The San Francisco Rent Board is creating and maintaining a housing inventory of all rental units in San Francisco that are subject to the Rent Ordinance, and to assist them in this mission, owners will need to begin reporting information about their units to the Rent Board.
This is a new legal requirement that comes from Ordinance No. 265-20, which became effective on January 18, 2021.
If you’re wondering what this means for your rental property and how you are expected to comply, we have some information for you. Always reach out to our team at Gordon Property Management if you have any questions about the legal requirements involved in your San Francisco rental properties. We know the local laws can get pretty complex.
Rent Board Documentation
San Francisco rental property owners will be required to report the requested information on a standard form that’s provided by the Rent Board. The Rent Board is also creating a website portal that will allow owners to send the necessary information online.
Your tenants have the option to submit information about their rental unit as well, but it’s not a requirement. Only owners are required to provide this information.
What Kind of Information Will You Be Expected to Disclose?
Here’s what the Rent Board wants to know about your rental unit:
- Your contact information (as the owner) or the contact information of your San Francisco property manager or the designee whom you have assigned the address habitability issues. Contact information should include name, address, phone number, email address.
- The business registration number for your rental unit, if you have one.
- The size of your unit. You’ll be expected to provide approximate square footage and number of bedrooms and bathrooms in the home.
- Whether the property is vacant or occupied, and the date that the current vacancy or occupancy began.
- The start and end dates of any other vacancies or occupancies that occurred during the previous 12 months.
- The base rent reported and whether that rent includes utilities that the landlord pays.
- Any other information that the Rent Board deems appropriate following a noticed public meeting in order to effectuate the purposes of the Rent Ordinance.
The Rent Board will use this information that you and other property owners provide to generate reports and surveys, to analyze rents and vacancies, to monitor compliance with the Rent Ordinance, and to assist landlords, tenants, and municipal departments in decision making.
The Rent Board may not use the information to operate a “rental registry” as it’s defined in California Civil Code Sections 1947.7 – 1947.8.
If your unit is in a building of 10 units or more, you’ll have to begin reporting this information to the Rent Board by July 1, 2022. Updates will be due on March 1, 2023, and then every year in March after that. This timeline does not apply to condominiums.
For condominiums and units in buildings with fewer than 10 units, you’ll need to begin reporting on March 1, 2023, with updates every year in March.
Owners are also required to inform the Rent Board within 30 days of any change in the name or business contact information of the owner or designated property manager.
License to Impose Rent Increases
There’s more to this law. Owners will also be required to obtain a license from the Rent Board before imposing any annual and/or banked rent increases upon tenants.
This license will only be issued if you’re found to be in compliance with the inventory reporting requirements. If you don’t provide the required information, you won’t receive a license to lawfully increase rent.
Look for updated information on the Rent Control website before the reporting requirements are mandated, and contact our team at Gordon Property Management if you need support.
