San Francisco - Subtenant rights

[zangief]

Dear legal experts,

I am subleasing a room from my roommate in San Francisco under permission from the landlord. The building is under rent control. I signed the lease with my roommate, so I never submitted an application to the landlord, although he's met me and took a copy of my driver's license before he allowed me to sublease.

I wanted to understand what my rights are as a subtenant. Can the landlord (not my roommate) evict me alone, without evicting my roommate? Does there need to be a just cause? Can my roommate do the same?

The landlord lives below us and calls us for every minor noise. I dropped my laptop on the floor at night, and he called because I startled him. He also wants us to tell him if we have overnight guests (which are permitted) in advance.

Are those requests/calls reasonable, and if not, is there any protection against the landlord?

Thanks so much for your advice.

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Certainly a landlord can evict one tenant without evicting the other.

Issues about noise are often a major concern when folks live close to each other (i.e, in duplexes, apartments, etc.).

Gail

 

[zangief]

Gail,

Thanks for your reply..

In my particular situation, I'm more interested in the following: Does the landlord need just cause for evicting me? Note, I signed a lease with the master tenant, who in turn has a lease with the landlord. This was done with the landlord's permission.

Thanks
-greg

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

Greg

What was the length of your lease?

If you are a month to month renter (meaning that your lease only goes from one month the next as opposed to, say, a year lease) ...and you have lived there less than a year...you can be requested to leave with only a 30 day notice. No reason needs to be given for why this is being done.

This is one reason more and more landlords seem to prefer month to month leases (and so do some tenants because they can leave with just a 30 day written notice and not be held financially liable for "breaking" a lease).

While you signed a lease with the master tenant, the person who owns the property (i.e, the landlord) can initiate the notice for you to vacate the premises.

Gail

 

[malcolm9]

Gail's input is right-on and valuable FOR GEORGIA, and most other venues... BUT it is not accurate for San Francisco, which has very strict rent control laws. A "Master Tenant" must follow landlord restrictions in his/her relations with the subtenant, and such Rent Board regulations preclude evictions of subtenants except for specific just cause during the term of the subtenancy. The master tenant and subtenant should have a written agreement, but if there is none, the master tenant may give the sub 30 day notice to vacate, and if the sub does not, the master tenant may initiate unlawful detainer action (eviction) in the same manner the landlord would take with a tenant. There is some free advice from the San Francisco Apartment Association and from the San Francisco Tenants' Union.

 

[SFLandlord]

This is a little complicated, but I'll try. If the tenant whom you rented from notified you, before you actually agreed to rent the space, room, whatever, notified you that you were not subject to the "just cause provisions" of the Rent Control Ordinance, then your tenancy can be legally terminated on 30 days notice. Not by the landlord, but by your "Master Tenant" - the tenant that rented to you.

Because you are a sub-tenant, the landlord would have to deal with the Master Tenant on whom the responsibility lies for complying with the terms of the lease agreement. If you violate the terms it is the same as the Master Tenant violating the lease. He/she is responsible for your actions.

Try to make nice, if that's not possible, move on.

 

[SFLandlord]

If your Master Tenant notified you, before you signed a rental agreement or verbally agreed to rent the space, that you were not subject to the Just Cause provisions of the rent ordinance, then the MT could terminate your tenancy on 30 days notice. If you were not notified then the MT must have Just Cause.

The Landlord must have Just Cause to evict any tenant not sharing a unit with the Landlord and, since his agreement is with your MT, he would have to evict both of you to get you out.

However, if you are paying your share of the rent directly to the Landlord, rather than to the MT, then you would be a co-tenant and the Landlord could evict only you, with Just Cause.

Your Landlord can request you to notify him when you are having overnight guests, but, unless it's included in the lease terms, he cannot legally demand that you do so.

You can speak to a counselor at the SF Rent Board 415-252-4600 who can give you further advice on the phone or you can go to their office.