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
Give a Tenant an Inch, They’ll Take a Mile…And More!
August 22, 2014 by
While we all try to get the best tenants possible, occasionally a bad one slips through the cracks, or we may purchase a new building and inherit such a tenant. They may pay their rent late, create nuisances for other tenants or create safety hazards in the building. While it can be a frustrating and… Read More
What is the Ellis Act?
March 21, 2014 by
The Ellis Act has taken center stage in San Francisco real estate media in recent months. While those evoking the Ellis Act or tenants displaced by the Act are well versed in what it is and what it means, bystanders may not. I would like to give a brief overview of the law and current… Read More
Cultivation and Consumption of Cannabis: What You Need To Know
February 19, 2014 by
Walking down the street in San Francisco, it might surprise people that marijuana is not legal. The free-spirit attitude of the 1960’s Haight-Ashbury days has persevered, and indeed, most law enforcement officials turn a blind-eye. However, as a multi-family building landlord, you still need to know your and your tenants’ rights with regards to cannabis… Read More
A Landlord’s Prospective on Leasing
December 12, 2013 by
This is a continuation of last month’s blog post in which I chronicled my apartment hunting experience from a tenant’s prospective. This month, I focus on what I felt landlords and leasing agents could improve. PRICING San Francisco is under rent control, so it is in a landlord’s best interest to rent an apartment for… 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
What You Should Know About Subletting
June 18, 2013 by
Inevitably, all landlords are going to one day face the situation of accepting a subtenant onto their property. Although all Lingsch Realty leases prohibit subletting apartments, under regulation 6.15A(d) of the San Francisco Rent Board code, a landlord may not refuse a tenant the right to replace roommates on a one-for-one basis every 12 months…. Read More
Scrupulous Tenant Background Checks Save Time and Money and Headaches
September 10, 2012 by
I’ll be the first to admit that leasing property isn’t rocket science, but it is people science. I consider myself part private investigator, part sociologist, and part psychologist when I am considering a tenant for one of my clients. I recently read a San Francisco Chronicle article about a landlord’s nightmare eviction. You may read… Read More
Reduce Kitchen Stovetop Fire Risk
August 14, 2012 by
While I have not experienced an extreme emergency in the 10+ years I have been managing properties (knock on wood), the possibility and worry is constantly on my mind. Over the last couple weeks as I have began preparing an emergency preparedness plan for our office and each building we manage, as well as information… Read More