Landlord’s Duties After S.F. Quake

QUESTION: I own a four-unit building in San Francisco. Here’s my question: In the aftermath of the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, what are the responsibilities of a landlord to the tenants if the quake caused the rental units to be uninhabitable or dangerous for either a short time or over longer periods of time? I rent on a monthly basis. Do I need to provide shelter for the balance of the month or until the building is safe to occupy?

ANSWER: You are not responsible for “acts of God,” which earthquakes are. If the building is only going to be uninhabitable for a short period of time, you must provide the tenants with some kind of rent refunds or credits while repairs are being made. Even though the condition of the property is not your fault, you cannot collect rent while it is uninhabitable.

If the tenants are going to permanently need new housing, you should refund the pro-rata share of their rents for the month and any security deposits you may be holding of theirs. I would do so immediately as a humane gesture, rather than waiting up to two weeks as allowed by state law.

Splitting Couple Must Honor Lease

Q: My husband and I moved into our Los Angeles apartment last March. We signed a one-year lease. Now we’re having marital problems and I’m thinking about moving out. The problem is that my husband says if I don’t continue paying rent until the lease is up he’ll take me to court to get “my” half of the rent.

Do I have to pay the rent since I signed the lease? Do I have any options? And will this ruin my chances of getting another apartment because I might get a bad reference for moving out during the term of the lease?

A: You’re probably going to have problems because of the lease. Most contain a provision such as the following: “The undersigned tenants, whether or not in actual possession of the premises, are jointly and severally (together and separately) liable for all rent incurred during the term of this agreement.” If your lease contains similar language, you’re liable.

Whether or not you get a bad personal reference from your landlord depends upon your relationship with him.

Detached Garages Can Rent Separately

Q: We recently bought a six-unit apartment building in Encino. Some of the rents are very low, but the unit includes six detached garages. Can I charge more rent for the garage spaces? If so, how do I go about it?

A: You can rent the garages; however, there are a number of issues to consider here. The key is the rental agreements.

If the units are rent controlled, as they appear to be, and the garages are included in the renters’ rental agreements as part of the rentals, you cannot raise the rent to the tenants for their continued use. The garages are already rented to them.

You could give the tenants 30-day notices to vacate the garages, and then re-rent them, but you would have to reduce the tenants’ rents and check with rent control to find out how much, because of the reduction in services. (Any reduction in services requires a rent reduction under rent control.)

If the units are not rent controlled, are rented to parties other than your renters, or rented to your renters as separate services, you can raise the rents to market levels with 30-day notices.

Tenant Can Be Evicted With 30-Day Notice

Q: I would like to know if the new owner of my Arleta apartment building has the right to evict me because I have lived here for 10 years and the rent is very low. What are my rights?

A: If the building is not rent controlled, the owner can ask you to leave with a 30-day notice. If it is controlled, he can only evict you for “just cause.”

Since you say the rent is very low, I’ll assume you won’t give him cause to evict, such as not paying the rent or violating the rental agreement, which leaves us with the three “no-fault” eviction causes:

They are owner move-in, demolition of the property and permanent removal of the unit from rental housing use. If the owner evicts you for one of these causes, you are entitled to relocation fees.

Soft Drink Machines Trouble New Owner

Q: My wife and I recently bought a four-unit apartment building in Santa Maria. There was a lot of deferred maintenance in the building, but my problem for you is the two large soft drink machines that we seem to have inherited. They are protected by locked iron doors and are electrically powered from one of the tenant’s units.

We want to get rid of the machines, but the company that owns them claims to have a valid contract for them with the previous owner. What can we do?

A: Contracts such as the one you are alluding to are often recorded in escrow when properties are sold, however, it doesn’t sound like this one was. The problem you have is that the presence of the two “large” machines seems fairly obvious to anyone inspecting the building prior to its sale.

You should have asked about the machines when you inspected the property. If the vendor has a valid contract, you may be stuck with the machines. Do ask to see the contract.

If you must keep the machines, you must have them rewired to the house wiring.

Rent Control Rules Are Similar but Diffferent

Q: Your last column included a letter from a man who was concerned that he might be evicted from his duplex and denied relocation moving fees.

My question is asked on behalf of my 89-year-old uncle, who lives in a rent-controlled duplex in San Francisco and has the same concern.

Do the rent control measures in Los Angeles reflect those in San Francisco and other California cities? If not, where can I write to get the San Francisco rules and regulations?

A: Rent control measures in California are similar but different. To find out about San Francisco rent control, write to: San Francisco RSD, 25 Van Ness Ave., S.F., CA 94102.