On September 9, 2015, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed amendments to the Rent Ordinance expanding tenant rights even further. Supervisor Jane Kim’s legislation, which further expanded tenant rights is now known as Rent Ordinance 2.0. If you thought being a landlord under the original version was difficult, 2.0 has more obstacles to navigate…. Read More
New Landlord Laws for 2016
Along with the new year and resolutions, always comes new laws for landlords. Below, please find a summary of those new laws that may affect you. AFFORDABLE HOUSING Community Revitalization Authority Assembly Bill 2 (D-Alejo) AB 2 allows specified “disadvantaged” areas of California to create a new entity called a Community Revitalization Investment Authority. The… Read More
San Francisco 2015 Ballot Issues that Affect Landlords
The November 3 ballot is teeming with issues with outcomes that will affect property owners. While several of the propositions seem worthy of your vote on the surface, digging a little deeper reveals that the result of their passage may not have the intended effects. See how Lingsch Realty voted below. Prop A: Affordable Housing… Read More
Preparing for El Nino
El Nino is a weather pattern produced by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific. The El Nino phenomenon is associated with extreme weather around the globe. In California, it typically means a wet winter with higher than normal rain levels. An El Nino is predicted for this winter continuing into 2016. In order… Read More
How Small Property Owners Can Compete with New Developments
It seems every day there is a news article about San Francisco’s increasing median rents. They are the highest in the country. They are rising. You can see the most talked about data from Zumper here. But is this really a true reflection of what is going on all over the city? To see why this… Read More
Happy New Year! What to Expect in 2015
A new year brings new hope for us as landlords and unfortunately new determination for tenants’ unions to pass more tenant-friendly legislation. Landlords were successful in 2014 in knocking down some landmark legislation and court rulings aimed at making owning properties more difficult and costly, including SB 1439 (Leno) and Levin vs. San Francisco. 2015 vows to… Read More
San Francisco’s Business Registration Fees Ordinance
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
In a Wave of Bad New for Landlords, A Small Victory for a Lingsch Realty Client
I truly love my job and count my blessings each day for the wonderful opportunity my grandfather bestowed on me. However, I would be remiss if I did not confess that the current media portrayal of the rental market and tenants’ sense of entitlement frustrates me. From tenants’ unwillingness to cooperate with construction that will… Read More