By Cassi Feldman

ADMIT IT. You're paying $900 a month for a room the size of a walk-in closet. Why? Because an owner move-in eviction forced you into the rental market when prices were still scandalous. And you really, really wanted to live in the Mission.

A year ago it made sense to forgo certain luxuries (like food) in order to pay for housing. Not anymore. Landlords in San Francisco are suddenly desperate for tenants: offering free months of rent, flexible move-in dates, and even, in one case, a weekend trip to Tahoe.

According to MetroRent, a local apartment-referral service, rents are down an average of 20 percent across the board and as much as 32 percent in certain neighborhoods. Its competitor, Rent Tech, has twice as many listings as last year, and almost half have been posted for two months or more.

Here are five ways to take advantage of the turnaround:

• Lowering the rent The rumors are true: you can request a rent reduction mid-lease. If you suspect that people moving into comparable units in your building are paying less than you are, don't be shy about asking your landlord for the lower rate.

You can also get what MetroRent calls a "market survey," a chart that shows how much similar apartments in the neighborhood are renting for. An official one costs $25, but you can easily create your own by collecting listings from Craigslist or the newspaper.

If your lease expires and you want to stay, you have every right to renegotiate the contract and, if all else fails, threaten to leave. Though some landlords are reluctant to lower rent at all (particularly in rent-controlled buildings), most don't want to lose good tenants. If your landlord suggests a temporary decrease or rebate, just make sure you get it in writing.

• Moving on up Hannah Murray and her roommates have lived in a flat on Van Ness Avenue for three and a half years. Now they're shopping around for a quieter place with a backyard. "It's the first time that we thought about it and found that we could maybe afford it at the same time," Murray said. And there's virtually no competition. "We've had landlords call and beg us to move in even before we filled out applications."

According to Grey Todd, president of Rent Tech, rents have dropped fastest on apartments with two or more bedrooms in the Marina, Pacific Heights, and South of Market. Studios and one-bedrooms are holding steady, since most people choose to move into smaller apartments if they can.

Meanwhile, individual rooms are a bit of a wild card. Existing tenants may be paying too much (and thus charging too much) – but they also have some of the best deals in town. Be sure to ask how much the entire apartment costs; a new Rent Board regulation requires an equitable split between roommates (see "Outmastered!," 8/29/01).

• Moving with a pet Your lease says "no pets," huh? Well, with far more landlords easing up on this restriction, it's become much easier to find a place that allows you to indulge your fuzzy side. Dogs are still a harder sell than cats, but Craigslist has hundreds of postings that allow either one.

• Breaking leases Ted Gullicksen of the San Francisco Tenants Union told the Bay Guardian that last year 80 percent of renters who contacted his office were facing eviction. But lately the vast majority want advice on how to break a lease or get their security deposit back. We asked him to explain the lease-breaking rules, um, just in case ...

First of all, he noted, there's no "just cause" that allows a tenant to break a lease unless the landlord hasn't kept his or her end of the bargain. If you get laid off, you're still liable. "A landlord can go after a tenant for the remaining part of the lease, but the landlord has to mitigate the damages and try to rent the unit." So if you find yourself a replacement with good credit, you're generally free to move. If you can't, Gullicksen said, landlords will sometimes settle for keeping a security deposit instead.

• Being indecisive One of the worst things about the tight rental market was the way it seemed to shape major life decisions. Sarah Harbin, a documentary filmmaker, actually turned down a job in Los Angeles because she didn't want to lose her $425 room. While she is still hesitant, she said, housing is no longer her primary concern.

Another woman told us via e-mail that after years of fending off the travel bug, she is letting go of her apartment in March and isn't "too worried about finding a place" when she gets back. Those who fear commitment (or layoffs) can also request short-term or month-to-month leases.

Gullicksen warns renters not to get too "giddy" about the current state of affairs. During the recession of the early '90s, he said, rents were quick to level off. Even now, according to Rent Tech, they are only down to 1999 levels, approximately $2,000 for a two-bedroom. And although evictions are less common, there were still 112 filed with the Rent Board last month.