San Francisco Real Estate - Residential

San Francisco rent board - out of control?

Who says City government should be in the business of controlling the rental market? Is it any wonder landlords are choosing to go out of business and sell their apartments as TICs or condominiums when laws keep being passed that punish the property owner? Take a look at the latest lunacy.

The San Francisco Board of Realtors reported yesterday that, "The annual allowable rent increase for the period March 1, 2007, through February 29, 2008, has been announced by the city's Rent Board. The allowable rent increase is 1.5 percent. The amount is based on 60 percent of the increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Bay Area, which was 2.5 percent as posted in November 2006 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics."

That's not the worst of it. How security deposits get treated is even more absurd. "The security deposit interest rate for the period March 1, 2007, through February 29, 2008, also has been announced by the city's Rent Board. That rate is 5.2 percent. The rate for March 1, 2006, through February 28, 2007 was 3.7 percent."

Think of it. Landlords can put the deposit money in an interest bearing trust account and make maybe 2%, but when it is returned to the tenant, they must pay 5.2% on its return. How is the rent board coming up with these numbers? And better yet, why? It is no mystery to whom they are pandering.

- Mick Orton

posted by SFResidence.com @ 7:01 AM