'Egregious' Landlords Sued By SF After Converting Apartments To Tourist Rentals
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Amid a shortage of affordable housing options in San Francisco, City Attorney Dennis Herrera is filing suit against several San Francisco landlords who allegedly ousted tenants in order to turn properties into short-term rentals.
The suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court Wednesday alleges the landlords illegally converted residential apartments without permits into tourist rentals made available through Airbnb and other online marketplaces.
The suit claims that tenants used the Ellis Act to essentially go out of the landlord business and evict tenants, some of whom were disabled, only to again offer them as rentals on an irregular basis.
"In the midst of a housing crisis of historic proportions, illegal short-term rental conversions of our scarce residential housing stock risks becoming a major contributing factor. The cases I've filed today target two egregious offenders," said Herrera in a press statement. "Today's cases are the first among several housing-related matters under investigation by my office, and we intend to crack down hard on unlawful conduct that's exacerbating—and in many cases profiting from—San Francisco's alarming lack of affordable housing."
Defendants in the case have not yet publicly responded regarding the case.
