The San Francisco Rent Ordinance allows certain owners the ability to recover tenant-occupied rental units for personal use, thereby terminating the tenancy of all occupants. However, there are significant limitations on how and when an owner can perform these owner move-in evictions. These restrictions include the owner’s percentage of ownership, the building’s history, the protected status of certain tenants, and the availability of comparable units that are vacant and available or that may become available. Additionally, there are specific time constraints dictating when certain tenants can and cannot be evicted. Where there are minors or educators in the household, the termination notice cannot expire during the school year. Luckily for some, the timing is now.
Contrary to what you might think, there is no requirement that a child under age eighteen actually be enrolled in any school. The child only needs to have been living in the unit for at least twelve months and be under the age of eighteen. Even a two-year-old would qualify the household for the school year protection.
The term “educator” is equally as liberal. It means any person who works at a school in San Francisco as an employee or independent contractor of the school, or of the governing body having jurisdiction over the school. This includes teachers, classroom aides, administrators, administrative staff, counselors, social workers, psychologists, school nurses, speech pathologists, custodians, security guards, cafeteria workers, community relations specialists, child welfare and attendance liaisons, and even learning support consultants.
The term “school year” means the first day of instruction for the Fall Semester through the last day of instruction for the Spring Semester, as those dates are posted on the San Francisco Unified School District website for each year.
The San Francisco Fall Semester ends on June 4, 2024 and the Spring Semester begins on August 19, 2024. An owner move-in termination notice is a 60-day notice. This mean the window to serve an owner move-in or relative move-in eviction on a school year protected household is quickly approaching with the deadline not far behind.
The timing restrictions as well as the rules and regulations regarding owner move-in and relative move-in evictions are complex and always subject to challenge by both tenants and owners. If you are curious about learning more about evicting tenants in a property you own, or are looking to purchase or want to learn more about performing an eviction for yourself or for a relative so they can live in the same building as you, contact Mark Chernev at Zacks & Freedman, PC for guidance.
Neither this website nor this post are intended to create an attorney-client relationship.