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and hiring a consultant until the City creates a new rent control board and a rent registry for apartments and requires that City staff study how the intended measures will be implemented. The new ordinance took effect November 19, 2021.
SF’S LARGEST LANDLORD LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO COVER BACK RENT FOR TENANTS DENIED STATE FUNDS
San Francisco’s largest landlord has announced it will forgive the uncovered portion of back-rent owed by tenants unable to pay due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With California’s eviction moratorium having expired more than two months ago, thousands of renters across the state have been faced with finding the funds to pay back rent incurred during the pandemic or face eviction.
Back in June, Veritas Investments, which owns some 250 residential properties in the city, announced it would voluntarily extend the eviction moratorium for its tenants through the end of the year, in addition to helping them apply for government rent relief funds.
Veritas announced it would launch a “first-of-its-kind rent relief program,” in which Veritas will forgive the uncovered portion of a tenant’s back rent as long as they apply for state relief funds by the state’s Jan. 31 deadline.
If applicants are denied state funds to cover their rent debt based on a shortage of funds, then Veritas and its Green Tree Property Management affiliate company would then pay for the up to 18-month maximum coverage period offered by the state rent relief program.
Both housing advocates and Veritas tenants have been urging the company to negotiate rent debt directly with its tenants.
In September, in an act of defiance, members of the Veritas Tenants Association announced a strike to withhold state rent relief applications to call out “corporate landlords” that intend on using limited government funds to cover rent debt.
The VTA and advocates with the Housing Rights Coalition of San Francisco alleged Veritas had already received nearly $6 million in federal loans during the pandemic, when eviction and rent moratoriums were in place. The advocates urged Veritas to use those funds to cover the amount of back rent collectively owed by Veritas tenants --
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about $5.7 million.
In response to Veritas’ latest announcement, officials with the Housing Rights Coalition called the new program a “partial but significant” win.
VTA members on debt strike are continuing to call on Veritas to negotiate rent relief for tenants affected by the pandemic. VTA members on strike will be voting later this month on whether to continue the strike into January.
BAY AREA HOME PRICES KEEP SOARING
Mark Wong recently had a client fall hard for a 5,000 square foot home in Los Altos Hills — big yard, great schools, plenty of room for family and a remote office.
The property went up for sale at just under $5 million. Hoping to overwhelm other buyers, Wong’s client bid $6 million. But the home, on a one-acre lot, drew 16 offers and sold for $6.75 million.
“We went $1 million over the asking price and we weren’t even close,” said Wong, a Compass real estate agent in Saratoga. “Once again, Silicon Valley real estate is defying gravity.”
Across the Bay Area, home prices continued to surge in October, with all nine counties reporting double-digit growth and pushing the median price of an existing single family home to $1.12 million, according to CoreLogic data. Alameda County — up 20% to $1.15 million from the same month last year — led the boom, followed by Napa (up 19% to $825,000) and Solano (up 18% to $555,000) counties.
Prices in Santa Clara County climbed 16.5% to $1.55 million, jumped nearly 11% in San Mateo County to $1.74 million, and rose 11.6% to $1.75
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