Helping Landlords With Evictions 

California, and especially the City and County of San Francisco, rent and eviction control laws can be both complicated and tricky for even the most seasoned landlords. Not only are there limited grounds for eviction established by local and municipal law, the procedural requirements are often more complicated and technical than the grounds to evict themselves. Depending on the underlying ground for eviction, just one procedural misstep could result in delaying eviction and recovering possession of a rental unit for over a year.

Understanding Causes For Eviction

Rent and eviction control laws dictate allowable and permissible grounds to evict as well as setting forth the basic framework to establish and prove those grounds at either the local Rent Board, the Superior Court, or both. At Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC, we have extensive knowledge and experience navigating not only the procedural requirements in prosecuting unlawful detainer actions, but also successfully guiding landlords through the tumultuous waters of just cause eviction. We also have an extensive background working with local rent boards and rent ordinances associated tenant protection laws.

For example, in San Francisco, a landlord’s dominant motive for recovering possession of a rental unit, either temporarily or permanently, must fall within one of the permissible grounds for eviction, as set forth in the rent control laws, also referred to as eviction for “just cause.” Some of these, such as owner move-in or Ellis Act evictions, can occur without any showing of tenant fault. However, sometimes evictions occur as a result of tenant misbehavior, and Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC regularly handles cases involving the following:

• Nonpayment of rent, habitually late payment, or frequent bounced checks
• Breach of a material term of the lease after a tenant has received written notice to correct from the landlord
• Nuisance or substantial damage to the unit or creating substantial interference with the comfort, safety, or enjoyment of the landlord or other tenants in the building
• Illegal use of the unit
• Refusal of a tenant to execute a written extension of an expired rental agreement with the materially same terms
• A tenant’s refusal to permit a landlord access to the unit as required by law
• Unapproved subtenant holding over as the only person remaining in the unit
• Expiration of Good Samaritan Occupancy Status

Learn More By Contacting The Firm

If your building is subject to San Francisco or other local rent and eviction control laws, contact Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC to discuss how we may assist you in advancing your landlord and business goals as well as representing and protecting your property rights and interests in litigation and settlement. You can also call our firm now at 415-956-8100.