One of the nation’s largest corporate landlords, the company rapidly bought and renovated thousands of properties, often without required permits

July 12, 2022 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

Detail above Celeste Jackson’s front door. Some of the issues, like falling tiles and holes in the wall, have recently been addressed by Invitation Homes. (Stella Kalinina)Comment on this story

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Invitation Homes advertises that it is leading a real estate “revolution.”

Formed by Wall Street investors after the Great Recession and foreclosure crisis, the company accumulated tens of thousands of houses at depressed prices, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on renovations and now leases them out. Never before has a single landlord owned such large swaths of suburban America. As rents have risen in recent years, the value of the publicly traded company has soared to more than $23 billion.

“Top-quality homes,” it promises prospective renters, “maintained by top-level professionals.”

Yet some of the company’s homes have missed basic quality checks: Renovations at the company’s rapidly assembled collection of 80,000 homes often were made without building permits, according to a review of Invitation Homes properties in several states, a California lawsuit and a Washington Post analysis of building data in three cities.

Skipping building permits may have allowed the company to avoid costly delays and save millions in fees, according to estimates based on the number of company homes. But forgoing the permits, which are required by city codes to ensure quality and safety, has led to shoddy repairs and maintenance that puts tenants at risk, renters said.

“We’re paying $4,000 a month to live in hell,” said Celeste Jackson, a Los Angeles entrepreneur who lives with her husband in an Invitation Homes property. Before she moved in, a third bedroom was created in the home without the permits required to do so, according to floor plans of the property and interviews with tenants. Since then, the couple said they have suffered through cracked skylights, rotten wood and flooding so frequent that the company left sandbags at their door for months.

Outside Dallas, another couple said they discovered water pouring through their walls and soaking the carpet after a bathroom renovation for which no permits are on file with the city.

And near Tampa, contractors hired by Invitation Homes reframed rotted floors and walls and rewired a living room without pulling permits, according to county records. The contractors then left the living room gutted for seven months before the company fixed it properly, according to one of the tenants, Kristi McKenzie, and photos she provided.

“They hire people who will just do anything without doing it to code,” McKenzie said.

The company disputes allegations that it purposely hires contractors who disregard permitting rules, adding that most tenants are satisfied, staying nearly three years on average and giving positive online reviews.

Invitation Homes is one of several large corporations that have transformed the rental housing industry over the past decade, touting their ability to efficiently manage vast portfolios of single-family houses. Tenant advocates say corporate landlords are helping to drive up rent prices even as they skimp on maintenance and major repairs.

For this report, The Post analysis looked at three markets where Invitation has hundreds of homes: Charlotte; Orlando; and Riverside, Calif., a suburb east of Los Angeles. In all three, Invitation Homes properties were less likely than others in the area to have had permits pulled for renovations and other projects, according to the analysis of local building department data. In Charlotte and Riverside, Invitation Homes properties were half as likely to have had permits pulled.

Separately, The Post found that at more than a dozen Invitation Homes properties across several states, the company hired contractors for renovations for which there is no record of the required permits. The projects included roof replacements, air conditioning installations, swimming pool demolitions and other work that sometimes led to significant complications.

Given a summary of The Post’s findings, Invitation Homes did not comment on the statistical analysis or specific problems reported by renters. In a statement, the company said that it expects its contractors to abide by permitting rules.

“We always seek to comply with applicable laws and regulations, including permitting laws, and are continually evaluating and improving our compliance procedures,” the company said in an emailed statement from spokesperson Kristi DesJarlais. “We expect our third-party vendors to adhere to these same standards and enter into agreements that obligate them to do so.”

In most parts of the country, local officials require building permits for significant home renovations. Changing the plumbing, rewiring an electrical circuit or replacing a roof often call for payment of a fee and, sometimes, inspections. The responsibility for pulling a permit lies with both the owner and the licensed contractor doing to the work, building officials said. The process can cause delays and add thousands of dollars to renovation costs.

“Permits are there to ensure life safety,” said Ron Takiguchi, former president of California Building Officials, a professional organization. “Homeowners should have the right to enjoy their homes without worrying that the construction is safe.”

Invitation Homes officials have said the company has spent $25,000 on average renovating each home it acquired. Such costly projects often require permits, but company properties were much less likely to have had permits pulled than other houses in the same areas, according to The Post analysis.

This raises concerns that some renovations were not properly permitted, Takiguchi said.

“It would be a red flag just based on the disproportionality itself,” he said.

The Post analyzed how often building permits were issued to Invitation Homes properties compared to other residential properties, from 2012 to the present. For the analysis, The Post chose three cities where Invitation has hundreds of homes and building permit data is readily accessible. In all three, the Invitation Homes properties were less likely to have had permits pulled.

In Riverside, where the company owns more than 400 homes, building permits were issued for 13 percent of properties it acquired. By contrast, the proportion of other Riverside homes that have obtained permits is 28 percent — meaning Invitation Homes was half as likely as other homeowners to have obtained a building permit over the past decade.

In Charlotte, where the company owns about 1,900 homes, building permits have been issued for 24 percent of the company’s properties, compared with 48 percent of other Charlotte homes. And in Orlando, where the company owns 1,300 homes, building permits have been issued for 56 percent of its properties, compared with 63 percent of other homes.

Across the United States, The Post found multiple examples where unpermitted work left tenants with homes in poor condition.

In the middle of the pandemic, for example, Candy Scott and her family moved into an Invitation property in Denton, Tex., in December 2020. Recent photos of the property showed that the bathroom had been remodeled to replace a whirlpool tub with a shower stall.

“I thought: ‘They just remodeled. What could go wrong?’ ” Scott recalled.

The week she moved in, she found water from the shower filling the bathroom and running into the master bedroom, soaking the carpet. “When you walked on the carpet in the master bedroom, it was soaking wet. For a while, we tried to put towels on the carpet, but then we realized it was coming through the walls.”

A contractor came and tore out the tile, finding that no shower liner had been installed underneath, Scott said. He re-tiled the shower but then the drain clogged, she was told, because of mortar he’d let slip into the drain. Getting a new contractor to fix the shower took months, she said.

On another occasion, she said, the house needed a plumber , but the person who showed up was only prepared to repair drywall and told her he would “go to Home Depot and try to figure it out.”

She said she complained repeatedly to Invitation’s customer service staff about the quality of work.

“I would ask them: ‘Why do you keep sending people out here who are doing a horrible job?’ He’d say, ‘I have another company but they are going to do just as bad.’ ”

There are no permits on file with the city for any of the repairs, which are required by Denton. In April, Scott and her family moved out.

At a home in Clayton, N.C., near Raleigh, Invitation Homes hired a contractor to do $54,000 worth of work, including installing a new air conditioning system, according to documents obtained by The Post. Air conditioning installations and renovations of that value require building permits, but none are on file, a city spokesperson said.

“They never seem to live up to what they promise,” said tenant Erich Budde, who said that in addition to the unpermitted renovations, the painting and work on the floor seem in his view to have been shoddy and rushed. “Things are always discombobulated and disorganized,” he said.

The company declined to comment on specific cases.

“Since our founding 10 years ago, Invitation Homes has consistently invested in providing prompt, professional service to our residents, including the timely turnaround of all maintenance requests,” the company said.

Before the Great Recession, enormous real estate companies like Invitation Homes with huge portfolios of single-family houses were largely unheard of. Companies that rented houses tended to be much smaller and limited to one town or region.

“Back in 2012, home-leasing options were slim,” the Invitation Homes website explains. “There were only mom-and-pop landlords and a few regional leasing companies. No one could deliver the consistent, worry-free way of life that our founders envisioned.”

The foreclosure crisis created buying opportunities for these large ventures, but it was internet technology that enabled them to seize the moment. Using large-scale cloud-based data analysis, Wall Street investors were able to search for and buy hundreds of homes in a week.

The technology also benefited renters, Invitation Homes says, because it makes leasing a house simpler and more efficient. Potential renters can browse houses online or tour them in person with self-guided walk-throughs. Tenants often say that they might not even meet a property manager before moving in.

Like tech disrupters Uber, Robinhood and Amazon, Invitation Homes has touted its venture as a way to overhaul an industry populated by more traditional competitors.

Brad Griewe, one of Invitation’s founders, has described the idea this way: “We fundamentally believed we could use technology to enable a best-in-class team to identify, underwrite, purchase, renovate, and professionally lease/manage U.S. single-family rental homes across the country at scale.”

In fact, the company’s advertising suggests it can transform the American Dream and make renting better than buying a home. “That mortgage thing?” the company advertises. “Yeah, forget that.”

The rise of the investment groups, which in some markets are buying up to one-third of the homes that become available, are putting upward pressure on home prices, housing advocates said.

So far, Invitation Homes — spun off by the investment firm Blackstone in 2017 — has paid off for investors. Blackstone declined to comment. After briefly falling below $18 a share when the pandemic started in early 2020, Invitation Homes shares rose above $45 in January but are now going for about $35, reflecting the market sell-off. The company remains a favorite of Wall Street investors.

The company has benefited in recent years from the rapid rise in rents.

In the first quarter of 2020, Invitation charged an average of $1,851 per month. This year, that rose to $2,074, a 12 percent increase, per securities filings, with the largest increases in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Florida.

In buying and fixing up its portfolio of properties nationwide, Invitation Homes has sought to prepare homes quickly to start collecting rent, according to its executives speaking in quarterly calls with investors. That urgency, housing advocates and lawyers say, sometimes compromised quality.

To speed up purchases, large institutional investors like Invitation Homes can buy homes with only superficial inspections, which aren’t as thorough as the typical inspection an individual buyer usually needs to secure a bank loan. As a result, these big companies may be more likely to buy damaged properties, especially when buying homes in bulk or from bank auctions.

“We often do not have the opportunity to conduct interior inspections or conduct more than cursory exterior inspections on a portion of the properties, if at all,” according to Invitation financial filings. “Such inspection processes may fail to reveal major defects associated with such properties.”

The company typically hires third-party contractors to handle repairs and maintenance, spending about $2.5 billion to fix up the houses its buys, according to financial filings — an average of $25,000 to $35,000 per home.

To reduce the time a house sits empty, company executives say they track a metric they call “days to re-resident,” the time it takes to prepare a home and find a new tenant. During the pandemic, the company was able to shorten the period between tenants from 29 days to 23 days, according to executives on a call with analysts.

The speed may raise profits, but some attorneys say it also has harmed tenants.

In late 2020, a newly formed tech company sued Invitation Homes alleging that the company’s contractors regularly conducted repairs and renovations without permits. The lawsuit, which was based on an analysis of Invitation’s portfolio of 12,000 homes in California, claimed that the company had deprived multiple cities and counties of millions of dollars in permit fees. The allegations are based on a broad statistical analysis of building permits issued for Invitation Homes properties and on 15 specific examples where, the plaintiffs say, company properties were renovated without permits.

Invitation Homes “has spent thousands of dollars on renovations to its single-family homes in California but intentionally and systematically failed to obtain building permits,” according to the lawsuit from tech firm Blackbird Special Project, which is using the proprietary technology of a related company, Deckard Technologies, a firm that uses machine learning to review real estate data. The plaintiffs have been represented by Leonard B. Simon, a San Diego attorney, and the firm of Sanford Heisler Sharp.

The “company chose to ignore permitting requirements to avoid permit fees and to get the properties into the rental market as quickly as possible,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit is intended to recover money from Invitation Homes for local governments under a whistleblower law that would give the tech firms a portion of any award.

Attorneys for Invitation Homes have called the allegations “unfounded” in court documents and said the case is “a manufactured story, unsupported by particularized allegations.” During a call with investors this year, Invitation chief executive Dallas Tanner said “we think we have some pretty compelling arguments” in response to the lawsuit and that the company looked forward to defending itself in court. Invitation’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April.

“We believe this case has no merit and is riddled with factual errors and legal deficiencies,” the company said in its statement to The Post.

Regarding the lawsuit, Invitation said in its statement that the plaintiff’s statistical analysis of building permits “lacks any empirical reliability.” The real estate company also has called into question the 15 specific examples of unpermitted work cited by the lawsuit, and noted that they constitute only a small portion of its 12,000 homes in the state.

Using interviews, Google Earth and other public records, however, The Post found evidence that substantial work had been done without permits at eight of the 15 homes cited in the lawsuit. The timing of the unpermitted renovations was not always clear, but six of the eight were done about the time Invitation Homes bought them or shortly thereafter.

At one Riverside home, for example, a pool was filled in and a back portion of the house was demolished after Invitation Homes purchased the property in 2012, according to Google Earth imagery. These changes would have required a building permit, according to municipal codes, but none were obtained, according to city records.

One door down, a patio structure was dismantled without a city permit. The tenant said the roof was replaced, but no building permit was found in city records.

Other homes had an adjoining pantry or shed demolished and another got a new air conditioning system, as alleged in the lawsuit. None of the work had been done with permits, according to city records.

Most of the homes cited in the lawsuit are in Riverside, and in a statement, city officials said those eight homes are “under investigation based on the facts presented and the specific allegations of unpermitted construction contained in the lawsuit.”

Wall Street analysts are paying close attention.

Corporate landlords like Invitation Homes are a sector already “reviled by the populace,” said Ross Bowler, chief executive of 2nd Market Capital Advisory, which analyzes publicly traded real estate companies. Though Invitation Homes is fighting the allegations, he said, the suit probably will generate additional negative publicity.

“They say there is no merit” to the lawsuit, Bowler said. “But because it is potentially ugly and unknown, it puts a mark on the whole single-family rental sector.”

The Post identified properties owned by Invitation Homes by matching its subsidiaries with a national property ownership database maintained by Regrid. Riverside, Orlando and Charlotte were identified as places where Invitation Homes had hundreds of homes and with readily accessible online building permit data.

For each locality, The Post used city and county public online building permit portals and building permit databases to identify permits for homes owned by Invitation Homes and its subsidiaries. Permit data was collected starting in 2012, when Invitation Homes was founded, to the present for any property owned by the company.

Using the same sources, The Post calculated the percentage of all single-family properties not currently owned by Invitation Homes in each locality that had building permits since 2012 on file. Property lists came from publicly accessible county property assessor records. In Riverside, data on single-family properties was last updated in 2017, so homes built after that are excluded from the analysis.

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San Francisco has all kinds of unique rental situations. From bunk bed pods to beds that descend from the ceiling, living in one of the most expensive cities in the country forces people to get creative in order to find semi-affordable housing. And one of the best ways to get a deal is to luck into a room in a San Francisco apartment that’s been rent-controlled for years.

But when you sign up to live with someone who’s paying far below market rate, they’re not just becoming your roommate — they’re also becoming your landlord. The “master tenant,” as they’re often known, gets to decide your rent; you’ll likely cut a check directly to them and even funnel repair requests their way. This situation is ripe for conflict, seeing as one person has drastically more power than the other tenants. But it’s not a perfect arrangement for the de facto landlord, either: They often hold even more power than they may have bargained for.

To understand a “master tenant” situation, it’s important to start with rent control and all the rules that come along with it. More than 60% of San Francisco’s rental units are subject to rent control. Specifically, rental units in a building constructed before June 13, 1979, qualify. Under the San Francisco Rent Board, people living in rent-controlled apartments are entitled to special protections regarding rental increases and eviction. Their apartments are likely cheaper than market rate and can only increase in rent costs by a certain amount each year.

The San Francisco Rent Board sets a percentage per year based on the Consumer Price Index in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose region for a 12-month period. The allowable annual increase amount for March 2021 to Feb. 28, 2022, which was 0.7%. This year, the allowable increase has risen to 2.3%. If you moved into your current two-bedroom apartment in 2010 and paid $2,800 a month, the most your rent could be now is $3,339. That’s about 15% below the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment according to Zumper’s most recent rental estimations.

“These arrangements are pretty much the only affordable arrangements that are left,” said Scott Weaver, an attorney and volunteer with the San Francisco Tenants Union. “It’s unfortunate in this tight housing market because you want to be able to be picky about who you have as a master tenant.”

A “for rent” sign hangs outside an apartment building in San Francisco.

Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE

But becoming a master tenant often happens by accident. “There’s no document that’s signed that empowers someone to be a master tenant,” said tenants’ rights attorney Joseph Tobener. “It happens by circumstances. People get into these roommate situations in order to survive. … The roommate is a way to make ends meet.”

Search “master tenant” on Twitter and there are plenty of horror stories out there. A common grift? Master tenants charging subtenants an amount that adds up to more than the actual rent, allowing them to keep the profit. Adam, who declined to give his last name, said when he first moved to San Francisco, he found a two-bedroom apartment in Nob Hill with a master tenant who was never around (a nice perk). But the master tenant later rented her room out to another tenant, who was very messy, and then eventually stopped paying rent entirely. Adam came home one day to find a note taped to the front door that showed the full rent amount of the apartment, which was far lower than the “half” he was paying for his room. The full rent for the apartment was $2,150, and his rent for the smaller bedroom was $1,500.

Yup the total rent for the 3 bed was $1600 that the master tenant was paying I was paying 1200 of that!!!!

— Michael Farley (@michaelfarleyza) June 14, 2022

The master tenant moving out of their apartment happens entirely more than you’d think, whether or not they ever plan to return.

We also never had contact with the landlord, we could only communicate through the master tenant who lived in a different time zone.

— Bonny Light Horsewoman (@Nic3ole) June 14, 2022

Some San Franciscans get a room in a master tenant-run apartment that’s too cheap to leave, even though the master tenant is dangerous, abusive, or just plain a terrible roommate.

I was a master tenant at a great flat on Oak Street back in the late nineties. Had 3 other good, stable, roommates for years. They all left at the same time for various reasons, had to bring in 3 new people, it was a disaster. I left rather than be stuck with them.

— Ben Dover (@basurasemanal) June 13, 2022

One SFGATE staffer said he suffered through a terrible master tenant situation for eight years because the rent on his apartment in Russian Hill was significantly cheaper than it would have been in a market-rate unit. The master tenant had already been there for more than 10 years, was messy and had a penchant for late-night parties. But ultimately, the master tenant conundrum is what allowed the SFGATE staffer to save up enough money to buy a place in the Bay Area.

If you’re tempted to rent a room from a master tenant, make sure to look out for red flags, Weaver said. “You want to be picky about your master tenant. You have to rely on your gut instincts. If there’s been a lot of turnover, that may be a warning sign.”

Weaver also warns against renting from someone who seems to revel in their amount of power and the fact that they get to make the rules.

While it seems like master tenants are all powerful, they’re actually taking on more responsibility than they often think. “Master tenants are landlords under the rent ordinance, so any law that applies to a landlord is going to apply to master tenants,” Tobener said.

That means a master tenant could be sued if repairs aren’t made in a timely manner, or if they aren’t keeping the apartment up in a safe way should there be a fire, for example. They also could be sued if it’s discovered that they’re charging the subtenants more than the total cost of rent, or an odd proportion of the share.

If you end up as a master tenant, even by accident, Tobener recommends getting tenant insurance to protect yourself. “You’re in the business of landlording if you’re a master tenant and you’ve got to run it like a business or it’s going to bite you in the ass,” Tobener said. “And most people don’t. Most people think of it just like a roommate situation [where you’re] the one cutting the check.”

The actual landlord will also typically only work with the master tenant when it comes to collecting rent, taking repair requests, etc. If the landlord forms a relationship with one of the other tenants, then they wouldn’t be able to necessarily raise the rent if the master tenant eventually moves out. Plus, it’s easier to just deal with one person.

With San Francisco rental prices still the second-highest in the country, Weaver said he thinks these types of situations will always be around. And he said he thinks most of the time, they end up working out fine. “If people are able to get along, it’s a great thing,” Weaver said.

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Mark Addiego

South San Francisco, a city of roughly 40% renters, half of whom pay more than 30% or more of their income in rent, is looking for new ways to improve tenant protection as the statewide eviction moratorium expires.

The city council discussed options during its session on Wednesday, including creating a rental register to keep track of housing metrics, which could eventually be used to draw up a new city rent policy. Also on the table is the implementation of guidelines for referring tenants and landlords, rules that landlords could potentially require to meet with tenants if rents go up or other problems arise.

“I don’t think we should be surprised that there has been so much interest in these rental protection topics,” Mayor Mark Addiego said after dozens of citizens spoke during the meeting.

To the frustration of some, the proposals discussed represent a preliminary work policy on which one could build in order to strengthen tenant protection in the city, but on their own there are no teeth for meaningful change.

The average rent for available one-bedroom apartments in the city is $ 2,717, up from the pre-COVID average of $ 2,883, according to the city.

Although the statewide moratorium, Assembly Bill 883, expires on September 30, its protection does not expire until March next year, and local jurisdictions cannot issue their own moratoriums until the protection of state rule has expired. According to the rule, 91 households in South San Francisco were awarded $ 1.5 million in assistance, but as of August 25, an additional 339 applications had been considered, which the city said was more than $ 4 million in assistance requested.

The state has also already passed some laws to stabilize rent in the form of the Assembly Bill 1482, signed in 2019. The law limits the annual rent increases in buildings from the age of 15 to 5%. It also offers some protection against evictions for no good reason.

But some proponents believe that this bill does not go far enough, and more aggressive versions of the rent brake are needed in South San Francisco, where recent employment growth has far outstripped housing developments.

Establishing a rent register would allow the city to keep track of rent increases, including those that are illegal under state law. It could also answer questions about vacancy rates and make development decisions with information about potential evictions.

“As any good social scientist will tell you, good data is the cornerstone of good public order,” said Jordan Grimes, a senior member of the Peninsula for Everyone housing association. “When it comes to information on the rental market, however, we have anything but.”

According to a presentation by city officials, creating a rental register would cost nearly $ 1 million or more and would require new employees and new or customized database software. The full implementation can take several years. The staff cited a register set up in El Cerrito and stated that setting up a register was a considerable undertaking.

Attention was also drawn to the availability of potentially similar information from commercial sources. CoStar, for example, can provide data on occupancy and rental rates for a fee and has historically been used by South San Francisco to generate reports.

El Cerrito reported that information from commercial sources matches information they received through their registration, according to the city’s presentation.

Paul Beaudreau, a San Mateo real estate agent, called to express concern about the register.

“I really don’t see how it can effectively help tenants,” said Beaudreau. “The way I see it, it’s only a $ 1 million loss, $ 1.5 million, and that money could be better served by housing people.”

The discussion on the matter resulted in no action during Wednesday’s meeting and the Board agreed to continue deliberations at a later date.

The city urged anyone who had difficulty paying rent to visit Housingiskey.com or stop by the YMCA on Huntington Avenue for personal help.

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Wet paint, heavy equipment, and exposed wiring still fill the new housing estate at 950 W. El Camino Real in Mountain View. But within a week it will be hosting dozens of people in need of affordable housing.

The latest addition to the city’s limited supply of affordable housing, Luna Vista Apartments are opening their doors as city officials look for ways to build thousands more units like this one. Luna Vista has 70 studio apartments for residents well below the average income in the region, including 15 units specifically reserved for adults with developmental disabilities.

Located on prime lot near downtown Mountain View and a short walk to public transportation, the project is replacing a Taco Bell with high density housing. The density of the 70-unit development corresponds to 117 units per acre – far more than that of most apartments in the city. Although each compact unit is 400 square feet, they are all designed to “live bigger” with fold-out tables and curtain-draped cabinets, said Diane Harvey Dittmar, project manager at Alta Housing.

Glass panels hang at the front of the building, projecting colorful works of art depending on the direction of the sun. Artwork for Luna Vista was created by clients of the Morgan Autism Center.

During development, Luna Vista had a reputation for being extremely expensive to build, costing more than $ 700,000 per unit, and requiring a city grant of more than $ 22 million. Despite the huge need for affordable housing, the $ 49.4 million price tag for the project was enough to cause heartburn to Mountain View City Council members.

Back then, Alta Housing officials cited high land costs as the culprit, but construction costs have skyrocketed since then. Recent projects ahead of the city, including one on Avenida and another on Avenida Montecito, cost a comparable amount per unit.

Although they were cost conscious and careful about keeping the price down, Alta Housing CEO Randy Tsuda said they did not save and strategically use extra money to create a “great” living environment that tenants enjoy regardless of theirs Income serves. Additional amenities such as a communal lobby and balcony on each floor, as well as a spacious roof terrace with views of the bay.

“It proves that you can do this for an affordable project, not just the expensive market-ready projects we see,” said Tsuda.

Rather than creating a box-shaped building that mirrors other housing developments on El Camino, Tsuda said there was a strategic use of warm materials and a large, curved element at the front. The design was inspired by some of the older buildings that previously existed on El Camino, said Tsuda, similar to the streamlined modern style of old drive-ins and gas stations.

Compared to other cities in the Bay Area, Mountain View has built a significant amount of housing in recent years, including hundreds of units for low-income residents and families. But it falls far short of the government-set targets for affordable housing. Between 2015 and 2023, the city was asked to build 1,833 deed-restricted, below-market units, but reports from city officials earlier this year show the city had only granted permits for 448 units – less than a quarter of the target.

The deficit bodes ill for the city’s newest residential destinations. California’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) requires Mountain View to zoning 11,135 new homes, which includes a goal of 6,255 deed-restricted units for low-income households – an order of magnitude more than what has been built in the city in the past. Early strategies for achieving this ambitious goal include finding new sources of funding and working with other agencies to pay for the high cost of housing.

For its part, Alta Housing is expected to be one of the actors helping Mountain View achieve its goal of affordable housing.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF / AP) – Even in the wacky world of real estate, San Francisco has a $ 475,000 voluntary buyout that was offered to a couple to move out of the apartment they’ve lived in for three decades Attention from social media and local residents attracted residents.

The voluntary purchase is considered the largest in the city’s history and reflects the high quality of the apartment.

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The tenants, a couple in their 60s with teenage children, had recently paid $ 12,500 a month for a seven-bed, eight-bath apartment. It occupies most of a floor in a centuries-old building and offers expansive views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the nearby Presidio Park. They refused to be named.

San Francisco has one of the strongest tenant protections in the country, which encourages tenants to hold onto the apartments as market prices rise. While California recently introduced rental price caps and other tenant protection measures, San Francisco passed its rental price ordinance back in 1979 to alleviate the city’s housing crisis.

This means that landlords can only increase the rent for some properties by a certain amount each year, with the current increase being less than 1%. Landlords cannot terminate tenants without good cause, such as failure to pay rent. Owners who want to move into their own family home have to pay tenants for the evacuation. The maximum amount renters in a unit can receive for moving is $ 22,000, with an additional $ 5,000 for households with minor children or seniors 60 and over.

In this case there were no moving costs; The landlord and tenant have made a voluntary departure agreement.

Steven Adair MacDonald, the lawyer representing the couple, said the reaction was split to a six-figure buyout, which is enough to buy a home in most parts of the country.

“The landlord’s lawyers think it’s cheek and everyone on the tenant’s side is excited, they think it’s great,” he said. However, MacDonald believes the landlord will be the winner as they can rent the apartment for $ 25,000 a month and recoup the amount in just over three years.

“It’ll be a sauce after that, so it’s a great investment,” said MacDonald.

MacDonald is also suing landlord Friedman Properties on behalf of “fairly well-heeled” tenants in nine other units who moved out since March and can’t stand the constant noise and dust of ongoing renovations in the building.

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Marty Friedman, listed as the Company’s authorized representative, did not respond to a call for comment.

KPIX asked the landlord’s attorney, David Wasserman, for an opinion on the buyout.

He stated that constructive clearance was never the landlord’s intention, noting that the landlord had several much-needed renovation and maintenance projects planned prior to the pandemic. These projects got complicated after the San Francisco pandemic led to the stay at home order.

The Financial Times was the first to report on the agreement.

In 2020, more than 300 rental purchases were submitted by tenants to the San Francisco Rent Board. The average takeovers are $ 50,000, according to MacDonald, and they’re increasing given the difference between market rent and tenant length of stay.

San Francisco rents fell during the pandemic but are still among the highest in the country. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $ 2,750, according to the Zumper rental platform. The average sales price for a home is $ 1.5 million, according to Redfin.

Tenant groups say that without the rent cap, poor and working-class residents would be evicted from San Francisco because they would not be able to keep up with market rents.

Charley Goss, who is in charge of government affairs for the San Francisco Apartment Association, said landlords accept that rent control is part of doing business in the city. But there are situations where wealthier tenants are clinging to a rent-controlled apartment, he said. The association represents around 4,500 landlords.

“Paying half a million dollars to a wealthy person who has a rent-pegged apartment in a city with housing shortages and an affordability crisis speaks to the way our local rent-cap is distorting the market,” he said.

MORE NEWS: COVID: Dozens of unvaccinated San Francisco police officers, firefighters face deadline

© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report

The post Lengthy-Time Tenants Get $475,000 Buyout To Transfer Out Of House – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – After more than a year, California’s eviction moratorium ended shortly after midnight, allowing landlords to evict tenants for non-payment of rent during the COVID pandemic.

Officials say Friday’s expiration won’t trigger a massive wave of evictions across the San Francisco Bay Area – some tenant protections remain in place.

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“A landlord must apply for rent allowance before attempting to evict you in court for failing to pay your rent,” state housing officials said in a press release.

Many residents, such as May, a housekeeper and immigrant from Mexico who has been unemployed since the pandemic and said she could not pay rent, were still fears and fears high.

She said she went to boards to buy groceries and that her worst fear was becoming homeless with her three children.

“It’s not that I don’t want to pay my rent, it’s because of the pandemic, there is no work,” said May. “I’m afraid, not for myself, but for my children.”

State officials said tenants in need can file an application the rent reduction program the eligible tenants and landlords pays 100% of the overdue rent and ancillary costs of a tenant by April 1, 2020.

“The program is free and currently has no deadline, but as funding may be limited, renters are encouraged to apply as soon as possible,” officials said.

Only a fraction of the available federal funding of $ 5.2 billion was distributed. Some property owners say this is because the program is unnecessarily complex and poorly designed, requiring both the landlord and tenant to individually complete requests for assistance.

“I don’t understand why there is a challenge, especially when it has no impact and no disadvantages. There’s just a general indifference to filling out the application, ”says Jeff Zell, property owner and manager with around 2,000 units in his portfolio.

Zell says his company completed the application for all tenants who defaulted on their rent during the pandemic but struggled to get them to complete their part of the application.

“It’s a very poorly designed program. Also, it is up to tenants to fill out this application, which in many cases they are reluctant or simply unwilling to fill out, ”he said.

In light of the deadline, Lourdes Castro Ramirez, secretary of the state agency for the economy, consumer services and housing, urged tenants to take advantage of the more than $ 7 billion the state has made available for rent and utility payments.

CONTINUE READING: Great Water Main Break turns Alamo Street into a river

“Applying for rental assistance is the best way to protect yourself from eviction,” Castro Ramirez said during a briefing at Shelter Inc. in Concord, an organization that helps alleviate homelessness.

In addition to the end of the state’s moratorium, some local eviction moratoriums also expired, including one in the Contra Costa district.

According to Castro Ramirez, about 4,800 residents of Contra Costa County have applied for rent relief totaling about $ 55 million.

State officials said $ 1.69 billion in funding was distributed nationwide to support households that are behind schedule with their rent or utility payments.

State lawmakers previously extended the moratorium several times, but were unable to do so after September 30, before the state’s legislature ended on September 10.

Lawyers also reminded California residents that resources are available on HousingIsKey.com for both renters and landlords.

There are also regulations for landlords.

• Your landlord can give you a reminder to “pay or cancel” (this is a message from your landlord that gives you a certain amount of time to pay the outstanding rent you owe or vacate your house) at any time however, it will not be able to legally terminate you without first applying to the CA COVID-19 Tenant Facilitation Program.
• If you receive a “pay or cancel” reminder, it is highly recommended that you seek immediate legal assistance to determine and protect your rights. If your “payment or termination” notice includes a “COVID-19-related financial emergency statement” – and you have been financially affected by the pandemic – you should sign the statement within 15 working days and return it to your landlord for your protection to strengthen.

Other things tenants need to know:

• • From November 1, 2021, your landlord can sue you for unpaid rent. Up until October 1, 2021, a landlord can only terminate a tenant if he presents a valid reason.
  • It is illegal for a landlord to file a 30- or 60-day eviction complaint with a tenant without giving a reason. This is commonly referred to as eviction for no reason.
  • The reason given must match one of the valid reasons the law allows for an eviction for “just cause”.
  • Existing eviction orders from local authorities can remain in effect until they expire, but they cannot postpone rental obligations beyond May 31, 2023.
  • For example, landlords who lock out tenants, remove personal belongings, or shut down utility services to evict a tenant instead of going through the required legal process can face fines of between $ 1,000 and $ 2,500. These penalties apply until October 1, 2021.

MORE NEWS: State water authorities issue urgent warning; “Climate change is coming fast and furiously”

If you believe you have been illegally displaced or if you need legal advice, you should seek help from an attorney. If you need inexpensive or free legal assistance, visit www.lawhelpca.org for more resources.

The post California’s Eviction Moratorium Expires; Fears Excessive Amongst Money-Strapped Tenants – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

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The post San Francisco Tenants Get 6-Determine Buyout to Depart Luxe Unit – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A groundbreaking residential complex is now located on Long Island, completed just 50 miles from the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, where the modern struggle for LGBTQ rights in the United States began unofficially.

The LGBT network’s LGBT-friendly senior housing and community center has been completed and residents have already moved into a welcoming space for members of the LGBTQ community entering their golden years. The four-story building has 75 affordable one- and two-bedroom rentals that are marketed to members of the LGBTQ community 55+.

According to the LGBT Network, it is the first senior housing project for the LGBTQ community to be built in an American suburb. All other projects of this type are located in major American cities such as New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“This is an open community with open arms for all,” said Steven Flotteron, Suffolk County’s legislature, who voted for the LGBT network’s project while serving on the Islip Town Board in 2017. “I was honored to be part of your project and part of the Bay Shore renaissance.”

Flotteron attended an LGBT network press conference at the residential center on Friday, attended by other elected officials, the network’s president and CEO David Kilmnick, and some of the building’s new residents.

“I lived in a dark apartment downstairs …” said Elain Felton, one of the residents of the building. “We have light, we have brightness, it is spacious, it is safe and that is the most important thing for me!

“Because yes, I am a senior. Yes, I am a colored person. Yes, I am part of the LGBT community. And I have the special chance to be one of 75 people who are allowed to live in this great place. “

why it is necessary

While the fight for LGBTQ equality continues to this day, years ago the elders in the community faced more discrimination than their younger counterparts, leading to economic disenfranchisement and the need for affordable housing.

“If we only speak for our older adults, the problems they face now are really a culmination of problems over the years, namely discrimination in the workplace, discrimination in housing,” said Latisha Millard-Bethea, director of the Residential Services from SAGE, an advocacy and resource center for LGBT elders. “And now they really look underpaid for years, especially for some of our trans and colored people. They look at where they are really not as financially stable as they would have been under other circumstances if there was no discrimination involved. “

Sexual orientation discrimination is not the only problem many people in the LGBTQ community face.

“There’s a lot of intersectionality in there. So trans people with color face a multitude of problems that just arise from being a person of color. Before you get into any of the trans issues, deal with it. And then when you add the transgender component, there are problems with their health care, there are problems with things like housing, problems with moving into lower-income homes. “

Applying for lower-income housing through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can be a daunting process for trans people after the transition, Millard-Bethea said, as applications must be completed with the applicant’s name and gender, assigned to them at birth.

“HUD rules are very old rules, they can’t really change and so a lot of our trans people we work with to get into living already have their new identities and new names. It’s almost a little traumatizing or offensive to sit down with someone and have to trace it all back because HUD only recognizes male or female, ”she said.

Education and resources

SAGE operates two LGBTQ-friendly residential projects in New York City, similar to the LGBT network’s new Bay Shore project: the Stonewall House in Fort Green and the Crotona Senior Residences.

Millard-Bethea said such projects are typically proposed in urban areas that are “a little more open to projects like this and the services and needs of the LGBTQ community. In larger cities it is easier to implement such a concept, such as

The LGBT network’s 8,000 square meter LGBT community center in Bay Shore also offers “services and programs related to arts and culture, fitness, food and nutrition, health and wellness,” according to the tenant application.

Millard-Bethea said centers like the one in Bay Shore, as well as SAGE-administered communities in the city, educate surrounding communities about the LGBTQ population and provide physical and mental health resources to LGBTQ people in those areas.

“It brings some of the resources … into the community for people who may not be comfortable with their identities right now, to know that there is an open place for them,” she said.

“It really brings that knowledge into them [health care] also providers in the community. “

The post Tenants begin shifting into LGBT-friendly senior housing complicated in Bay Shore appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) – After more than a year, California’s eviction moratorium is ending this week, allowing landlords to remove tenants who are not paying rent during the COVID pandemic.

However, officials say the 11:59 a.m. Thursday expiration will not spark a massive wave of evictions across the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Some protective measures for tenants remain in place.

“A landlord must apply for rent allowance before attempting to evict you in court for failing to pay your rent,” state housing officials said in a press release.

Housing advocates held a caravan and rally in San Francisco over the weekend. They hoped to get the message across that the economic challenges of the pandemic have not gone away and that unemployment is still high.

“Today’s reality in America, today in California is not the time for an end to the eviction moratorium,” said housing attorney Brian Zhang. “People are not ready. They haven’t recovered from the pandemic. “

CONTINUE READING: Mothers tearfully remember children killed in homicides in the Bay Area

“In the midst of a pandemic, evicting people from their homes is absolutely criminal,” added housing attorney Nathalie Hrizi. “It’s not just about their wellbeing. It is also a public health issue. “

State officials said tenants in distress can apply for the Rent Relief Program, which pays eligible tenants and landlords 100% of a tenant’s overdue rent and utilities, dating back to April 1, 2020.

“The program is free and currently has no deadline, but as funding may be limited, renters are encouraged to apply as soon as possible,” officials said.

There are also regulations for landlords.

MORE NEWS: One dead in a “suspicious” Cupertino house fire in the early morning

• Your landlord can give you a “payment or termination” reminder at any time (this is a message from your landlord that gives you a certain amount of time to pay the outstanding rent you owe or vacate your house) at any time , however, you will not be able to legally terminate without first applying to the CA COVID-19 Tenant Facilitation Program.
• If you receive a “pay or cancel” reminder, it is highly recommended that you seek immediate legal assistance to determine and protect your rights. If your “payment or termination” notice includes a “COVID-19-related financial emergency statement” – and you have been financially affected by the pandemic – you should sign the statement within 15 working days and return it to your landlord for your protection to strengthen.

Other things tenants need to know:

• From November 1, 2021, your landlord can sue you for unpaid rent. Until October 1, 2021, a landlord can only terminate a tenant if he presents a legally valid reason.
• It is illegal for a landlord to file a 30- or 60-day eviction complaint with a tenant without giving a reason. This is commonly referred to as eviction for no reason.
• The reason given must match one of the valid reasons the law allows for an eviction for “just cause”.
• Existing eviction orders from local authorities can remain in effect until they expire, but they cannot postpone rental obligations beyond May 31, 2023.
• For example, landlords who lock out tenants, remove personal belongings, or shut down utility services to evict a tenant instead of going through the required legal process can face fines of between $ 1,000 and $ 2,500. These penalties apply until October 1, 2021.

If you believe you have been illegally displaced or if you need legal advice, you should seek help from an attorney. If you need inexpensive or free legal assistance, visit www.lawhelpca.org for more resources.

The post Money Strapped Tenants Concern Finish Of California’s COVID Eviction Moratorium – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

A wealthy San Francisco couple landed a record buyout of nearly half a million dollars to vacate their three decades of luxury home, underscoring the efforts some landlords will be making to get rid of long-term renters in a city with tight rental control and a rising market rents.

The $ 475,000 voluntary buyout is considered the largest in the city’s history and reflects the high value of the apartment. The tenants, a couple in their 60s with teenage children, had recently paid $ 12,500 a month for a seven-bed, eight-bath apartment. It occupies most of a floor in a centuries-old building and offers expansive views of the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the nearby Presidio Park. They refused to be named.

San Francisco has one of the strongest tenant protections in the country, encouraging tenants to hold onto the apartments as market prices rise. While California recently introduced rental price caps and other tenant protection measures, San Francisco passed its rental price ordinance back in 1979 to alleviate the city’s housing crisis.

This means that landlords can only increase the rent for some properties by a certain amount each year, with the current increase being less than 1%. Landlords cannot terminate tenants without good cause, such as failure to pay rent. Owners who want to move into their own family home must pay the tenant for the evacuation. The maximum amount renters in a unit can receive for moving is $ 22,000, with an additional $ 5,000 for households with minor children or seniors 60 and older.

In this case there were no moving costs; The landlord and tenant have made a voluntary departure agreement.

Steven Adair MacDonald, the lawyer representing the couple, said the reaction was split to a six-figure buyout, which is enough to buy a home in most parts of the country.

“The landlord’s lawyers think it’s a cheek and everyone on the tenant’s side is excited, they think it’s great,” he said. However, MacDonald believes the landlord will be the winner as they can rent the apartment for $ 25,000 a month and recoup the amount in just over three years.

“It’ll be a sauce after that, so it’s a great investment,” said MacDonald.

MacDonald is also suing landlord Friedman Properties on behalf of “fairly well-heeled” tenants in nine other units who moved out since March and can’t stand the constant noise and dust of ongoing renovations in the building.

Marty Friedman, listed as the company’s authorized representative, did not respond to a call for comment. His lawyer, David Wasserman, did not immediately respond to an email.

The Financial Times was the first to report on the agreement.

In 2020, more than 300 rental purchases were submitted by tenants to the San Francisco Rent Board. The average takeovers are $ 50,000, according to MacDonald, and they’re increasing given the difference between market rent and tenant length of stay.

San Francisco rents fell during the pandemic but are still among the highest in the country. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $ 2,750, according to the Zumper rental platform. The average sales price for a home is $ 1.5 million, according to Redfin.

Tenant groups say that without the rent cap, poor and working-class residents would be evicted from San Francisco because they would not be able to keep up with market rents.

Charley Goss, who is in charge of government affairs for the San Francisco Apartment Association, said landlords accept that rent control is part of doing business in the city. However, there are situations in which wealthier tenants hold onto a rental-linked apartment, he said. The association represents around 4,500 landlords.

“Paying half a million dollars to a wealthy person holding a rent-controlled apartment in a city with housing and affordability crises speaks to the way our local rent brake is distorting the market,” he said.

The post San Francisco Tenants Get 6-Determine Buyout to Depart Luxe Unit – NBC Bay Space appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.