Periodically as we research the different Fem Competitors who provide sessions in the San Francisco area, one thing really stands out.
They move a lot.
Mostly out of the area.
There could be many reasons why but one reason that seems to stand out the most is the expensive costs of living there.
Here is a typical paragraph from an article written about San Francisco rents. At sf.curbed.com they report, “Finally, here’s a Bernal Heights home that asks what’s in a name? Normally word like “cottage” suggest a certain rustic picturesqueness, or at least the impression of faux-rural charm. In this case, though, it’s just a low-slung, one-bedroom, and one-bath house on Andover Street, right next to the westernmost foot of Bernal Heights Park. Charming enough to rent for $3,000/month? It does allow dogs and cats to come along, which in this market almost qualifies as a fairy tale ending in itself.”
We then trekked over to hotpads.com and glanced up and down their list for places to rent. As you can guess, the costs for upscale pads can soar through the roof. We just looked for studios or one bedrooms and the prices ranged from $2,200 to $2,500 a month in fairly nice neighborhoods.
We even saw a room for rent at $1,450.
No wonder the girls are moving.
There is some hope. We think. Though we are not sure how much.
Apparently there is a Rent Control Board in San Francisco.
At their site sfrb.org, they share their Mission. “The San Francisco Rent Ordinance (SF Administrative Code, Chapter 37) was enacted effective June 13, 1979 by the Board Of Supervisors and signed by the Mayor as emergency legislation to alleviate the city's housing crisis. The Ordinance created the Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Board "in order to safeguard tenants from excessive rent increases and, at the same time, to assure landlords fair and adequate rents consistent with Federal Anti-Inflation Guidelines."
The Ordinance applies to approximately 170,000 rental units in the city and, among other things, places limits on the amount of rent increases which can be charged by the landlord and on the reasons for evicting a tenant. The Rent Board is a special fund department, completely funded through the collection of rental unit fees and has no general fund contributions in its budget.”
We have a visiting writer who will share more.
San Francisco Rent Control
The San Francisco Rent Board has some of the strongest and most stringently regulated rent control policies in United States. The San Francisco Tenants Union is one of the most influential and powerful organizations of its kind in the entire country. Rent control has been a part and parcel of tenant landlord relationship for a long time now. Unlike some cities where the state or city rent control board may not have a majority of the rental properties under the regulation, the tenants union, over the decades, has ensured that most properties in the city are governed by the Rent Board.
San Francisco limits the increase of rent on an annual basis and also safeguards the tenants on an increase of any associated costs that the landlord may deem to be justified. However, that does not imply that landlords do not have a possibility to challenge a specific case. The normal mandates of the Tenants Unions, approved by the Rent Board, restricts landlords from increasing rents, with due consideration to inflation, to a maximum of 10% on an annual basis. Other associated charges, if any, that may be regarding costs of maintenance for the landlords or anything else, can be increased to a maximum of 7%. Apart from these stipulations, there can be some exceptions when some specific case may justifiably demand a further increase. In such a scenario, all such requests or changes to rent terms need to be put forth to the Rent Board which will in its own right determine if the petition is worth considering or if the rent control policies should restrict such amendments from taking shape.
There are a few exceptions that the San Francisco Tenants Union does not cover via the rent control laws. New buildings, which are technically the properties that have been built after 1979, are exempted from rent control policies. There are some other exceptions as well such as if one is renting in a dormitory and the likes and also if tenancy is not continuous. The latter category defines continuity as a period of 28 days, beyond which a tenant must stay to avoid being classified as temporary tenancy.
Moreover, some properties may have limited rent control policies regulated upon them while some can have completely control.
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OPENING PHOTOJuan Salamanca pexels.com photo credit
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Wayland_Burns/1069739
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7066289
http://sf.curbed.com/2017/3/16/14951676/rent-san-francisco-sf-craigslist-bernal-duboce
https://hotpads.com/san-francisco-ca/apartments-for-rent
http://sfrb.org/mission-rent-board