Senator Mark Leno has reintroduced legislation affecting the Ellis Act. Mirroring last year’s bill, which was approved by the Senate last year but fell one vote short in the Assembly Housing Committee, Senate Bill 364 would force buyers to own a building for at least five years before they could evict tenants using the Ellis… Read More
San Francisco’s Business Registration Fees Ordinance
December 17, 2014 by
The Gross Receipts Tax and Business Registration Fees Ordinance (2012 Proposition E) was approved by San Francisco voters on November 6, 2012 and implemented in 2014. Although 2014 has come and gone, there still seems to be some confusion among my clients about the gross receipts tax. So I wanted to take the opportunity to… Read More
Thank You For Your Support!
November 17, 2014 by
As Thanksgiving approaches and we all pause and give thanks for all our blessings, Lingsch Realty has even more reasons than ever to be thankful. I am proud to announce that Lingsch Realty was voted Property Management Firm of the Year for 2014 by the San Francisco Apartment Association. The award ceremony took place on… Read More
Master Tenant Dups Subtenants
October 10, 2014 by
Sometimes I come across an article about a landlord/tenant relationship that does one of two things: 1) makes me think, “Gosh, how did that landlord ever get into that situation?” and 2) “How can I make sure I don’t find myself in that situation?” Such was my reaction when I read a recent article about… Read More
Apartment Code Violations About to Go Public
August 22, 2013 by
The San Francisco Department of Public Health recently unveiled Code for America, a health and safety history of every house and apartment in San Francisco. This uniform, machine-readable data format-authored by Rajiv Bhatia and Cyndy Comerford from the San Francisco Department of Public Health-will show the entire known history of building, everything from code violations… Read More
Mayor Lee Signs New Tobacco Smoke Disclosure Policy
March 21, 2013 by
One of the most common complaints I receive from tenants is about their neighbors smoking. It is a difficult complaint to handle, as you are caught between two tenants: one not wanting to breathe second-hand smoke, the other wanting to feel at home and do as they please in their apartment. While it is my… Read More
San Francisco Mandates Seismic Retrofits for Soft Story Buildings
February 22, 2013 by
In 2010, San Francisco instituted a program that would require rental housing owners to seismically retrofit certain soft story buildings. Because the program is currently voluntary, the improvements are not being made. Therefore, legislation has been introduced to mandate retrofits. The proposed regulations would affect only wood-frame soft-story buildings built before 1978 that are at… Read More
Giving A Tenant Proper Notice for Entering Their Unit
January 17, 2013 by
This month, I would like to address the issue of giving a tenant proper notice when entering their apartment in order to make repairs. According to California law, a landlord can enter an apartment by giving 24-hours written notice to make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations or improvements, supply necessary or agreed services, or… Read More
San Francisco Apartment Association’s Property Manager of the Year!
December 17, 2012 by
As I sat at my desk this morning preparing to write my newsletter, surrounded by the good cheer the holidays bring out in people and thankful for my clients who gave me yet another challenging, but successful year, I received an email bearing even more good news for 2012. I was voted “Property Manager of… Read More
SFAA Board Recommends Approaches for Apartment-Sharing
November 15, 2012 by
In tough economic times, it seems that people will resort to anything to make a couple extra bucks. Tenants are no different. In recent years, with the advent of short-term rental Web sites such as couchsurfing.org, airbnb.com and vrbo.com, tenants have become more likely to sublet their apartments, even for just a short-period of time…. Read More