Peace, Love and Rental Housing
The 2010 SFAA trade show will be held on April 19, 2010, at Fort Mason. The groovy Woodstock-themed event runs from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will take the place of the monthly membership meeting. This 1960s-inspired event is open to the general public and is free.
SFAA is looking for sponsors for its lively trade show. Sponsorship is the simplest way to distribute information about your business to property owners. Participation is important for retaining current customers and showing your business off to potential new clients. Sponsorship is available at all levels, from the $3,500 Starship Co-Sponsorship Level to the $500 Deadhead level. For more information, please contact Vanessa Khaleel at 415-255-2288 x16 or vanessa@sfaa.org.
Annual Increase Set at .1%
The San Francisco Rent Board’s annual allowable rent increase amount for 2010-2011 is as follows: for March 1, 2010, to February 28, 2011, the rate is set at 0.1%. To calculate the dollar amount of this annual rent increase, multiply the tenant’s base rent by .001. For example, if the tenant’s base rent is $1,250, the annual increase would be calculated as follows: $1,250 x .001 = $1.25. Therefore, the tenant’s new base rent would be $1,251.25. For more information on how this increase amount was calculated, please contact the Rent Board at 415-252-4600.
Get Rid of Extra Phonebooks
When was the last time you used a phonebook? That is the question local campaign Phonebook Free is asking San Franciscans. This local volunteer-run initiative is building urgency and awareness around the issue of unwanted phonebook deliveries. Annually, the production of phonebooks leads to the waste of 5 million trees, 36.3 billion gallons of water and 17 million taxpayer dollars.
Phonebook Free is currently running a phonebook drive in preparation for its city hall media event: a day that will involve thousands of phonebooks fused into a giant obelisk. The group is calling on all apartment building owners for help. Any apartment building owner or manager knows that mountains of phonebooks get delivered to apartment buildings and remain unused. Apartment buildings are invited to participate in Phonebook Free’s book drive by emailing the organization at Phonebookfree@gmail.com when they have unwanted books for the
campaigners to take off their hands.
New SFAA Lease Available
After months of meetings and revisions, SFAA is pleased to announce that its SFAA’s Residential Rental Agreement for 2010 is available. For $58, members can get the lease online; or for $10 (plus tax) the lease is available to members at SFAA’s Ivy Street office, or via mail or fax. Additional fees apply to nonmembers. For more information, contact SFAA staff at 415-255-2288.
Condo Conversion Changes for the Worse
The condo-conversion lottery has always been a game of chance, but until recently owners who had entered the lottery multiple times were given a bit of an advantage because they were allowed to use the lottery tickets purchased for each previous year when they participated but failed to win. However, the San Francisco Department of Public Works recently changed the rules. Now, owners can only use tickets from prior lotteries if all the owners in the current lottery are the same as the owners from the previous years. For example, if an owner in a TIC sells his or her unit after five years in the lottery, the remaining owners will not be able to use the extra lottery tickets from those five years.
Even more disturbing is how this ruling affects eligibility in the condo-conversion pools. There are two condo-conversion pools: Pool A (only those buildings that have failed to win at least three previous lotteries) and Pool B (buildings that have entered up to three times). Each has 100 units and those not selected by seniority for Pool A are automatically entered in Pool B. The Board of Supervisors amended the Subdivision Code that governs condo conversion in 2008 to require that any building seeking more than one lottery ticket in Pool B must show that ownership remained consistent from the previous years. However, DPW decided on it’s own to apply that ownership rule to keep owners from being eligible for Pool A. Some owners believe that this change is in violation of the Subdivision Code and are considering if it is possible to prohibit DPW from conducting the 2010 lottery, scheduled for this month, in violation of the code.
California Approves the Nation’s Strictest Green Building Codes
Beginning in January 2011, newly constructed homes in California will be some of the greenest in the world, after a state commission voted unanimously to approve the most environmentally friendly building code standards of any state in the nation. The new code is called Calgreen and, among other things, it requires builders to: install plumbing that cuts indoor water use; divert 50% of construction waste from landfills to recycling; use low-pollutant paints, carpets and floorings; and, in nonresidential buildings, install separate water meters for different uses. It also mandates the inspection of energy systems by local officials to ensure that heaters, air conditioners and other mechanical equipment in nonresidential buildings are working efficiently.
Surprisingly, some environmental groups had come out against Calgreen in the days before its passage, claiming that the new codes were not stringent enough and that the Calgreen rating system (known as Calgreen Tier I and Calgreen Tier II) lacked the clarity and verification process of well-known systems like LEED or GreenPoint Rated. But state officials said the regulations create a single comprehensive code, clearing up confusion over varying regulations and allowing builders to receive green certification without paying a third party. Also, the new rule will allow local jurisdictions, like San Francisco, to retain their stricter existing green building standards, or adopt more stringent versions of the state code if they choose.
Kimball, Tirey & St. John Announces Merger
The law firm of Kimball, Tirey & St. John, LLP has announced that it has merged with Acuña & Casas, PC, which will become its Northern California Business Real-Estate Group. Kimball, Tirey & St. John LLP is one of the largest real-estate law firms in California. With the addition of Frank R. Acuña and the team he brings to the Northern California Business Real Estate Group, the firm will provide a full menu of real-estate, business, estate planning, and tax services to individuals, business owners, financial institutions, and real-estate investors.
“We are pleased to welcome Acuña & Casas, PC, to our firm,” Ted Kimball, founding partner of Kimball, Tirey & St. John, LLP, said in a statement. “Their expertise in estate planning, probate and trust administration, inheritance contest litigation, and business and real-estate law will allow our firm to meet the expanding needs of Northern California clients.”
Homebuyers’ Tax Credit Extended
The homebuyers’ tax credit has been extended to April 30, 2010. President Barack Obama approved the extension as part of a $24-billion economic stimulus bill, which also includes an extension of unemployment benefits to the longtime jobless and tax credits for some businesses.
The housing tax credit portion of the bill extends the $8,000 tax credit for homebuyers who are purchasing their first homes from the November 30 deadline and expands the program to offer a credit of $6,500 to other homeowners who have lived in their current home for at least five years and are seeking to relocate. Another modification to the original legislation raises the income limits for program participation from $75,000 for a single purchaser to $125,000 and from $125,000 to $225,000 for a couple.