A First for California, SF Unanimously Passes Law to Require 10-Day Warning Period Before Eviction

SAN FRANCISCO — Tenants will have a 10 day warning period before they can be legally evicted under a groundbreaking anti-displacement law, which passed unanimously today at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

“It’s important that we take things that have worked in our pandemic response and look at making some of them permanent,” said Supervisor Dean Preston, the measure’s author. “One of the biggest positive changes during COVID has been, for the most part, making evictions a tool of last resort, rather than the starting point for landlord-tenant disputes. This law takes this lesson, and applies it permanently, in a targeted and common sense way.”

Before filing a 3-day eviction notice, a landlord will be required to provide a 10-day warning period, allowing the tenant an opportunity to correct the behavior that could lead to eviction. It is the first warning legislation by a California city to divert tenant/landlord disputes from formal eviction proceedings.

“People should have the time to resolve disputes before landlords turn to eviction,” said Ora Prochovnick, Director of Litigation & Policy at the Eviction Defense Collaborative. “This law is a game-changer. It will help save thousands of San Franciscans who would otherwise lose their homes.”

Data shows that pandemic anti-displacement policies have had a significant impact on evictions. Rent Board data (which track evictions other than nonpayment) shows overall eviction notices in San Francisco were cut in half. Court figures for the most common eviction filings – for nonpayment of rent – plummeted during the pandemic, going from 127 per month to 3 per month at the end of 2021, but the numbers are starting to climb.

“The fact is, the laws put in place to stop evictions during the pandemic have been remarkably successful,” Preston said. “The question now is if we allow San Francisco to revert to a time when hundreds of families were dragged to court to fight for, and often lose, their homes, or if we give them time to resolve disputes without litigation and stay housed. This Ordinance is a big step toward reducing evictions and keeping folks in their homes. ”

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