Preston Announces Law to Ban Dangerous Landlords from Buying Properties in San Francisco

On the heels of a landlord convicted of soliciting arson moving forward to buy an 18-unit property on Divisadero near Alamo Square, Supervisor Dean Preston will announce at the Board of Supervisors meeting legislation to prohibit dangerous landlords from owning or operating rental property in San Francisco.

“Property owners with a track record of criminally endangering tenants shouldn’t be able to buy or operate tenant-occupied buildings in San Francisco, period,” Supervisor Preston said. “We have an obligation to ensure that long-term tenants are not put in jeopardy by allowing dangerous landlords to buy properties in our city.”

The announcement follows reports that Richard Earl Singer, who formerly owned a residential hotel in Oakland, is buying the property at 800 Divisadero Street with 18 residential units and Eddy’s Cafe, a legacy business, in the ground floor retail space.

In 2010, Singer purchased Hotel Menlo, a residential hotel in Oakland with a restaurant on the ground floor. Singer solicited multiple people to burn down the building in an apparent insurance scheme, according to the FBI. An informant was among the parties Singer sought to hire to burn down the building, and in August 2011, Singer pleaded guilty to federal charges of soliciting arson and sentenced to 27 months in prison.

The property at 800 Divisadero was recently listed for sale, triggering the city’s Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), which gives nonprofits the right to make a first offer on multifamily properties that are being marketed for sale.

Supervisor Preston encouraged the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) to purchase the property through its preservation program. In November 2021, Preston led efforts to allocate $64 million to the city’s acquisition program, noting that it is one of San Francisco’s strongest programs to prevent displacement.

Although MOHCD staff indicated that the property scored highly in its preservation program evaluation, the Mayor’s office chose not to commit any funds to acquire the property. MOHCD’s inaction cleared the path for Singer to buy the property.

The Mayor’s office chose to defund $20 million from the preservation program in this year’s budget process, despite nonprofit partners identifying significant opportunities to acquire properties and preserve long-term affordability.

“It’s unconscionable for the Mayor’s office to take away funds we raised and allocated specifically to acquire properties like 800 Divisadero,” said Preston. “This is an extreme example of the Mayor’s inaction threatening the health and safety of long-term tenants in the Fillmore, and we are compelled to take action to make sure this never happens again.”