying list of complaints. From news articles like The Scumlords: Neglect and Despair, which appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, to outraged Yelp reviews to lawsuits and complaints to the San Francisco Tenant’s Union the company has been facing bad press for years.

CitiApartments has been involved in at least 56 lawsuits in San Francisco Superior Court since 2003. One of those lawsuits was brought by city attorney Dennis Herrera in 2006 for “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices” relating to the management of multiple properties in San Francisco. The city’s complaint alleged that CitiApartments was using intimidation tactics to convince residents with rent controlled apartments to move, so the company could upgrade the apartments and raise rent. It also cited violations for blocking entry to home care providers, illegally entering and inspecting apartments, and carrying out construction work that did not meet the Department of Building Inspection’s standards. The city successfully brought the suit to a close in March, 2011 with a settlement that imposed up to 10 million dollars in fines on CitiApartments. The settlement also placed an injunction on CitiApartments from further conducting the unfair business practices named in the complaint. City Attorney Dennis Herrera specifically stated in a press release that CitiApartments must respond to tenants’ request for repairs within 72 hours, which appears to be disputed in the case of Rory Moore.

The Great Recession of 2008 took a heavy toll on CitiApartments forcing it to declare bankruptcy and to give up many of its over-leveraged properties. According to an SF Examiner story, tenants did not complain much of intimidation tactics after the city’s lawsuit, but did complain about electricity and gas shut offs that occurred because CitiApartments had not paid its bills to PG&E, as happened to other property management companies during the recession. Tenants had to pay or negotiate with PG&E themselves or live without light and heat, unsure when service would be restored. In addition, many former tenants have complained that CitiApartments illegally kept their security deposits, citing flimsy reasons to keep the deposits when tenants moved out or simply saying the company was insolvent and could not pay the security deposit.

The bulk of CitiApartments bad press flooded out from 2006 to 2010, but this latest accident brings complaints about CitiApartments unfair business practices and the poor state of many of its properties to the fore once again.
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Most people who live in a city have rented an apartment at one time or another. Apartment living is often accompanied by some annoyances. Many renters can share stories about bad experiences in an apartment – from the occasional unwanted mouse to the loud landlord who is constantly renovating other units in the building to an apartment with a broken elevator. The ultimate apartment hardship, however, is being evicted. As our San Francisco apartment lawyer knows, our area has its share of landlord-tenant conflicts. Recently one of San Francisco’s older residents experienced the ultimate rental nightmare, eviction.

As The New York Times reported, 75-year-old Ernesto Hernandez was recently forced out of his apartment by the building’s new owner. Mr. Hernandez had lived in a rent-controlled apartment on Green Street for almost 30 years. He moved into the building in 1982 to live with Richard Whalen, who had already lived there for years. In 2005, the building was sold and purchased by Paul Marino. Mr. Whalen died several years later, and Mr. Hernandez continued to live in the apartment alone.

The original lease had long expired, so Mr. Hernandez rented month to month. State law permits a landlord to institute “house rules” when a tenant is renting month to month. According to the state law, a tenant must comply with the new rule within 30 days. But San Francisco’s local ordinance requires that all parties must agree on the new rule before it goes into effect. Despite the local ordinance, Mr. Marino instituted a new rule that banned subletting. Mr. Hernandez ignored the rule, subletting space in the apartment. After a legal battle that included an appeal, Mr. Hernandez lost. He now lives in downtown hotel for seniors.

San Francisco landlord-tenant conflicts are all too common. Because of chronic housing shortages in the area and an increase in the number of tech jobs, many landlords are tempted to create new rules to drive out rent-controlled tenants, and other tenants paying below market rent. The court decision in Mr. Hernandez’s case shows that landlords have significant legal protection, despite claims to the contrary. Still, San Francisco landlord-tenant law protects renters from unreasonable landlords. For example, building owners must keep rental units in a condition fit for human occupancy, including keeping plumbing and electricity in good working condition. Apartments must also be free of vermin at the time they are rented. And landlords cannot evict tenants themselves, but must use the legal process to remove them.
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Home should be a place where people can be safe, enjoy time with their family, and relax. For too many individuals, however, home is a place filled with potential hazards. This can be especially true for apartment dwellers. Our San Francisco injury attorney has seen many accidents arising from defects in apartment buildings. In San Francisco’s urban environment, many residents encounter problems with dangerous items that are not promptly fixed by building owners. Many of these potentially dangerous items, from water heaters to windows, are beyond the control of the tenant. Despite the fact that renters often inform their landlords of problems that need to be fixed, these requests often go ignored. Common areas, such as entryways, are another source of trouble.

One recent even highlights the dangers often faced by those in their own living space. One of our area’s reality television stars was recently injured in a San Francisco apartment building accident. As MSNBC reported, “The Biggest Loser” contestant Sam Poueu was seriously hurt when he fell off the roof of a four story building at the beginning of September. According to family members, he was attempting to climb down the fire escape after he was locked on the roof of a friend’s apartment. He suffered injuries including damage to his pelvic region, a punctured lung, torn ligaments and a broken leg.

The landlord in this case may not have known that the door to the roof had a problem. Without notice that a tenant or guest could be trapped on the roof, the building owner may not have legal responsibility for an injury caused when a visitor trapped on the roof tried to climb down. In another situation, however, where the landlord was aware that tenants had been locked on the roof before, the landlord might be liable.

Under the traditional rules of landlord-tenant law, landlords have a duty to ensure that common areas are well-maintained. In a lobby, this means the area must be well lit and doors should be secured with working locks. In a building where tenants can use the roof, users should be able to easily enter and exit the roof and safety devices should be in place to keep individuals from accidentally falling off. In the instance where a problem develops, such as a broken light fixture, the landlord has a reasonable amount of time to remedy the problem. If the problem is not corrected within a reasonable period, the landlord can be liable for any subsequent injuries that are caused by the defect.
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