Monday, August 12, 2013

Moving-in the Subtenants: Sensitive Time Limits under the Rules 6.15A and 6.15B

The San Francisco Rent Board's Rules 6.15A and 6.15B look alike in many aspects, yet they provide for different time limits. These differences should not be overlooked.

The Rule 6.15A is applicable where the lease has an absolute prohibition against subletting or assigning the lease. The Rule 6.15B regulates situations where subletting or assigning are allowed, but only after obtaining prior consent of a landlord.

These two similar rules operate on different schedules: Rule 6.15A first allows a landlord to respond to tenant's request in 14 days (6.15A(c)), then adds another 5 days for processing an application (6.15A(d)(1)(iii)); Rule 6.15B has no 14-day requirement, a tenant only needs to request permission "prior to the commencement of the proposed new tenant's or new subtenant's occupancy of the unit" (6.15B(b)(1)(i)), and, in that request, a tenant gives a landlord 5 days for processing an application (6.15B(b)(1)(iii)).

Effectively, the response time under a non-absolute clause is much shorter, it has no 14-day period, and this is a much more common scenario than the absolute prohibition. If you think your lease agreement contains the absolute prohibition clause, please check the lease's language and format--to be enforceable, this prohibition clause must be "set forth in enlarged or boldface type in the lease or rental agreement and is separately initialed by the tenant," unless, at the time of commencement of the lease, "the landlord has provided the tenant with a written explanation of the meaning of the absolute prohibition, either as part of the written lease or rental agreement, or in a separate writing." (6.15A(a)(1),(2)).

In any scenario, don't rush to acknowledge a new subtenant, before you consider the risks of potentially limiting your ability to evict under the Rent Ordinance rule vs. a more broader right under the Costa-Hawkins act. The San Francisco Apartment Association has three publications addressing the issue from different angles, all advising to exercise extreme caution in acknowledging laterally moving in occupants: (article 1, article 2, and article 3).

[update] the family of Rules 6.15 was updated and extended in 2015.



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