Supes to vote on fraudulent evictions bill
Dueling pieces of legislation designed to crack down on fraudulent evictions by landlords were largely reconciled on Monday by city supervisors, who moved a compromise version of the bills to the full board for a vote on Tuesday.
The competing bills, introduced separately by moderate Supervisor Mark Farrell and progressive Supervisor Aaron Peskin, both sought to curb unlawful owner move-in evictions, in which landlords kick out tenants under the pretense of occupying a dwelling themselves, but instead rent the unit to someone else — often at a higher price.
Both bills sought to compel landlords to declare, under penalty of perjury, that they or a family member would occupy the property for at least three continuous years, along with a number of additional reporting requirements. Illegal evictions are estimated to occur in as many as 25 percent of all owner move-ins, Peskin said Monday at the supervisors land use committee meeting.
But the bills diverged when it came to how the city would enforce the new rules. And the fight over precisely how to hold fraudulent landlords accountable was expected to spill into discussion Tuesday.
The bills also diverged when it came to legal action. Peskin’s bill, cosponsored by Supervisor
sought to Jane Kim, allow private nonprofit groups to sue allegedly fraudulent landlords on behalf of evicted tenants if the city attorney’s office chose not to sue. Farrell disagreed with that proposal, believing tenants should bring the suits — under Peskin’s version a third-party could bring a suit even without the consent of the tenant. The third-party provision didn’t survive Monday but is likely to resurface Tuesday.
Despite the lingering disagreements over enforcement, Peskin said in a statement sent through a spokeswoman that he was “pleased that Supervisor Farrell has adopted roughly 70 percent of my legislation verbatim — we are all hoping that the Board of Supervisors will go the final mile to make this legislation as strong as possible.”
— Dominic Fracassa Preserving the El Rey: The El Rey Theater on Ocean Avenue took another step toward obtaining landmark status on Monday.
The Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee voted unanimously to designate the classic Art Deco theater as a city landmark, a key step in making the property eligible for federal and state historic preservation tax incentives that will help pay for the renovation of the building.
“We can’t imagine Ocean Avenue or most of the west side without the iconic presence of the El Rey,” said Jen Low , an aide to Supervisor Norman Yee.
The landmark designation, which goes next to the full Board of Supervisors for final approval, comes as new ownership is giving fans of the 1931 theater renewed hope it will be brought back to life.
The theater, designed by Timothy Pflueger, closed in 1977 and was bought by the Voice of the Pentecost church, which also operated a small school there. In December 2015, a group of investors from Marin bought the property in a trustee sale on the steps of City Hall for $1.06 million. The seller was the Stanford Federal Credit Union, which had foreclosed on the property after the church defaulted on a loan. The buyer was a joint venture between Ricci Ventures and Green Point Land Co., both Marin investment groups.
While the owners have not yet filed an application to redevelop the property, they are exploring a mix of retail, arts and, possibly, housing. The owners have reached out to theater groups to gauge interest.
Architect John Goldman, who is working on the renovation for the property owners, said the new owners are “very much behind the landmarking.”
Chris VerPlanck , an architecture historian who wrote the report for the landmark status, said a refurbished El Rey would “serve as an anchor of the improving Ocean Avenue corridor” just as the Castro Theatre serves as centerpiece of that neighborhood.
“This part of town doesn’t have many city landmarks,” said VerPlanck. “OMI (Ocean View, Merced Heights, and Ingleside) has two and West of Twin Peaks only has two.”
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