Rent Control in San Francisco
What owners get wrong about rent control
Renting out a San Francisco property works differently than most owners expect, and the difference usually shows up years later, at the moment they want to sell. Here are the facts.
Price control
Depends on the buildingLimits how much you can raise the rent. Single-family homes and condos are often exempt.
Eviction control
Applies to nearly everythingLimits whether you can require a tenant to leave at all. This is the one that traps sellers.
AB 1482 (2020)
Who is actually exempt from the rent cap
The state Costa-Hawkins Act exempts single-family homes and condominiums from local rent increase caps, along with units first occupied after June 13, 1979. Older multi-unit buildings and TICs generally stay under the city cap.
Exempt from the local cap does not mean unlimited. California's AB 1482 caps increases at 5% plus CPI, or 10%, whichever is lower. Condos and single-family homes can be exempt from that too, if the owner is not a corporation and the required lease disclosure was given.
| SF allowable increase, 3/1/26 to 2/28/27 | 1.6% |
|---|---|
| AB 1482 statewide cap | 5% + CPI, max 10% |
A lease ending is not a reason
San Francisco's just cause protections apply to nearly all residential rentals, including condos and single-family homes, regardless of build year and regardless of Costa-Hawkins.
When a fixed term ends, the tenancy does not. It converts to month to month, and the tenant can stay indefinitely as long as they pay rent and comply with the lease. Wanting to sell is not on the list of allowable reasons. Neither is divorce, illness, or needing the money.
Selling with a tenant in place
It can be done. It cannot be staged, painted, or shown freely, and the buyer pool shrinks dramatically. What is left is mostly investors, and an investor prices the unit off the rent it produces and the risk of inheriting the tenancy. That math only works for them at a significant discount to vacant-condition value.
Relocation §37.9C
Owner move-in is not a seller's exit
An OMI requires the owner or a qualifying relative to move in within three months and occupy the unit as a principal residence for 36 months. It requires 60 days notice and relocation payments to every tenant.
| Per tenant | $8,062 |
|---|---|
| Maximum per unit | $24,184 |
| Each tenant 60+, disabled, or household with minors | + $5,375 |
Those are the most recently published amounts and they adjust every March. Protected tenants, including seniors, disabled tenants, and households with children, may be exempt from an OMI entirely, and households with children generally cannot be displaced during the school year. If the move-in does not actually happen and hold, wrongful eviction exposure includes treble damages and attorney's fees.
Practical read: an OMI is a tool for a buyer who intends to live there. It is not a path for a seller who does not.
Public dataset: DataSF
Buyouts have their own rulebook
A pre-buyout disclosure form must be served and a declaration filed with the Rent Board before negotiations begin. Once an agreement is fully signed, the tenant has an absolute 45-day right to cancel, and it cannot be waived. The signed agreement is then filed with the Rent Board and published in a searchable public dataset by address.
One more thing worth knowing: a tenant who signs a buyout and then does not leave has not created a just cause for eviction. The remedy is a contract dispute, not possession.
Rents and prices move together
When the sales market is strong, rents are strong, and a tenant has nowhere cheaper to go. When rents soften enough that a tenant is ready to move, the sales market has usually softened too. Once a tenant is in place, they control the timeline.
Before renting it out: talk to a San Francisco landlord-tenant attorney before signing a lease, and before saying a single word to an existing tenant about moving. This area is heavily litigated and the penalties are severe.
For help running the actual hold-versus-sell math on a specific unit, or a referral to a good local attorney, get in touch.
Not legal advice. I am not an attorney. Figures current as of the most recent SF Rent Board schedule and subject to annual adjustment.
