SF State Tenants Rights Group

Background

San Francisco State University does not adhere to rent control and other San Francisco tenant protection regulations on university-owned residencies for faculty and staff.

In the summer of 2017, surprising many longtime residents, the University put in motion a plan to increase rents by 5% annually over a 6-year period (a cumulative 34% increase). This rate of increase is more than double the rate allowed by San Francisco rent control regulations. To justify this decision, which stands in apparent contradiction to SF State’s mission and values, the administration is claiming that it is exempt from local regulations.

A group of affected faculty and staff have created this website to warn prospective tenants about the rent control status of SF State housing and to resist the unsustainable growth of rents that threatens to displace many committed members of SF State faculty and staff.

WARNING: The meaning of 'not subject to local regulations'

University-owned residencies used to be governed by San Francisco Rent Board ordinances prior to their purchase by the university in 2005. SF State University claims that with the change in ownership the residencies are no longer subject to local regulations because the university is exempt as a state institution. Exemption from San Francisco Rent Board regulations in practice means that university housing residents are facing:

• Rent increases of unknown magnitude (5% annually planned through fiscal year 2022-23).
• Eviction upon retirement or resignation from SF State.
• No minimum service standards (e.g. in the past, university housing refused to honor SF Rent Board's Minimum Heat Requirements).