Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC To Join MCLE Panel on the Ellis Act in San Francisco

Justin A. Goodman of Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC will join a panel of attorneys (who represent both tenants and landlords), as well as the Senior Advisor at the Office of the Mayor, to teach a continuing legal education course on the Ellis Act. The course will include preparing for withdrawal of residential property from the housing market, the transactional process leading to termination of tenancy, common defenses, and the lasting effect on the property after ‘going out of business’.

The MCLE course is presented by the Bar Association of San Francisco, and will take place on December 10, 2018 at 12:00pm in the BASF Conference Center, located at 301 Battery Street, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, California.

Moderator
Tiffany R. Norman, trn Law Associates

Speakers
Andrew Wiegel, Wiegel Law Group, PLC
Thomas E. Drohan, Staff Attorney Legal Assistance to the Elderly
Justin A. Goodman, Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC
Jeff Buckley, Senior Advisor for the Office of the Mayor

The Bar Association of San Francisco has been providing San Francisco legal professionals with networking and pro bono opportunities in order to better serve the community since 1872.

Its mission is to champion equal access to justice and to promote humanity, excellence, and diversity in the legal profession. It provides legal services to disadvantaged and underserved individuals in San Francisco and creates opportunities for legal service in the community, encouraging participation by its members.

It advances professional growth and education, and elevates the standards of integrity, honor, and respect in the practice of law. It also cultivates diversity and equality in the legal profession, provides a collective voice for public advocacy, and pioneers constructive change in society.

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Justin Goodman Featured in SF Apartment Magazine Legal Q&A for November 2018

Justin Goodman was featured in the Legal Q&A for the November 2018 issue of SF Apartment Magazine – the official publication of the San Francisco Apartment Association.

Justin discussed potential liability for a landlord “waiting too long” to rent an available apartment when he is only receiving applicants enrolled in the Section 8 program, as well as how the recent opinion CCSF v. Post (2018) changed the rules on “source of income discrimination” in San Francisco.


SFAA is dedicated to educating, advocating for, and supporting the rental housing community so that its members operate ethically, fairly, and profitably. SFAA’s is a trade association whose main focus is to support rental owners by offering a wide variety of benefits that address all aspects of rental housing industry.

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Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC Attends FBANC Celebration of Judge Quidachay

Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC attended the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California celebration of retired Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay, hosted by the Dolan Law Firm.

(Featured: Staff Attorney Olga Grecova, Justin A. Goodman of Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC and Hon. Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay)

Judge Quidachay was one of the founding members of FBANC and the first Filipino-American to be appointed as a judge in Northern California (in 1983).

Also in attendance were the members of FBANC, past and present court staff, friends, family and the landlord and tenant attorneys who have had the great pleasure of arguing before him in Housing Court (some for their entire careers).

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San Francisco Chronicle Recommends No on Prop. 10

Citing a nearly universal rejection of rent control by economists, the San Francisco Chronicle recommends voting “no” on Proposition 10, the ballot measure aimed at repealing the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act – a state law limiting and defining cities’ ability to impose rent control.

As the Chronicle describes it, “Prop. 10 would repeal the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, which protects properties built that year or later from rent control. The law also prevents cities with preexisting rent control laws from extending them to newer units; San Francisco’s ordinance, for example, remains limited to housing built before 1980. And Costa-Hawkins exempts single-family homes from rent control while guaranteeing property owners the right to raise rents to market value when units are vacated.”

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SFAA v. CCSF (2018): City’s “Educator” Eviction Defense Upheld as “Substantive” Rather Than “Procedural”

Thus, under Birkenfeld, municipalities may by ordinance limit the substantive grounds for eviction by specifying that a landlord may gain possession of a rental unit only on certain limited grounds. But they may not procedurally impair the summary eviction scheme set forth in the unlawful detainer statutes. The Property Owners argue the Ordinance is procedural because it governs the timing of notices of eviction: ‘The Ordinance does not limit the allowable justifications for evicting tenants; it only delays certain evictions.’ Such questions of timing, they contend, are purely procedural. The City argues the Ordinance is substantive because timing is merely a component of the substantive defense to eviction: ‘When the household to be evicted includes a child under the age of 18 or an ‘educator’ within the terms of the Ordinance, ‘good cause’ for a landlord to undertake any of the specified types of no-fault evictions does not exist unless the eviction is to take effect during the summer months.’ As this case illustrates, the distinction between procedure and substantive law can be shadowy and difficult to draw in practice.

In SFAA v. CCSF, Division Five of the First District Court of Appeal overturned the SF Housing Court’s order mandating that the City not enforce a 2016 amendment to the Rent Ordinance (Ordinance 55-16) that created a substantive defense to certain non-fault evictions for “educators”.

Continue reading “SFAA v. CCSF (2018): City’s “Educator” Eviction Defense Upheld as “Substantive” Rather Than “Procedural””

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SF Examiner reports on Potential “Code Enforcement Nightmare” as First Soft Store Retrofit Deadline Approaches

September 15th is the first deadline for “Tier One” property owners to submit permit applications for work under the City’s mandatory seismic retrofit program – a 2013 ordinance that requires owners of certain multiunit wood-frame buildings with “soft stories” (i.e., open space first floors that are weaker and more flexible than the stories above) to reinforce the structure to increase resiliency in the event of an earthquake.

The SF Examiner reports that, “Failure to comply with the Sept. 15 deadline will come with penalties. For instance, The City would post an ‘Earthquake Warning’ placard on the property and issue a notice of violations. After the 30-day notice, The City can assess monetary penalties along with putting a lien on the property”.

Property owners can search the Department of Building Inspection website to determine the compliance tier and associated deadline for their buildings.

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SF Gate Reports on City Attorney Lawsuit Against Owner and Master Tenant of “Death Trap” Basement Apartments Below Outer Mission Laundromat

SF Gate reports on a lawsuit by City Attorney Dennis Herrera against the owner and master tenant of a mixed use property in the Outer Mission, where 20 people rented space in a “windowless basement” below a Laundromat. The City brought the lawsuit after uncured violations of City fire, electrical and plumbing cods, and operating a public-nuisance building. The violations evoke last year’s Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.

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San Francisco Legislative Update (2017): Revision to SF Fire Code Imposes Significant New Fire Safety Burdens on Property Owners

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San Francisco recently revised its entire Fire Code to impose significant new requirements on residential property owners in the City. Cities in California must enforce the California Fire Code and they may enact their own codes that are at least as strict as California’s. The adoption of a completely new code is therefore actually somewhat ministerial. Of course, while these changes were not prompted by Oakland’s recent “Ghost Ship” warehouse fire, fire safety (and lawful residential use of unpermitted/unregulated property) has been under increasing public scrutiny lately.
Continue reading “San Francisco Legislative Update (2017): Revision to SF Fire Code Imposes Significant New Fire Safety Burdens on Property Owners”

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Infamous San Francisco Landlord Anne Kihagi Sent to Jail for Contempt

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WeHoVille.com reports that infamous landlord Anne Kihagi has been ordered to jail for five days for violating an injunction in a case by a former tenant of one of her West Hollywood apartments, who is suing her for violating the Ellis Act. The former tenant’s lawsuit alleges that she violated the Ellis Act by re-renting the property.

The Ellis Act – which allows property owners to terminate tenancies in a building by “going out business” – actually does permit re-renting under certain circumstances (like offering the unit to the displaced tenant at the rent-controlled rental rate). However, re-rental within two years may subject the landlord to prosecution by the city and liability to the tenant.

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