New practice of S.F. tax assessor requesting extensive info

A new practice of assessing the property tax gains speed in San Francisco. No longer it is enough to report your sale's price to establish the new value. Instead, new owners now receive a letter like this from the San Francisco Tax Assessor Office. It asks the new buyer about a lot of additional information, even some that buyer may not even know, such as future rent values. What a buyer to do?

Direct Deposits And Other Electronic Means Affecting Landlord and Tenant Duties

An important new case came down last December, Kruger v. Reyes, 232 Cal.App.4th Supp. 10, 181 Cal. Rptr. 3d 521 (2014), covering several rules: timely service of the notice for non-payment rent, proper calculations in that notice of the rent due and the time when it is due. None of those concepts are new, but the case contains rare findings due to its fact pattern, including the issue of tenants paying rent by depositing funds directly to the landlord's account.

Everybody is Client-Employer And There Is No Exemption. This And Other New Developments in Labor for 2015

If you thought our existing labor laws in 2014 were tough as it can be, you might now change your opinion, because it ain't going any easier for an employer. Below is the summary of some most important changes the year 2015 brought in, mainly the scary new "client-employer" rule. Observers typically point that some clients are exempt, but I am confident to say to the contrary. Unless you are a governmental entity, no one is exempt. Sorry.

Eviction Control v. Rent Control - Is It Possible To Evict From a Single Family House In San Francisco?

Common wisdom holds that, while certain housing units are exempt from the Rent Control in San Francisco, they are still subject to the Eviction Control. That is, even if you can raise rent in those units above the limits dictated by the Rent Board, you still can't evict a person but for the defined "just cause" reasons. Such is the statement in Topic No. 19, issued by the San Francisco Rent Board.

Yet a close analysis of applicable sections of the SF Administrative Code indicates that an exception to the rule does exist, albeit a very narrow one. Despite what is said in the Topic No. 19, the prohibition is not absolute.

Interest on security deposits in SF - paid annually and on all units, except subsidized

I've been at the Rent Board last Friday and overheard a conversation regarding payments on security deposits. I thought you might be interested to find out that:

(1) - The interest is paid annually, not when the tenant vacates [Section 49.2(b)];

(2) - The interest is paid also on the units exempt from the rent control; only government-subsidized units (Section 8, SFHA, etc.) are not subject to it.

2014 Developments in Real Estate in San Francisco

This looks like a perfect moment to look back and observe what's new on our real property scene and what changes were most notable in 2014. I can't climb down your chimney, but please accept as my present to you, this short summary of the most noticeable movements I assembled below:

Friday after Thanksgiving--Not a Business Day

The fact that the day following the Thanksgiving Day is not a business day is not obvious. After all, most retail outlets on that day are gladly open for business--even earlier than usual--to keep up with the Black Friday sale spirit. Government Code 6700 does not mention it. However, it is a holiday, as established by these statutes: