Condo war rages on

Supervisors prepare new defenses against loss of rental units

Camille T. Taiara

On the day this issue of the Bay Guardian hits newsstands, the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee is scheduled to consider two more initiatives fired off in the ongoing battle over how the city regulates condo conversions.

The transformation of single-family homes and small apartment buildings into condominiums, in which each unit is individually owned, "is probably the main cause of the reduction of rental housing stock," Sup. Chris Daly, who sponsored both proposals, told us.

The first measure would require that the Planning Commission hold public hearings on all proposed condo conversions – not just those involving buildings of five or six units, as is currently the case. (Buildings of seven or more units are not eligible for conversion.)

The new policy would "shine some light on individual cases and give people the opportunity to speak in public about their situation," Daly said.

The second item took its cue from the San Francisco Tenants Union, which has been picketing the open houses of buildings from which tenants were evicted. It's a reaction to a steady increase in Ellis Act evictions – many involving elderly, disabled, or terminally ill persons on fixed incomes – that allow owners to take their buildings off the rental market.

The new regulation would require property owners to inform potential buyers up front if any evictions were involved in emptying tenants from the buildings and if any of the tenancies that were terminated involved seniors or disabled persons.

Daly's two initiatives follow a deal brokered at the Board of Supervisors Dec. 6 on the city's lottery system for converting tenancies in common into condos. The city received approximately 1,500 lottery applications last year but only approves 200 units for conversion annually.

Sup. Bevan Dufty proposed that half the TIC-to-condo conversion permits be granted to applicants who've been waiting three years or more. But the board approved an alternative, put forward by Sup. Jake McGoldrick, that also considers the property's eviction history dating back to 1999 and commissions a study on the impact of such conversions, although it sunsets in one year.

"It's better to get something and keep moving along," McGoldrick told us, alluding to failed attempts by the mayor and supervisors to agree on a solution.

In the meantime, McGoldrick has asked the City Attorney's Office to draft a better alternative that, among other things, would also help protect families with school-age children from being evicted to make way for TICs.

Daly would like to take tenant protections even further. Three weeks ago, he proposed an all-out moratorium on TIC-to-condo conversions until the city determines their impact on the rental market. The Land Use Committee will likely hear the moratorium proposal next month. E-mail Camille T. Taiara at camille@sfbg.com.