Landlord / Tenant Law

Experienced San Francisco Landlord Tenant Lawyers

If you rent real property, as a landlord or a tenant, you know that questions about your rights can lead to landlord-tenant disputes and even litigation. In addition to governing state and federal law which generally regulates commercial real estate, the emerging trend in California regarding residential real estate is one in which local municipalities are enacting their own specific, unique rent and eviction control ordinances. In the Bay Area alone, there are at least half a dozen such systems in place, including those in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and San Jose. They can be complex and counter-intuitive. The text of the specific regulations and ordinances in place are typically difficult for laypeople to understand. In addition, constant amendments and changes to local law make compliance with the law difficult. As a result, property owners and managers need specialists who understand, analyze, interpret, and interact with such systems on a daily basis. The lawyers at Beckman Marquez & Dowling, LLP have this specialized knowledge and can efficiently and effectively assist their clients in navigating the seas of rent and evictions controls in California.

When landlord-tenant disputes and litigation arise from unclear expectations, the real estate law attorneys at Beckman Marquez & Dowling, LLP, can help. Our attorneys have more than thirty-six combined years of experience resolving disputes through professional mediation, arbitration hearings, and trial litigation.

Commercial Leases

Our real estate lawyers can prepare your lease or rental agreement, review one that you may already be using, and make sure that your rights as the landlord or the tenant are being protected. ‘Use’ clauses, options to renew, subleases and assignments are areas that often generate confusion and dispute. We can analyze your situation and concerns, and provide you with a clear understanding of your options. Our services are designed to help you prevent landlord-tenant disputes from arising and to help resolve such disputes if they do arise.

Residential Rental Agreements

From habitable premises to discrimination in housing, we resolve landlord-tenant disputes and provide reliable, knowledgeable advice to landlords and property managers who have questions about their rights and obligations. Typically in rent control jurisdictions, the terms of a residential rental agreement cannot be changed after the inception of the tenancy. It is therefore imperative to ensure that your rights as a property owner are protected as much as possible from the start. The standard 2-page, state-wide residential lease will not protect your interests in a place like San Francisco. We can prepare a comprehensive and thorough lease agreement which is custom-tailored to the laws of the specific municipality at issue, and which is specifically designed to address and prevent typical rent control problems, such as "revolving roommates" who keep a below-market base rent perpetually low after the original occupant who set that base rent has already vacated the property.

Rent & Eviction Control Law

Rent control is a restriction imposed by local law on the amount, frequency, and timing of rent increases for an existing tenancy in a covered residential unit. The intended purpose is to ensure that affordable housing remains available despite rental market conditions. While controversial, it imposes strict obligations on landlords, and corresponding rights to tenants. Its companion, eviction controls (which require that a landlord have a permitted "just cause" to evict so that the landlord cannot use unfettered rights under state law to terminate a tenancy as a means of evading local rent controls) can be violated innocently, and still result in significant financial penalties to the landlord accused of “wrongful eviction.” Willful violations can result in criminal sanctions.

At Beckman Marquez Dowling, in addition to helping owners be proactive by avoiding disputes and conflicts with very clear lease provisions, we represent landlords and property managers in all forms of rent and eviction control disputes, including evictions, wrongful eviction defense, rent disputes, petitions for relief to administrative agencies, TIC conversions, and tenancy buy-outs. We represent our clients with an eye towards minimizing the risks which come with renting to tenants in politically-charged, pro-tenant rent control jurisdictions.

For more information about eviction and rent control in specific cities, please visit these pages:

Contact the real estate law offices of Beckman Marquez & Dowling, LLP, for a no cost consultation about resolving your landlord-tenant dispute.