From the President
by Eric Andresen
Inmid-September, Governor Davis signed into law the Kuehl bill, effective January 1, 2003. The law extends a Notice of Termination (without cause notice) to 60 days, rather than the current 30 days. There is also now an absolute requirement that property owners and managers give written notice of intent to enter a unit, except in the case of emergencies.
Change of Termination of Tenancy Timeline
This bill was passed in response to the Sacramento building owner
who filed more than 100 eviction notices, without cause, and created
a great deal of turmoil in our industry. The new change to the termination
of tenancy timeline is intended to provide additional time for relocation
to residents who are evicted or whose tenancies are terminated without
cause. In San Francisco, we rarely issue a 30-Day Notice of Termination
and instead usually use a three-day notice to start the process.
In addition, we must use one of the just-cause reasons that puts
us beyond the realm of evictions without cause.
My recommendation is to use a three-day notice whenever possible and avoid a 30-day notice no matter what. Eviction actions that start with the three-day notice do not fall into the requirements of this new law and are, clearly, the more preferable approach to terminating a tenancy.
Required 24-Hour Written Notice for Entry
The Kuehl Bill also includes new regulations regarding entry into
units. In the past, we have given verbal notice whenever entry into
a unit is necessary. This new law, however, now requires that notice
should always be given in writing and delivered in a manner that
can be proven—quite similar to the service of a three-day notice.
If a notice to enter is mailed it must be done six days prior to
the anticipated entry.
There are only two exceptions to this rule. First, the tenant may waive the notice requirement if she or he is present and personally allows the entry. Second, as now practiced, notice is not required in the case of an emergency.
Obviously this new regulation is going to cause a great deal of trouble. We will not be able to initiate repairs as promptly as our tenants have come to expect. We will also have to plan our work more carefully and much farther in advance. In the case of presumed tenant complaints, we will have to place credit where credit is due, which means we must blame this poorly thought-out legislation.
The SFAA is preparing an additional paragraph to “maintenance requests” that will allow the tenant to acknowledge the notice of entry by filing of the request itself. We are unclear whether this will be permissible or legal, but if so we must become accustomed to accepting only written maintenance requests. We’ll have more on this by the end of the year.
January 2003 will mark the inception of many new laws and regulations that will have a dramatic impact on how we operate our buildings. As always, we strongly recommend you seek advice from attorneys and/or other qualified professionals any time you are unsure how to implement or follow any of the newly mandated legal requirements.
For an in-depth legal perspective, please read Barbara Herzig’s article.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the SF Apartment Magazine. Eric Andresen owns West Coast Property Management and West Coast Property Maintenance Companies, is the past-president of the Professional Property Management Association of San Francisco and was the author of the original Residential Tenancy Agreement. Eric also serves on the Executive Board of the California Apartment Association and many other leading industry organizations. Questions or concerns should be directed to SFAA at 415-255-2288. © Copyright 2002.