Drafting the Owner Move-In Notice in San Francisco

Termination of tenancy starts from drafting and serving the notice of such termination, and the importance of making that notice as accurate and complete as possible is hard to understate. If the notice is defective, the landlord most likely will have to go back to the square one, starting the whole process again by reissuing and reserving the notice. Sometimes, months will pass before the landlord finds out about the deficiency. It may become a very expensive mistake to learn.

This article concentrates on the elements of a notice of termination of tenancy on the grounds of owner's move-in, the so called "OMI notice." It has quite a few elements and steps to be concerned about.

ATTENTION: this article was published in 2014, and things have changed since. Commencing on January 1, 2018, significant changes in the OMI/RMI procedure came into force. Read more here.  This is a fluid area of local law, your diligence in checking with the latest version of the law currently in force is required.

A Lose-Lose Scenario: Changes In Rent Ordinance Regarding Ellis Act Treatment Appear To Be Counterproductive

Update 10-21-14: Federal District Court finds this ordinance unconstitutional, see judge Breyer's opinion as published on PACER (scribd copy), case No. 14-cv-03352-CRB.

A significant change in the treatment of the Ellis Act went into effect in San Francisco on June 1, 2014 (Ordinance No.54-14). It is no longer enough to just look up the current amount for the fixed relocation assistance payment. To calculate what is due to tenants vacating under the Ellis Act one now has to employ a formula to select the greater from the two options: either the fixed amount, or "an amount equal to the difference between the unit's rental rate at the time the landlord files the notice of intent to withdraw rental units with the Board, and the market rental rate for a comparable unit in San Francisco as determined by the Controller's Office, multiplied to cover a two-year period, and divided equally by the number of tenants in the unit." Section 37.9A(e)(3)(E)(ii). The funny part is in the math: lesser entitled tenants stand a higher chance to recover large payments.

Employer's Bond To Appeal Labor Commissioner's Decisions - Mandatory or Not?

Not everyone works a 4-hour workweek, but all those who work some finite periods of time may wonder, when does the time worked starts counting toward the overtime. In California, a straightforward response would be, after 8 hours per day or after 40 hours per week. But not everything is straightforward, and the overtime may come sooner just as well as it may come later in the workday or workweek. In other words, "it depends."

When Overtime May Be Due Over A Shorter (Longer) Time?

Not everyone works a 4-hour workweek, but all those who work some finite periods of time may wonder, when does the time worked starts counting toward the overtime. In California, a straightforward response would be, after 8 hours per day or after 40 hours per week. But not everything is straightforward, and the overtime may come sooner just as well as it may come later in the workday or workweek. In other words, "it depends."

The Times Are A-Changing: Pending Developments Affecting San Francisco Real Estate In 2014

There are several developments currently--and rapidly--changing the San Francisco real property scene, all worthy of attention: condo-conversions, Ellis Act, vacation rentals, changes in in-law apartments, and more, all actively brewing right before our nose. Here is the short summary of the developments as of today:

Rescind, Surrender, And Cancel. Courts' Handling Of Leases.

I recently had to ask a clerk of the San Francisco Superior Court to enter a default judgment "for possession only" in an eviction case. The procedure does not require many steps to comply with, but this time I talked the details over with the clerk, and left very glad that I did, because I accidentally discovered that the SF Court follows an ancient tradition of physically canceling an original instrument, the lease agreement.

fLAWcharts and fLAWpps

The laws are the rules, and following those rules is akin following steps of an algorithm. "Yes" or "No," or, if you did X, then you get Y under the rule Z.  On this basic premise, I decided to try my hand in making a legal flowchart ("flawchart") and an app to walk a user by that flawchart ("flawpp"). I so far was able to complete just one, covering steps a homeowner might take if (s)he gets a notice of violation from the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection.