Why San Francisco evictions run on two sets of rules
State law controls the court case, while the city’s Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance, Chapter 37 of the Administrative Code, controls whether you can evict at all. Just cause protection reaches far more units than rent control does, so a newer building with uncapped rents can still be covered by the eviction rules.
The Rent Board itself doesn’t decide evictions. Its own guidance says it has no jurisdiction over them; the case goes to Superior Court. The Board’s role is the paperwork: the forms you attach, the notices you file and the buyout records you register.
Rent control coverage versus eviction coverage
Rent limits and eviction limits cover different sets of units. Rent control under Chapter 37 generally applies to units in buildings first approved for occupancy before June 13, 1979, and the state’s Costa-Hawkins Act keeps the city from capping rents on newer construction. Eviction protection is broader and reaches most newer apartments too.
For a 5+ unit owner, that means a 1990s building can have market rents and still require a Section 37.9 just cause, a Form 1007 attachment and a Rent Board filing for every notice other than one for nonpayment. Check both questions separately before you serve anything, because the answer to one doesn’t answer the other.
What a San Francisco termination notice must contain
Rent Board guidance sets the local content rules, and they sit on top of the state notice rules in CCP 1161. A notice that misses one of them is a gift to the tenant’s lawyer.
- It must be in writing and served the way state law requires.
- It must give the correct time to vacate, which runs from 3 to 120 days depending on the cause.
- It must state the just cause, and that cause must be your dominant motive, not a pretext.
- It must attach a copy of Rent Board Form 1007, in the current version from the Board’s forms center.
- For a no-fault cause such as an owner move-in, it must also deal with the relocation payment owed.
Filing the notice with the Rent Board within 10 days
Under Section 37.9(c), you file a copy of the notice and everything attached to it with the Rent Board within 10 days after serving the tenant. The filing rule doesn’t apply to evictions based on nonpayment of rent, so a 3-day notice to pay or quit isn’t filed.
Everything else is. A notice for a lease breach, nuisance, refusal of access, owner move-in or capital improvement work needs the filing, and a late or missing filing gives the tenant an argument in court. Keep proof of the filing date with your service records, and calendar the 10th day the moment the notice is served.
The 10-day warning notice that didn’t survive
In 2022 the city passed Ordinance 18-22, requiring a written 10-day warning and chance to cure before serving notices for causes such as a lease breach or refusal of entry. The Superior Court first blocked it for nonpayment cases, and the city’s Rent Board later reported that the Court of Appeal invalidated the legislation in 2024.
In practice, you still follow the state cure rules. Under AB 1482 and CCP 1161(3), a curable violation needs a notice to perform or quit before you can terminate, and many San Francisco leases add their own cure periods.
Free counsel for every tenant facing eviction
Proposition F, approved by voters in 2018 and codified in Chapter 58 of the Administrative Code, funds full-scope legal representation for residential tenants facing eviction in San Francisco. There’s no income test in the voter measure, so assume the tenant will have a lawyer.
That changes the math. Defense counsel reviews the notice line by line, demands a jury, and pushes for settlement at the mandatory settlement conference, which the court usually sets the week before trial. Owners who expect a quick default often end up negotiating a move-out date instead, and a settlement may trade some back rent for a firm vacate date.
No-fault relocation payments for 2026 and 2027
Owner and relative move-ins, demolition, capital improvement work, substantial rehabilitation and condo conversion sales under Section 37.9C, and Ellis Act withdrawals under Section 37.9A, all require relocation payments. The amounts reset every March 1.
An owner move-in also requires a natural person with at least the ownership share the ordinance sets, so an LLC that owns a 5+ unit building usually can’t use it.
| March 1, 2026 to Feb. 28, 2027 | No-fault (37.9C) | Ellis Act (37.9A) |
|---|---|---|
| Per tenant | $8,245.00 | $11,110.05 |
| Maximum per unit | $24,733.00 | $33,330.13 |
| Extra per elderly or disabled tenant | $5,497.00 | $7,443.90 |
Buyout agreements under Section 37.9E
A buyout is often the realistic path in San Francisco, and Section 37.9E regulates it tightly. Before any buyout talk, give every tenant in the unit a completed Pre-Buyout Negotiations Disclosure Form, then file a declaration with the Rent Board confirming you served it. Keep signed copies and delivery records for five years.
No agreement can be signed until 30 days after negotiations begin. It must be written and include a statement that the tenant may cancel. The tenant then has 45 days after everyone signs to rescind by hand delivery, mail or email, and you file the signed agreement with the Rent Board within the following 14 days, between day 46 and day 59. Miss day 59 and the tenant can file it and void any waiver or release.
Two more cautions. A buyout can affect whether the building can later convert to condominiums under the Subdivision Code. And settlements of a pending unlawful detainer aren’t treated as buyouts, because the ordinance that tried to cover them was enjoined in December 2020.
Worked example: buying out a rent-controlled two-bedroom
Assume a 2-bedroom in a 12-unit Mission building, rent controlled at $3,600, with two tenants, one of them 65. Assume the unit would rent for $4,600 vacant. For scale, if a no-fault cause were available, relocation alone would be $21,987: two tenants at $8,245 plus $5,497 for the senior.
Say you serve the disclosure forms, file the declaration, and open negotiations Monday, March 1, 2027. The earliest signing date is Wednesday, March 31. The 45-day cancellation window runs through Saturday, May 15, and you file the agreement between Sunday, May 16 and Saturday, May 29.
Assume you pay $40,000. The rent gap is $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year, so the payment earns back in about 3.3 years, ignoring turnover costs. Whether that’s worth it depends on how long you plan to own. The vacant unit also resets to market rent, but the building’s other rent-controlled units don’t, and a buyer will still value the property on its in-place rent roll. That’s why many owners skip the buyout and price the occupied unit into a sale instead.
| Step | Date | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Disclosure served, declaration filed, talks open | Mon Mar 1, 2027 | Sec. 37.9E |
| Earliest signing (30 days) | Wed Mar 31 | Sec. 37.9E |
| Tenant cancellation window ends (45 days) | Sat May 15 | Sec. 37.9E |
| Filing window with Rent Board | May 16 to May 29 | Sec. 37.9E |
The California court steps, in brief
If you do sue, the unlawful detainer follows state law: a 3-day notice for nonpayment that skips weekends and court holidays, 10 court days to respond, trial within 20 days of a request and a writ of possession. Our California eviction process guide covers each statute and AB 1482.
San Francisco Superior Court and the Sheriff’s eviction
Unlawful detainers are filed in San Francisco Superior Court at the Civic Center Courthouse, 400 McAllister Street. The first-paper fee follows the 2026 Statewide Civil Fee Schedule, $240 when the demand is $10,000 or less.
After judgment, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office sends the tenant a Sheriff’s Notice with the time and date of the eviction. The tenant can ask a judge for a stay; according to the city’s step-by-step guide, a granted stay typically postpones the lockout by one week and requires a week’s rent. On eviction day, deputies remove the occupants and change the lock, and you can’t simply discard what’s left behind.
Other San Francisco numbers owners deal with
- Annual allowable rent increase for rent-controlled units: 1.6% for the year starting March 1, 2026.
- Rent Board fee: $59 per unit, half of which, $29.50, can be passed through to the tenant.
- Security deposit interest: 4.2% a year for the current period.
- Temporary displacement of under 20 days under Civil Code 1947.9: $446 a day per household plus actual moving costs.
Selling a San Francisco building with tenants in place
A sale doesn’t end any tenancy, and it isn’t a just cause. The buyer inherits the rent-controlled rents, the just cause rules, any pending case and the Rent Board history. Buyers will ask for the filed notices, recorded buyout agreements and tenant estoppel certificates, so gather them before you list. Because the eviction route is slow and expensive here, selling the building occupied is often simpler than clearing units first.
Selling your San Francisco apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units in San Francisco, occupied and as-is, including rent-controlled buildings and buildings with a pending eviction. Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
