San Francisco is no stranger to fire. Our city’s identity is linked to fire, which has provided its cycle of destruction and rebirth extending far past the Gold Rush and now into a model of urban resilience. San Francisco’s resilience is memorialized by the Phoenix, our city’s official symbol which was adopted in 1852 to commemorate the ability to rise from the ashes of its own ruins.

As most of us know, the most defining moment in the city's history occurred on April 18, 1906 when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake caused significant damage, with ensuing fires being responsible for 80% of the city's destruction. Ruptured gas lines sparked dozens of blazes, while broken water mains left firefighters helpless. Numerous multiple fires merged into a firestorm that consumed 490 city blocks and killed an estimated 3,000 people.

In the wake of 1906, San Francisco developed the world’s most sophisticated municipal firefighting infrastructure. First, an Auxiliary Water Supply System was completed in 1913. This high-pressure network is entirely separate from the drinking water supply. Second, scattered beneath intersections are 177 underground cisterns, holding millions of gallons of emergency water. These cisterns can be seen at street level by the distinctive circles of red bricks in the pavement. Third, San Francisco employs a fire hydrant coding system that uses color-coded tops to indicate their water source. Blue, red, and black tops signify different zones of the high-pressure auxiliary water supply system, while a white top indicates the standard domestic supply. Finally, as any San Francisco resident has observed, our Fire Department ensures that all fire calls, founded or not, are treated with the urgency that wooden structures in proximity require.

Not all risk can be eliminated. Fires will happen and people will be displaced – including tenants. California state law and the San Francisco Rent Ordinance regulate virtually all of the rules and obligations a landlord has to its tenants after an apartment fire.

When there is a fire in a tenant-occupied building, landlords must act swiftly and with reasonable diligence. It must be first determined if the tenancy is terminated by matter of law due to destruction of the rental unit. City inspectors may red-tag or yellow-tag some or all of the building which will have an impact on the tenants and their right to occupy. There are different rules affecting whether tenants being displaced are entitled to relocation money, and if so, how much and for how long. Moreover, there may be certain noticing requirements owed to displaced tenants in addition to statutory relocation payments. This is in addition to any payments that may be issued by the landlord’s and/or the tenant’s insurance, if at all.

Once tenants have been lawfully displaced, restoration and remediation may begin. This work can take days, weeks, months, even years. Displacement and reoccupancy rights and obligations are regulated by San Francisco Rent Board Rule and Regulation 12.19. If a tenant is forced to vacate their unit due to fire or other disaster, a landlord must offer the same unit back to the tenant under the same terms and conditions that existed prior to the displacement, and within thirty days after completion of the repairs. Upon receipt, the tenant then has another thirty days to notify the landlord whether they are accepting or rejecting the offer to re-rent, and if accepting, the tenant has forty-five days to occupy the unit.

The San Francisco Rent Ordinance protects a displaced tenant’s lawful base rent during the temporary displacement. Because fire repairs and renovations can be significant, this means many tenants displaced pursuant to a fire are able to return to a newly renovated unit with upgraded appliances and housing services at the same rent they had been paying prior to the displacement. These costs cannot be passed on to the tenant in most circumstances, with one major exception. Costs incurred by the landlord which were not reimbursed by insurance proceeds or by any other means may be passed through to the tenant by utilization of the capital improvement petition process with the San Francisco Rent Board pursuant to Rent Board Rule and Regulation Section 7. As a warning – a landlord who attempts to re-rent the unit without allowing the displaced tenant to return exposes themselves to a wrongful eviction lawsuit which can include punitive damages among others.

Fires are frightening for owners and tenants alike. Having to navigate the additional obligations and pitfalls a landlord is exposed to makes that fear that much more challenging. If you are a landlord that had a fire in your San Francisco building, it is crucial for you to consult with legal professionals and attorneys who specialize in real estate law to fully understand the rules and duties owed to tenants. California real estate information about San Francisco apartment fires provided by San Francisco Real Estate attorney Mark Chernev.

Mark B. Chernev, Zacks & Freedman, PC, 180 Montgomery Street, Suite 1950, San Francisco, CA 94104 : 415 – 956 – 8100