out of business

 

Ellis Act Evictions

San Francisco has High home prices, plus high population density, plus low avail-ability, becoming an expensive place to rent an apartment. An estimated 75% of all housing units in San Francisco are covered by rent control. To get around rent control, landlords have been using a California state law called the Ellis Act.

The “Ellis Act” says that landlords have the unconditional right to evict tenants to “go out of business.” Ellis Act evictions generally are used to change the use of the building. Most Ellis evictions are used to convert rental units to condominiums, using loopholes in the condo law.

The number of people who are homeless in San Francisco is 6,686, according to an official count by the city of San Francisco in 2015. The Department of Public Health estimates the number is around 10,000.