Housing
A view looking up toward both low and high-rise resdential buildings in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.

Would Tax on Vacant Homes Be Enough to Push Owners to Lease Empty SF Units?

09.27.2022
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Designed to combat San Francisco’s long-standing housing shortage, an empty homes tax on the November ballot, Proposition M, would apply to multi-unit residential buildings with prolonged vacancies. Voters will decide the fate of the measure that has garnered support and criticism for its exemptions and low tax amount.   

While revenue from the empty homes tax would go toward rent subsidies and affordable housing, its architect, Supervisor Dean Preston, stressed that its primary purpose is returning vacant units to the market. 

Housing
Homes in San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood are seen against a background of skyscrapers in the city's financial district.

Tens of Thousands Vulnerable to Eviction as California Protections Poised to End

06.22.2022
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Roughly two years, multiple eviction moratoriums and over $3.6 billion in rent-relief payments after tenant advocates began worrying COVID-19 hardships would push thousands of renters out of their homes in San Francisco and elsewhere, California policy interventions aimed at preventing evictions are poised to end.

Barring an eleventh-hour postponement by lawmakers (not out of the question, given three previous last-minute extensions), California’s eviction protections expire June 30. Among those vulnerable to being forced from their homes are more than 135,000 tenants whose applications for rent relief have been denied, and thousands more whose applications may be denied in the future or not processed by the time protections are lifted.

Homelessness
A man holds a clipboard while standing next to a woman, below a design featuring a clipboard with lines leading to items like an image of tents, an image of handcuffs, a syringe, a questionnaire.

San Francisco Rations Housing by Scoring Homeless People’s Trauma. By Design, Most Fail to Qualify.

04.14.2022
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Co-published with ProPublica.

Tabitha Davis had just lost twins in childbirth and was facing homelessness. The 23-year-old had slept on friends’ floors for the first seven months of her pregnancy, before being accepted to a temporary housing program for pregnant women. But with the loss of the twins, the housing program she’d applied to live in after giving birth — intended for families — was no longer an option.

A few weeks later, Davis was informed that the score she’d been given based on her answers to San Francisco’s “coordinated entry” questionnaire wasn’t high enough to qualify for permanent supportive housing. It was a devastating blow after an already traumatizing few months.

Housing
face mask hangs on outside doorknob

California Extends Eviction Protections for Some, Kills Local Protections

03.31.2022
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Just one day before statewide rent relief protections were set to expire, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis signed into law a proposal to extend pandemic-related eviction protections through June 30 for tenants who applied for help paying the debts accumulated up to today. Kounalakis became the first woman in Californian history to sign a bill into law after the state Senate passed the bill this morning. She is filling in for Gov. Gavin Newsom while he is on vacation.

Housing
A "For Rent" sign is taped above a doorway in San Francisco's Mission District, next to a retailer. San Franciscans in need of rent relief could get a reprieve if a law proposed March 24 passes -- but only if they act fast.

California Bill Would Give Tenants 3-Month Eviction Reprieve — but Only to Those Who Act Fast

03.25.2022
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A bill introduced Thursday in the California Assembly would extend eviction protections by three months for tenants who have applied for emergency rent relief related to the coronavirus pandemic. The catch: To qualify, tenants who haven’t yet asked for help would need to submit applications by the end of March, giving them less than a week to get their requests in the queue.

California

‘A Serious Crisis’ — Experts Discuss Expiring Eviction Protections

03.18.2022
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If state lawmakers don’t act fast, tenants across California will become vulnerable to eviction next month for rent debts they accumulated during the pandemic.

Amid increasing calls for Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature to avert an eviction wave, the San Francisco Public Press held a live panel discussion Wednesday about how the state got to this moment and what comes next. The Public Press spoke with Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation and policy at the Eviction Defense Collaborative, which provides free legal aid to people facing eviction, and Shanti Singh, communications and legislative director at Tenants Together, a statewide coalition of tenant-rights groups.

Housing

Tenant Protections are Expiring as Thousands Wait on Rent Assistance

03.10.2022
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The last remaining tenant protections against eviction for pandemic-related rent debt that were granted by the state are expiring at the end of the month. A new protection covering rent due in April will go into effect for San Francisco tenants, but even these residents will be vulnerable to eviction for past rent debt at the beginning of the month. 

Coronavirus
A view of tall buildings in San Francisco's Marina district, with a palm tree in the foreground. California tenants facing COVID-19 hardships must request rent and utility assistance before the end of March, when the state will stop accepting applications for rent relief.

California’s Rent-Relief Program to Stop Taking Applications March 31

03.03.2022
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California will stop accepting applications for rent assistance from people facing COVID-19 hardships at the end of this month, the San Francisco mayor’s office said.

Local governments throughout the state will have to figure out how to help people still struggling to cover rent as the economy continues its climb back to pre-pandemic levels.

Homelessness

Hear Why Hundreds of Homeless San Franciscans Wait Months as Rooms for Them Sit Empty

03.03.2022
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A recent investigation from the San Francisco Public Press and ProPublica indicates Hanson is not alone in her frustration. But the problem is not that there is nowhere for people to go. Rather, hundreds of units of permanent supportive housing — rooms in hotels or full apartments intended to get people experiencing homelessness a roof over their heads and connected with services — are sitting empty. Meanwhile, more than 1,600 people have been approved to move into them, and more than 400 people on the streets have been waiting to be housed for more than a year.