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San Francisco touts itself as a green city. But if green success means using — and reusing available resources = then the city policies fail the test. Nowhere is this more true than housing. Everyone agrees that SF needs more middle class housing. Yet there are hundreds — if not thousands — of vacant units owned by senior landlords. Most of these landlords live in these buildings and keep units vacant out of fear. They know that city rent control policies — and all buildings constructed before 1978 are under rent control — has eroded their rights to the point where it’s easier to take the financial hit than risk losing control over their buildings. If you think this is hyperbole, just consider one of many scenarios. Say a senior landlord wants one of her adult children to move in to assist her. If she has a protected tenant, she’s out of luck — unless her adult child is over 60. And if the landlady want a tenant to leave, she will have to pay thousands of dollars — and be faced with inexplicable regulations, potential lawsuits and even more cash outlay. The result is that not only do building units stay vacant, but the buildings are often in need of repairs that landlords can ill afford to make. So here’s a solution: As a start, exempt senior landlords who live in their buildings from rent control. Then watch how many units in lovely areas suddenly come on the rental market. Cost to the city? Nothing except the courage of a leader taking a stand. Incidentally, cities, such as Cambridge, Mass. that did away with rent control did not have a spike in rent. The only result was that more units became available and buildings got fixed up.
Name Withheld
- : 10.0
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August 1st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
I think this is an excellent idea. Many seniors would like the income from renting out part of their home or a unit in a building where they are an onner-occupant.
Unfortunately it is too, too easy to end up with a “tenant from hell” who uses rent control to take advantage of the building owner. Just look around and see how many small units have been taken off the market because the risk of having a rent controlled tenant outweighed the value of the potential income.
While I would like to see this idea expanded to include all owner-occupied buildings, I agree that senior owners are probably more vulnerable to being taken advantage of and more likely to take units off the market entirely.
This is an excellent ide - I hope it will be given serious consideration.