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tv   BOS Land Use Committee  SFGTV  June 8, 2020 9:00pm-12:01am PDT

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>> chair peskin: good afternoon and welcome to the land use and transportation meeting for june 8, 2020. i am the chair of the committee, aaron peskin, joined by vice chair ahsha safai and dean preston. our clerk is miss erica major.
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miss major, do you have any announcements? >> clerk: yes. because of the covid-19 pandemic, the board of supervisors and legislative chamber are closed. however, members will be participating in the meeting locally. [inaudible] >> clerk: each speaker will be allowed to speak. comments or statements during the meeting are available by calling 415-655-0001. again, that's 415-655-0001.
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the access code is 1454836716. again, that's 1454836716, then press pound, pounce. you will hear the meeting discussions but will be muted, in listening mode. when public comment comes up, dial star-three to be added to the speaker line. best practices are to call from a quiet location, speak slowly and clearly, and turn down your television or radio. alternatively, you may submit public comments in the following ways. e-mail myself at
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erica.major@sfgof.org. that's erica.major@sfgov.org. lastly, the director of the office of civic engagement, adrian pond, has applied a spanish interpreter on item 1 to assist speakers in their native language with our public comment. let's have arturo consenza interpret the public remarks. [speaking spanish language]
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. >> interpreter: that's everything. thank you. >> chair peskin: gracias, arturo. madam clerk, can you read the first item? >> clerk: yes. item 1 is an ordinance amending the administrative code to prohibit landlords from evicting residential tenants for nonpayment of rent that was not paid due to the covid
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pandemic. >> chair peskin: thank you, miss major. first of all, before i yield the floor to the primary author of this legislation, supervisor preston, i want to apologize to everybody who waited patiently a week ago today. unfortunately, we were forced to cancel that meeting because the rules committee meeting went all day long last monday, so i want to thank everybody who waited patiently for many hours, and i'm sorry that that meeting had to be cancelled, but we don't have technology or staff ability to run two committee meetings at once in the covid-19 period. with that, supervisor dean
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preston, the floor is yours. >> supervisor preston: thank you, chair peskin. colleagues, today, i'm asking you to move forward with positive recommendation this legislation to provide permanent eviction protections for renters impacted by covid-19. currently, the city and county of san francisco has banned eviction for nonpayment of rent for the duration of the current health crisis. the concern remains what happened after, particularly for those who have experienced loss of income, many of whom were struggling to make ends meet before the coronavirus became our new reality. without legislative change, there can be little doubt that when the eviction moratorium expires, that landlords will
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give tenants three days to pay for quit. what will happen will be an avalanche of evictions, massive in scale and irrepairable in harm. we must do everything to oppose that change. in effect, this would permanently take nonpayment eviction off the table for san francisco renters struggling to payback rent that came due during this state of emergency. this change would make san francisco among the most forward thinking cities in terms of protecting vulnerable low-income tenants, but we would not be alone. in march, the oakland city council passed a similar ordinance which would likewise ban nonpayment evictions for covid related rent debt thanks to the leadership of nicky
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fortunado-bass. i know my colleagues have heard in recent days about this legislation, so i wanted to take a moment to clarify some key points. first, here's what the legislation does. it prohibits the eviction for nonpayment of rent where rent payments become due during the state of emergency and nonpayment one arose out of a substantial decrease in household income or substantial out-of-pocket expenses. two, that was caused by the covid-19 pandemic or by any local, state, or federal government response to covid-19; and three, is documented. in addition, it prohibits any interest, late fees or charges to tenants for late rent, and it is clear that the delayed rent cannot be used as grounds
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for eviction. no one who can pay their rent on time because of a global pandemic, which is something out of their control, should ever have to worry about being penallized with late fees and convictions. here's what the legislation does not do. it does not remove the obligation of the tenant to pay the rent owed. it does not remove the obligation to pay debt. a tenant with the means to pay would have every reason to follow through on their contractual obligation in the same way they would have every reason to pay their monthly credit card bill or student loan payment. for tenants who cannot pay their back rent, this legislation seeks to protect
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tenants from landlords who would seek to evict. there can be no doubt that if the law remains as is, the san franciscans who will soon be kicked out of their homes will be from low-income communities, and i believe it's in our duty to offer them the full protection available by law. colleagues, i ask you, as many san franciscans have been unable to work for ten weeks and counting, to forward this legislation without delay and with a positive recommendation to the full board of supervisors, and in so doing, you would be joining a long list of organizations demanding this measure and its he is annual, including the san francisco tenants union, affordable housing alliance, chinatown development center, seiu 1021, seiu 2015, seuifww,
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transport union local workers, harvey milk lgbtq democratic club, poder, senior and disability action, black pan they are, tenderloin development neighborhood corporation, latino democratic club, noe neighborhood council, richmond district rising, united to save the mission, delores street community services, somcan, ace, coleman advocates, filipino community center, chinese for affirmative action, soma filipinos, and colleagues, before i wrap up, i would like to offer some amendments, both of which i believe to be nonsub-stantista
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which i believe you have received from the clerk, and one that we have heard that is relative to all small property owners who may themselves suffer hardship in the event that they are no longer able to receive or lose rental income. and i want to point out, in particular, and thank my colleague, ahsha safai, before this legislation was introduced, he and i, on the floor, discussed relief commitments for property owners to make sure that no one is harmed in their housing by this pandemic. i will be introducing at tomorrow's board meeting a package of proposals that will propose long-term housing stability, among them, an increase in the fees on real
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estate transfers valued at $10 million or more that would allow some relief for owners who rent to tenants who cannot pay rent or the back rent obligation. all of these are critical steps in our relief efforts, and i would be offering an amendment to this legislation to create our intention to create this rent relief fund and program. the amendment, which has been distributed, as i mentioned, to committee members as a paragraph at page 3, lines 11 through 13, and reads as follows, that the board of supervisors intends to create a covid-19 rent resolution and relief fund whose tenants are unable to pay rent due to the impact of covid-19, and i'm
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cleaning up the finding sections and reference some changes since the legislation was introduced to the mayor's directive and governor's executive order. and as mentioned, all of these are nonsubstantive, as i'm advised by the city attorney. i would like to, before wrapping up, thank my cosponsors of the legislation, supervisors hillary ronen, matt haney, shamann walton, and aaron peskin. i would like to thank my legislative aid for his work, and aaron collins on the rent board who i understand is available to answer any questions that may come up. and finally, i'd like to thank
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the san francisco antidispla l antidisplacement coalition and its membership and leadership on this for all of their work to protect the most vulnerable san franciscans from displacement. thank you. you are muted, chair peskin. >> chair peskin: thank you, mr. preston. are there any questions for mr. collins? supervisor safai? seeing none, why don't we go -- >> supervisor safai: chair, i'm going to hold my questions and comments until after public comment. >> chair peskin: understood. okay. so why don't we go to public comment. madam clerk? >> clerk: mr. chair, operations is checking to see if there are any callers in queue. operations, please let us know if there are any callers already. if you have not already done so, please press star-three to be added to the queue.
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you will be prompted that your hand has already been raised. for those already on hold, please continue to wait. >> chair peskin: sorry, arturo. go ahead. [speaking spanish language] operati
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>> operator: okay. there are 70 callers in the queue. i will start with the first caller. >> clerk: thank you. >> a city does not have legal authority under the governor's order to restrict a landlord's ability to cover rent due. this will make it nearly impossible for -- proposal will make it nearly impossible for small landowners to pay rent during covid-19. this proposal, along with the closure of the court system, would allow tenants to live rent free from march 2020 to potentially september and beyond, and landlords would have no legal resource to recoupe unpaid rent. the board of supervisors cannot and should not prevent landlords who have been financially impacted by covid-19 from enforcing our rights. small landowners are particularly hard hit by renters who cannot pay.
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even one in four who cannot pay, the owners are experiencing a hardship. i'm a landowner in san francisco. i waited patiently the last four months for rent, and i feel like i should be made whole. i feel like my role is not to provide free housing. that's the role of san francisco, so i'm looking forward to hopefully getting my complete rent back, but san francisco feels that i should delay getting rent. that's it. >> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. hello, caller? >> hello? >> clerk: yes, you have two minutes to speak. hello. >> hi. i am a landlord here in san francisco, and i am completely opposed to 300 -- this
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legislation. it shouldn't put the -- all the financial burden of tenants who are unable to pay on the backs of small business owners in san francisco, and that's all i have to say. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hi. i only oppose this ordinance. please know that just last month, the full board vote for $15 million -- $15 million funding care. can you direct $5 million every month to san francisco renters? can you do that? you can do that, right? do that now. tomorrow, $5 million for san
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francisco renters to help people in this audience. that's all i want to say. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> i'm mina young. i'm a long time san francisco owner, and a voter, and business -- please say no to this legislation. it's unconstitutional, so any workers who can get paychecks, you're not going to tell them that because of the covid-19, they should not expect to get paychecks, they should just go through the small claims court to get it. and you, as supervisors, you should not be getting paid, either, you should expect to only go through small claims court to get your money, so that's why you're saying. the homeowners are already providing essential service
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during this critical time. covid-19 knows no colors. it impacts everyone, no matter whether you have house or not, so everybody's impacted. you should not expect one party to provide free service to another and singlehandedly burn the difficulties, so please say no to this legislation. thanks. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hi. can you hear me? >> chair peskin: yes. >> clerk: yes. you have two minutes to speak. >> yes. okay. great. my name is abe fields. i i i'm a resident of district 5. i'm calling in support of this legislation. i distribute rental assistance for a living. before this pandemic hit, our city was already in a housing crisis, and i spoke to a never
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ending stream of families who were at a high risk of defaulting on their rent families because it's so freaking high. many families work over 60 hours a week only to be able to afford a shared bedroom in the tenderloin. in the past through months, our office has been flooded with calls asking about covid related back rent assistance. we actually started turning people away. some renters have such large back rent balances that our office can't help, and their cases will turn into an unlawful detainer action if this legislation does not pass. the six-month period the tenants are give right now -- given right now to payback their covid rent debt is not enough. forcing people out of their homes because they cannot pay
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rent will not only put more pressure on the city and will further exacerbate the covid-19 crisis. thank you, supervisors, for hearing me, and that's all my time. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is tom, and i'm a renter in the sunset district, number 4. before this pandemic, i've had to choose between fixing my vehicle and keeping a roof over my head. living in san francisco is hard enough. please support this eviction relief. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. if you have not done so, please press star-three to be entered into the queue. if you've already done so, please continue to hold. >> hello, supervisors. my name is jason, and i'm a resident of district 1.
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no one who has lost their job during this time can be expected to pay tens of thousands of dollars in back rent. it's just not going to be possible. anyone who supports a moratorium on evictions now but does not pass this bill had better be ready for a huge wave of evictions a few months from now. i would first ask you to support the bill supervisor preston just spoke about, which is intended to payback rent on behalf of your tenants. you will be made whole because of this legislation. please, please support this bill. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please.
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hello, caller? hello, caller? >> my name is gabby. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, you have two minutes to speak. >> thank you. my name is gabby ruiz, and i am the policy and planning manager at tndc. we are in full support of this ordinance and feel that it will protect many of our tenants who have struggled to pay rent during this time. in my work consulting with other staff members who consult other residents in our tndc building, the biggest concerns i hear of our clients' loss of income, potential evictions, and what will happen to our clients' housing if they cannot
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pay rent once this pandemic is over. there is a fear that they will become homeless if rent protections are not put in place. i also want to thank you, supervisor preston, for introducing those amendments because i feel it is important to acknowledge the concerns of nonprofit housing providers as we enter the potential for significant loss of income due to the nonpayment of rents in the coming months and years, and as protections are given to the tenants, we hope that consideration is given to housing providers that would incur a reasonable repayment schedule or create some type of public funding process that allows for landlords to recoup lost rent. it is important for our properties to have sufficient rent to operate our properties at a high level of property, and although we'll be sharing in the collective struggle of our tenants, we hope we'll be able to create a way that all
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parties have equitable protections moving forward. again, thank you so much for introducing this ordinance. we are in full support of this legislation and its intent, and we will work with the public to identify a reliable source of rent repayment. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. hello? caller? next speaker, please. >> hello. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. you have -- >> okay. wonderful. hi. i'm a musician in san francisco and a freelance facilitator. i receive a -- received
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multiple hiring freezes and gigs cancelled and have had zero income since the pandemic hit. all of the rent that i'm not able to pay, i don't see clearly how i'm supposed to come up with that. even as employment starts to reappear, it would only cover basic expenses. this is a huge unnecessary burden, and it's awful to think that people are going to be punished for not paying rent when they simply live in san francisco. when i'm told i cannot go to work, i should not have to pay my rent because i don't have any money to do that, so i want to support this measure and i appreciate dean preston for introducing this eviction legislation because there's many, many of us. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hi.
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my name is katie sass. i'm a district 8 resident and a tenant rights attorney in the city. i strongly urge the board of supervisors to pass this legislation because no one should become homeless from unemployment during the pandemic. this will become a concrete reality for thousands of san franciscans if legislation is not enacted. i know this because every day i see the overwhelming impact that eviction has on our community. even if folks are able to resume the jobs that they had before the pandemic, many will simply not have the financial means to catch up on back rent within six months. this will be devastating to our neighbors and to our city. san francisco cannot have the economic recovery that it wants if there's a wave of evictions in january, and it would be cruel and unjust to put our fellow san franciscans on the streets through no fault of their own. thank you.
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>> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hello, supervisors. on behalf of district 11 neighborhood alliance, communities united for health and justice, i'm calling in strong support of supervisor preston's eviction protection ordinance. as this pandemic plays out, our population is especially vulnerable. we have the highest population of youth and seniors, a high population of undocumented immigrants. in the middle of this pandemic, housing relief is vital. d-11 has the highest number of single-family homes in san francisco, and most of them are
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owner occupied. asian law caucus study found that 70% of excelsior residents were renters, and that half of all tenants lived in secondary units. of these households, 87% were very low-income, and 60% were extremely low-income. the need for bold preventative legislation to prevent mass evictions on renters whose rent debt is amassing through no fault of their own is acute. as written, supervisor preston's legislation would stop the eviction of tenants who cannot pay rent because of covid-19. it does not prevent landlords from getting what they're owed. we support this legislation. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please.
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hello, caller? >> i am the owner of a nine-unit apartment building in san francisco. we recently added four new units. to absolve the tenants from their rents will place an undue hardship on me if i have the added expense of paying for the new units, how do you expect me to pay for the building of these units? it is greatly unfair for the board to grant the tenants free rent for so many months when we landlords have to pay construction workers, maintenance, electric, and overall maintenance of the building. it will not help the tenants if the building is reduced to a slum property, and we as landlords cannot keep up with the maintenance expenses.
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i do realize that there's evictions for our tenants. i would not allow that, but this ruling is going to take advantage of a lot of landlords. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is tyler, and i live in district 6. i really think that legislation like this is kind of a no brainer. at least for me, and i think this is true for a lot of people. i look at my expenses every month, and rent is my highest one, so rent relief or any kind of thing like this that helps renters is welcome, rather than a check for $1200 from the government or anything like that. as the supervisors said, if we have an eviction moratorium and nothing like this, we're just
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going to delay them and see a huge wave of evictions in the future, which i don't think anyone wants. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. >> hello, supervisors. my name is david wu. i'm with soma filipinas, filipino cultural heritage district. i just want to give -- soma filipinas is in full support of supervisor peskin's legislation. thank you for introducing it. the filipino community has faced waves of historical displachl, from the igrant hotel to -- displacement, from
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the igrand hotel to landlord tycoons, so we support this. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is kathrin -- [inaudible] >> -- to multiple pathways.
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[inaudible] >> -- decreathank you.
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>> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. >> yeah, hi. my name is carrie -- i'm sorry. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, i can hear you. >> my name is carrie. i'm a district 5 resident, and i'm also an sfusd teacher? i'm calling in support of this legislation? i think it would be immoral of our city to leave such a huge part of our community behind at this time. i do hear all of the landlords that have called in, and i obviously support any measures that need to be taken to also ensure that landlords can be stable and be made whole. that needs to be part and parcel of what happens in order to bring all of our community
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along together. as a schoolteacher in the last ten weeks, i have seen the impact of unstable housing on so many of my students and the move from unstable housing to homelessness. as we all know, homelessness is a factor that causes children to miss school, to leave school earlier, to have lower test scores. really, in the classroom, it looks like kids are just sitting there and looking worried, or looking out the window, wondering where their family is at the moment or asking what are we doing now because it's really hard for them to concentrate because of the stress that they're facing. in the last few weeks, my students have become even more stressed and even more unable to focus. one way or another, the city of san francisco will end up paying for what happens during the covid-19 crisis. either we can take care of all of our residents and pay now and put that money into our
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community now so we're not leaving it behind, or we can leave tons and tons of people behind and see increased hospital usage, increased e.r. use a usage, and increased expenses as far as the department of public works, and all of these people will have been put out of housing. so to me. >> clerk: speaker's time is -- [inaudible] >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please.
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>> hi. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. you have two minutes. >> i am a journalist and disability advocate. i am disabled myself, and i work closely with the coalition on homelessness, as well. i want to first and foremost thank dean preston for his unbelievable leadership during this pandemic. few people have stepped up to show leader should be during this crisis, and -- leadership during this crisis, and i want to thank him. i want to point out that the number -- what we're talking about has very real consequences. when people don't have a home, oftentimes, they die. the number of homeless people has tripled during covid-19. if mass evictions go through, you will see that number greatly increase. 275 people died homeless on our
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streets last year. we will see that number at least tripled if evictions are forced to go through for people who cannot work during this crisis. i think this legislation offers protections for small business owners, the amendment that mr. preston has clearly stated, and i think the fallouts of not passing this amendment will be absolutely horrible. it will make the protests we have right now look like a walk in the park. it will make the legal problems we have right now look like a walk in the park. it'll very important that our homeless, the vast majority of whom are disabled should not be penalized for a health crisis that they did not create and they are a victim to. thank you for your time. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. hello, caller? >> hello? can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. you have two minutes to speak.
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>> thank you. my name is cynthia gomez, and i'm the data analysis with the union that's representing hospitality workers. as would be no surprise to everyone, our members have been devastated by this pandemic and are facing a tremendous fight to get made whole again, and we support this legislation because it will provide protection against one of the most psychologically devastating things that a family can understand go, which is being forceablely evicted. as other callers have mentioned, it does not just provide psychological and emotional protection, but it provides protection against the extremely december remittal and physical health effects of being made homeless. so we support this legislation this. would stop landlords from evicting tenants, but it would not stop landlords from getting what they're owed.
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it keeps that on the table, so we support this as a tool that san francisco can take to prevent mass evictions after the pandemic emergency. san francisco takes a leadership role. it's a role we embrace, and it's an example that we hope that cities around the country and state will follow. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> thank you. my name is curtis ackerson, and i'm a landlord. one thing-a single duplex. i live in one part of the house, and another person lives in the other part of the house. this ordinance divides rather than unites people in our city. you can't say we're for everyone when you go after landlords.
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why not bring all the stakeholders to the table and come up with some solutions, rather than tieing some of the stakeholders to the stake? this isn't time for esca for scapegoatism. some people seem to be taking a play out of president trump's play book. the reality is that landlords are small business owners that need help. rather than attacking small business owners, why doesn't the supervisors themselves do something within their power to alleviate the health crisis? why don't they give full or partial property tax credits to landlords who forgive rent for those affected by covid-19? you've heard many people on this call talk about payments, yet this bill does nothing about it. it was a little addendum as an after thought, which is not
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what this is doing. i used to be a renter. if you want more consumer debt, raise your hand. that's what you're getting, more consumer debt from this legislation that either the landlord nor the tenant created. why don't you amend sb 1410? it uses state of california money to do exactly that: make direct rent payments to renters and landlords, and it helps them cooperate and get paid. there's state money available for this? y the state solved the problem rather than -- >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller, please? >> my wife and i own small flats in san francisco, flats where i've lived for decades. covid-19 affects everybody, but
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many landlords face similar situations to tenants. they face bills they must pay. if landlords don't pay their expenses, they may well lose the property, and himself or herself is evicted, often with the tenants. no one will save them. what will the housing landscape look like in san francisco with more foreclosed and shuttered properties than we already have? will these same low-income tenants will be able to maintain the property? sadly, not. san francisco may begin to look like havana after castro forbid landlords from charging rent. havana is still in a state of decay today. supervisor preston's
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legislation is so one sided that likely, at some point, it will be overturned by the courts, making tenants liable for back rent they didn't think they would have to pay and subjecting the city itself to myriad and sometimes excessive lawsuits from landlords who lost their property or forced to sell in a down market. landlords didn't cause the housing crisis. we didn't cause the covid-19 pandemic. the only solution lies at the national level, through the state most likely, and targeting landlords, you're hurting everyone and failing to take the action that might really alleviate the problem. remember, the banks and corporations that bottom feed on those affected by the legislation will not be better
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landlords. moreover, these banks and corporations will be able to litigate matters in the courts for decades, and the owner may s -- city may see themselves on the losing end of the process. no on 200375. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. i am marlene tran. i oppose this proposal, as well. many renters and even some housing providers out of work, it seems a reasonable temporary stopgap measure, but it really isn't. this proposal may have unintended consequences to tenants, as well. i became a small property from frugal savings and 35 years of part-time teaching of immigrant students. after years of hard work, some
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people have managed to buy their properties while some have made investments. they appeal to me to ask you to make fair proposals for all. this would make it impossible for small property owners to recoup their rents because it places the burden on mom and pop owners who still have to pay mortgages, maintenance, and other expenses, and we have to pay the fees during lawsuits when tenants get free legal representation. personally, since the city does not provide help for us, this legislation will make it even harder for us to continue to be providers. how about all the supervisors
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pitch in and donate 25% of the pay to have tenants, as well? don't force small property owners into foreclosures that ultimately will displace our tenants. during the challenging time, please maintain reasonable legislation to allow property owners and tenants to coexist. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. you have two minutes to speak. >> okay. my name is kelly, and i am a renter from district 5? i'm calling in incredible support of this bill. i want to thank my supervisor, dean preston, who i'm really thankful for. i work for san francisco
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unified school district as a school psychologist. we currently have thousands of homeless students, and we risk even more becoming homeless. i want to correct an earlier comment that said that everyone is equally affected by this pandemic. we know that covid-19 is disproportionately affecting people of color, and we see families of color being further displaced as a result of the impact of lost jobs and health complications in working, and a loss of income. please consider this bill. i am in major support of it, and again, i just want to thank dean preston. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. hello, caller? next speaker, please.
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hello. you have -- you have two minutes to speak. >> hi. my name is ivy mcclellan. i'm a long time san francisco resident and work with people of color in particular those who have experienced homelessness for the past 20 years. i'm in a very unique position. i could face homelessness due to the fact that i lost both of my jobs due to covid, and i want to advocate for this really important bill in order to save rental housing for people like myself who do not have the luxury of savings or any other way to -- to payoff
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this debt that came about because of covid-19. i strongly support this bill, and thank you for your time and effort in putting it together. >> clerk: thank you. for those listening, you can press star-three to be added to speak, and you will be prompted that you have raised your hands. for those who have, please continue to wait. next speaker, please. hello, caller? >> hi. my name is scott weaver, and i work at the eviction defense collaborative, and i've been related to issues related to tenant eviction for the past 30 years. i can say without a doubt we anticipate a tidal wave of
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evictions unless legislation is passed. we know a tsunami is coming, and we know that the after shocks will be increased homelessness, a strain on our social services and incalculable human cost. everything needs to give something up, and landlords, especially san francisco landlords own extremely valuable property with some of the highest rents in the country, which tenants have been paying. they simply have more wealth than most tenants and will not be put out on the street or have to use our safety net. furthermore, it doesn't mean
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the tenants will nbe able to live rent free. it means the tenants still have the financial obligation, and it's a debt rather than an eviction, which is what the legislation is intended to prevent. some landlords will be hurt, but not as bad as the thousands of tenants will be, and supervisor preston's trailing legislation will immediately relieve some of this financial burden that they will immediately face, and i urge you to support all of this legislation. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. this is eileen from the san francisco tenants union, a volunteer. i've been directing calls that we've been getting about tenants not being able to pay. this does not count tenants who
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have considered moving because they're unable to pay. our mission at the tenants union is to prevent homelessness. we're already facing a housing crisis here in san francisco, and this will affect it more, including landlords. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. hello, caller? next speaker, please. >> hello? >> clerk: hi. you have two minutes to speak. >> hello? >> clerk: hi. we can hear you. >> hi. i'm miranda -- can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, we can hear you. >> can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. >> all right. i'm miranda hanrahan-beech.
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i live in district 10, and i want to urge the board of supervisors unequivocally to pass the legislation which is an absolutely essential move to protect thousands of people from losing their homes a few months ago. i've -- it's hard to see how there's even any question that this is necessary, given that the board of supervisors has already agreed that people should not be losing their homes due to nonpayment of rent due to this covid crisis which is not their fault by suspending evictions. to not make that ban permanent is just to postpone, as many people have said, that wave of evictions that will result in a massive wave of homelessness that will confront the city with yet another giant public health crisis which is going to be incredibly destructive to the health of the city and the economy of the city and will hurt everyone. so i want to unequivocally
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express my support for this bill, and i want to thank the board of supervisors for their leadership in protecting tenants and protecting the city as best as they can from the disaster that is covid-19 and the economic crisis that comes with it. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. i'm from the san francisco tenants union, and we support this legislation wholeheartedly because without this legislation, we know we're just kicking the can down the road of thousands of evictions possibly. what's the purpose of an eviction mo eviction moratorium if people have to pay it at the end of
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that time. we know what's coming unless we solve the problem with a reasonable piece of legislation, like this one. the landlords who are speaking on this call, this lemgislatio does not come after you. it merely prevents eviction for a certain period of time when they can't go to work. we asked people to not go to work for a certain period of time so they don't have to support the burden themselves. i ask the board of supervisors to support this legislation. please support some of our most vulnerable residents. as the supervisors have said, the people who are having the hardest time coming up for this money are people who are unemployed. folks who are undocumented, folks who are low-income. those are the folks we need to
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protect most in keeping in our city, and those are the folks who need our help the most at this time. thank you so much. >> clerk: hello. next speaker, please. >> hello? >> clerk: caller, you have two minutes to speak. >> is that for me? >> clerk: yes. yes, ma'am. hello. you have two minutes to speak. >> yes. i have been affected as a small business owner with this covid-19 crisis, and i meanwhile am a landlord owning three-unit buildings. i think small apartment business owners -- apartment building business owners should not be responsible for providing free rent and not be able to evict. i have to provide a living for my family and my small business, which is a
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restaurant, has been terribly impacted, and we should get some support from the state or the government if we are going to help the tenants that cannot pay their rent. so, you know, both of us, all of us have to get support, not just the tenants. which i understand they are high impacted, as well, but so am i, as well, so thank you for this measure. thank you so much. -- so i am against this measure. thank you so much. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. hello, caller. you have two minutes. >> thank you. good afternoon, supervisors. i am a district resident in the richmond district. i want to thank supervisor peskin for working with the
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community on this balanced approach to protecting tenants and honoring the needs of certain landlords to recoup last income. i hope you will support this legislation with the proposed amendments. please remember that thousands of san franciscans, disproportionately low-income people of color have lost their jobs. [inaudible] >> -- that tenants will not lose their homes as they struggle to get current with their rent obligations. landlords will still be able to recover the rent payments owed to them. landlords start evicting tenants for unpaid back rent, both landlords and tenants
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would lose because landlords would not recover the back rent, and tenants would lose their homes. when small property owners are generally worried about income, this legislation addresses that. this legislation strikes the right balance of protecting tenants from evictions and upholding landlords rights. i ask for your full support in this. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello.
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anastasia iannopoulos. thank you, supervisor preston, for your stopgap measure. it will keep tenants housed. it doesn't mean landlords will not receive rent. tenants will owe that money. it will become a consumer debt, so otherwise, landlords would have to evict the tenants, tenants would be out on the street, and they would never collect the money anyhow, so i think this is the best solution for the time being. keep tenants housed and give them time to payback the money. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. hello, caller. you have two minutes.
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>> hello? can you hear me? >> clerk: hi. yes, you have two minutes. >> hi. great. hi there. my name is laura connor, and i'm a ten-year resident of district 8. i'm a renter, and i just want to express my enthusiastic support of this legislation. i think it's the most compassionate choice in terms of what we can do as a city for the vast majority of people who will be negatively affected by covid-19. so thank you so much, dean preston, for introducing this idea, and i hope it goes through. thank you. thank you very much for your time. >> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. >> hello. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes, you have two minutes. >> yes. my name is hannah flannery. i'm a staff attorney at legal assistance to the elderly, where i represent seniors and
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people with disabilities facing eviction. when health advocates explain what protections are currently in place, we have to explain that these protections are temporary, and tenants will have to payback the rent. for many tenants, there's one big problem. it's unclear where the money will come from, and howtenants are supposed to protect themselves when these protections disappear. while tenants will be working hopefully with the city to payback the money owed, they should not be facing or threatened with displacement. i heard earlier in this meeting that the impact on "mom and pop landlords." here's the thing. even if this ordinance passes, landlords will be able to get the back rent they believe they are owed. they will go through the cou , courts, just like they would have to do if they are going through eviction proceedings.
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they just won't be able to permanently remove their tenants from their home. nobody calling in to oppose this ordinance hazas articulat why they feel that forcing tenants from their homes through eviction is necessary for a landlord to be made whole. this hasn't been articulated because it's not necessary. if san francisco wants to consider itself a prerogative community that actually acknowledges the existence of all of its community, we need to take bold initiatives like this to keep people housed. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello. >> clerk: hi. you have two minutes. >> i'm a three year resident of san francisco, and i'm -- these last several months have been really tough everyone. i'm currently helping support
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my brothers, mostly disabled, and my daughter. my expenses recently went up. in addition, i'm paying property taxes, insurance, and maintenance expenses. the building we have was built in 1904, so you can imagine there's a lot of maintenance. over $30,000 in repairs last year alone. now i understand the board wants to fund tenants to help pay rent out of the general fund. they should do that. i don't think it's progressive at all to pass the expense onto mom and pop landlords. they're basically small business people, and they may be struggling financially. i ask if you wish to do this, please give direct grants to the tenants rather than forcing the landlords to try some pie in the sky scenario in the future to try to recover lost rent. thank you very much for your
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time. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker. >> hi. my name is jackie, and i am a tenant in district well as a well as a tenants right attorney in san francisco. i'm calling today to ask the board of supervisors to enact this legislation. the current protections in place set tenants up who have been financially impacted by covid-19 for evictions in just a few months. san francisco renters should not be forced from their homes during a global pandemic. we have to prioritize working class folks in our neighborhoods, otherwise we will lose them as neighbors. we will lose the diversity of our city, and it will become what we're afraid of: a city of the ultraelite and homeless.
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while every other area of the economy has taken a hit, landlords expect to receive their rent in full each month, regardless of what's happening around them, demonstrating a lack of compassion and empathy. while changing this rent into debt is not much, it's a step in the right direction and keeps tenants have being evicted from their homes. thank you to the supervisors. i appreciate your time. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is lauren, and i'm a resident of supervisor district 1, and i can thank supervisor preston for bringing this bill forward. i'm calling in enthusiastic support of this bill, and i think i paid enough of my landlord's mortgage through my rent to have a say in this. i just want to acknowledge that most of us -- as joseph
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mentioned before, most of us our bank tenants, and we owe a lot to banks. this is what we can do at the local level to help the most vulnerable. this ordinance is for all of us. by protecting the most vulnerable, we protect all of us because there's no situation in which a landlord might not find themselves becoming a tenant. there's really no situation, right? so we're protecting all of us, so i fully support this bill and want to acknowledge that all of these conversations are being held on ohlone land, and
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we should not forget that. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. [inaudible] >> so i think while this is going in the right direction, i do oppose this bill because it does not protect the landlords enough from potentially losing their property or maintaining their property. i think a really good suggestion is the government should take a part in paying for the rent that's not being covered right now so that we can all kind of work together? because i think for a big part, most of the landlords would like their tenants to be able to stay where they are, but simply, this rent not being covered makes it challenging on all ends of the spectrum.
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thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. >> hi. hello. >> clerk: hi. you'll have two minutes to speak. >> hello? are you talking to me. >> clerk: yes, i'm talking to you. you'll have two minutes to speak. >> i'm bill kwan, and i'm calling to oppose this legislation. i think it will practically make it impossible to collect the debt, and i think the legislation provides incentives to latch onto that i was covid-19 impacted because it looks like the tenant providing voluntary information. it doesn't say anything about the landlord being able to
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require verified information. i think in that situation the landlord would be intimidated because they feel like they might be charged with harassment and so forth. i think it would have the possibility of impacting those tenants who had not been paying rent prior to the covid-19 orders being put in place. also, in terms of national surveys, the -- before april, there was an outcry from many tenant activists that many people would not be able to pay their rent in april and may, and that hasn't been borne out by national statistics. approximately 90% of people both in april and may have paid, so i don't think that your information you have there
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is based on any kind of case study or any kind of thorough studies. i think it sounds like anecdotal, and we've heard these cries before about the coming disasters, but the national statistics don't bear it out. also, i think that the legislation -- [inaudible] >> -- and i have a few already with my tenants, and i don't like to see them interfered with, especially since we both entered into an agreement voluntarily. so for the above reasons, i urge you to vote no on the proposed legislation. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> supervisors, elaine petty here. i'm a long time renter and
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voter of district 5, the fillmore, and i'm a member of senior and disability action. i support supervisor peskin's legislative package. i believe it offers help in a very fair and balanced way to all san franciscans in threat of losing their homes due to circumstances completely not of their making. we have been hit with a triple epidemic: the virus, economic recession, along with the ongoing racial and social injustice. and on top of all three, we can see the fourth epidemic coming: the mass evictions as soon as the emergency is declared over. now many, many landlords are fair, but we know there are those that will strike immediately, evicting as soon
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as they're allowed, and we know they will affect immigrant tenants, low-income seniors, and people with disabilities. in other words, people with no options. we can do something now about the fourth epidemic. supervisors, it's within your power to stop this threat. please make sure we don't lose our homes. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. again, the caller number is 415-655-0001. the access code is 4156836716, pound, pound. for those of you who would like to speak in public comment, please star-three, and continue to wait. we appreciate your patience. next caller, please. >> hi. my name is allison, and i completely support the ordinance 200-375. i'm a renter in san francisco, district 8, and i work in
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public health here in the city. as you know, san francisco has some of the work income inequality and high rent in the country. 70% of people who are currently homeless in s.f. had a home at one time. the pandemic and the homelessness, covid, and police brutality are all connected. renters in san francisco should not be expected to pay thousands of dollars in back rent in a short amount of time when so many of us are trying to survive off of nonexistent or slashed wages. i would like to say that the landlords who have spoken today have spoken about the threat of foreclosure while the tenants today have spoken about the threat of homelessness. it's not the same. instead of fighting tenants over scraps, the landlords on
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this call should push for relief from state and local governments. no one should become homeless as a result of this pandemic. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. hello, caller? >> hello. hi. my name is dawson. i'm calling from seniors for actions with disabilities. i'm calling because young disabled people and working seniors who have recently lost their jobs, they should not be placed on the streets, and there's a critical lapse in affordable housing in the city and county of san francisco? for them to find another place to stay is almost completely
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impossible? and it is a good remind-- [inaudible] >> also, incredible housing insecurity is big amongst our members. other members that we have have been complaining and also been very in pain because they cannot afford to pay rent? almost all of their s.s.i. and s.s.d. checks are going into rent, leaving them with just loose change? also, to respond to previous comments, covid survival rate heeds color as it does age and disability. it's d it's despicable that landlords speaking out during this pandemic are saying that their worlds will change forever. the only way for tenants and
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the city of san francisco to be made whole is to provide for all of our residents and to continue to build from their together. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you very much for your comments. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. hello, caller? >> hi. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. you have two minutes. >> hi. thank you. my name is jessica, and i'm a resident of district 1, the richmond? and i just want to voice my support for this ordinance, and i just want to thank dean preston and all of those organizations and leaders involved? as a -- like, as a resident of san francisco, a tenant, i have -- i have had the privilege of being able to -- of having an income to pay rent, and i acknowledge that many, many others have not? and i also echo many other callers who have spoken to you of the interconnectedness of homelessness and, like, the police brutality system as well
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as education and our youth? it's also interconnected, and i hear many of the landlords on this call, and i urge you to, like, not support evicting tenants and to work for relief directly to landlords? again, i fully support this ordinance and yield my time. >> clerk: thank you. and next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. hello? >> hi? >> clerk: you have two minutes. >> hi. hello. my name is sarah, and i'm a resident in district 5? i wanted to start by thanking supervisor preston for this legislation and say that i fully support it. i am an educator, and i live in
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a marginalized low-income community of educators and activists and artists, and just two days ago, we received a threatening letter from our landlord in san francisco who owns over 300 properties in san francisco and makes over $300 million a year. this is extremely aremalarmingd i feel extremely vulnerable. and that makes it hard for me to engage in my community and stay in san francisco. we see gentrification and white washing all over this city. a bill like this, making sure that people stay in san francisco who belong in san francisco is extremely crucial for maintaining the integrity of our city, and so i strongly support this legislation. thank you so much, supervisor dean. i'm proud to be in your district, and i'm proud to have voted for you.
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i will always vote for you again. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. you will have two minutes. hello, caller? >> hello. my name is lolita hernandez and i'm a housing affordability lawyer. and i'm here to advise my strong support for supervisor preston's legislation -- [inaudible]
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>> this is the time for us to stand with our community and support our working class and person of color immigrants who are not eligible for unemployment benefits and the state relief 1410 as it is now written that landlords refer to on their calls. i urge you to support this important legislation and protect our vulnerable community. thank you for your time and consideration. >> clerk: thank you. next caller, please. >> hi. i'm here to voice my strong support for supervisor preston's eviction protection
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ordinance. [inaudible] >> even before covid-19 as everyone has mentioned, san francisco renters, particularly the community who we serve, were struggling to make ends meet. with so many people out of work and without a stable way to earn income for the foreseeable future, we know that there will be widespread evictions after the state of emergency expires. we are concerned that this wave of evictions would further exacerbate this pandemic, putti putting more tenants at risk.
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[please stand by]
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. >> -- during covid-19, many of those jobs will not reopen in the immediate future. in addition to this, there are seniors who have lost their roommates, and that income made it possible for them to actually remain in their homes, and due to their under lying health conditions, sheltering in place, this has meant that they cannot bring in new roommates right now. they are also very worried about losing the current protections that they have, and fear eviction in the future. so many have been trying to scrape together all that they can, actually selling household items to get $5 to $15 for items to help make it possible to pay their april and may rent, and it's frightening for them to be a part of this have vulnerable population that is dying with this virus. and adding to that, then, the
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isolation and thinking of delaying that, building up debt, and resulting in he vacations is just truly unbearable. so with this -- with this protection right now, with this ordinance, people will have a chance to catch up on their loss of income, on their loss of roommates so that they can continue to pay their rent and remain in their homes. i'm happy to support the amendment that would establish a rent relief fund. the small property owners that i know -- and when i say small property owners, i mean a couple of buildings that are three to six units, as long time landlords, that they should be able to access that while tenants are unable to pay
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rent while they are unable to work during that time. so thank you, supervisor preston. i so support this. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker? you have two minutes. >> i want to say this is not only an important legislation. but there's a moral imperative for these supervisors to pass this ordinance. why do we underestimate the long-term economic effects of what we're seeing now? in the last week of march, 1.1
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californians applied for unemployment. the effects of the covid-19 situation does not end when landlords throw tenants outside. [inaudible] >> -- working remotely. these techies are the ones that have created shortages by pushing out renters are disproportionately not black and latinx. if they matter to you, keep them housed and keep them in san francisco. this is the easiest possible bare minimum litmus test for basic human empathy towards the working class of san francisco. people deserve a roof over their heads after being laid off for something outside of
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their control. make no bones about what your answer to that question is, if you vote against the bill. i'd also just like to add that earlier in these conversations, a comparison of trump and some fabricated targeting of landlords. it's so intellectually dishonest to say that. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. hello, caller. you have two minutes. speakers who are in the queue, please continue to hold. thank you. >> hi. good afternoon. my name is leticia, and i am calling in to voice my strong support for supervisor preston's eviction protection ordinance, file 200375? i am the sfriesk housi-- san
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francisco housing organizer with casa husa. we've spoken with hundreds of tenants calling our hotline, and the majority of those are people calling facing evictions due to covid-19. [inaudible] >> -- when rent comes due. i am terrified of the word eviction, what will happen after the state of emergency expires, and there will be a wave of evictions if we don't take urgent action now. this ordinance would stop
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landlords from evictioning tens who can't pay because of covid-19. it won't stop them from getting what they're owed, it just takes eviction off the table. now i want to say that i also feel for small landlords. my landlord is my mother-in-law, and my dad is a homeowner. we should be cancelling rents and mortgages to support everyone keeping and staying in their homes. this is something that our governor has the power to do, and while that happens, the board must pass this ordinance. we are urging you to vote yes and support this important legislation from passing and protecting thousands of tenants probably who will be at risk of -- >> clerk: thank you for your comments. [inaudible] >> clerk: next speaker, please.
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next speaker, please. next speaker, please. hello? >> hi. my name is simon, and i'm a resident of district 8. i'm strongly in support of this legislation, and i strongly urge the supervisors to support this ordinance. [inaudible] >> we are not asking thank you.
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next speaker, please. >>.
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>> joy with housing rights committee. i am also a resident of district 8. i strongly support legislation to make nonpayment of rent nonevictable. even though there's an eviction moratorium in place, tenants will still have to payback rent. we see tenants paying rent over buying food because they're facing eviction. this will give tenants an opportunity to come up with a rent payment while having a place to call home. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you will hear that your line has been unmuted. >> good afternoon. this is bruce bowen from district 8 and the san francisco land use coalition. thank you, supervisor preston,
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for this compassionate and balanced measure to protect tenants during this time. i strongly support the additional steps discussed earlier today. the board can't stop here with this ordinance. there'll be more actions for the city to take to protect other classes suffering from this crisis. thank you. please pass this ordinance. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes to speak. >> hello. my name is peter, and i'm a -- i live in district 9, and i've been a resident of san francisco for 12 years. i urge you to support this legislation in order to protect housing security. the landlords are concerned about loss of rental income? we must remember that they're speaking to equivolate their
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mortgages with tenant rights and basic human decency. this would protect tenants who might never see another opportunity like this in their lifetime. i urge you to completely disregard landlord complaints about this matter. this serves one part of the homele coalition, and we need to increase services, not depress systems. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next caller. you will hear that your line has been unmuted. >> hi. my name is truk, and i am actually not afraid of being evicted right now.
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i'm calling in for people who don't know this is happening or who can't call in. i strongly ask the landlords to check their own privilege. if they own property in the city, they have a lot more than a lot of us. i just urge you to continue to fight for all of us and consider our most vulnerable. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. hello, caller? next speaker, please. >> hello? >> clerk: hi. you have two minutes to speak. >> hi. my name is brittany henry, and i am a current renter in district 9, the sunset mission district. i have lived in the bay area my
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entire life, as have my parents and as have their parents. i am calling to support this legislation, and i ask that the supervisors do the same. i am a memory kber ber of u.s.d to safe the mission, and i work on a -- save the mission, and i work on a number of other cultural organizations in s.f. because of my own health concerns and other concerns during the pandemic, i have been left unemployed, and due to ongoing issues with my work documentation, i have been unable to obtain unemployment. i continue to pay rent even with the moratorium in place.
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i have been relying on a lot of friends and family, and due to my recent financial position had to rely on the moratorium because i couldn't pay the rent on my home. i found out last monday the morning of the original hearing date that one of my family members was fatally wounded during a protest in the east bay the night before. she was only 18. i say this because you need to hear how much people are hurting right now, how long i am hurting right now. i am not sure how i'm going to be able to maintain my housing in the coming here if my
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landlord snatches it from me. >> clerk: thank you for your comment. next caller, please. hello, caller? >> hi. i am sorry. i was on mute. can you hear me okay? >> clerk: yes. you have two minutes to speak. wonderful. can you so much -- thank you so much. [inaudible]
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>> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. i am a long time resident of district 9, the mission. i'm calling in support of this legislation. thank you, dean preston, for creating this for us. i want to start by saying shame on all the landlords that are dissenting this right now. if you're complaining about this, you clearly didn't listen to dean preston explain how landlords would also be protected. how many of these landlords that claim to be affected even live here in san francisco? also, if you own a property, you're more able to get financial assistance than renters, who depend on
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low-income paychecks. the renters who should qualify for decisions are the same that have suffered for years as supervisors subsidize homeowners who live in other parts of the country and -- [inaudible] >> -- and i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you. if you want to participate in public comment, press star-three to be added to the queue. you will hear that your hand has been raised. please stay until you hear that
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i acknowledge you for public comment. if you havenaren't hearing any, stay on the line now. next speaker, please. [inaudible] >> -- if the tenants are not paying rent, i will not be able to keep the property more than three months. this ordinance will make it almost impossible for me to makeup the unpaid rent and force me to offer free housing. both property owners and tenants need assistance due to the pandemic, but i think it's really unfair to us, the small property owners like me, to foot the bill on all of this. if the city is expecting small
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property owners to assist the tenants, then they should help me by waving property tax or my mortgage at the same time. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. hello, caller? speaker, please? >> oh, hi, is it me? >> clerk: yes. you have two minutes. >> hi. i'm seth. i'm calling on behalf of a household of six who are affected financially during the pandemic. i'm calling in support of the bill that dean preston has sent
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out. our landlord hasn't spoken to us in two months, and we've been unable to make payments and will continue to be unable to make payments. it's not only the right choice to be making but the one that will be saving lives. i think putting any cost on human life is abhorrent at this time, and i thank you all supervisors for supporting this bill, and thank you, dean preston, for putting it out. have a wonderful day. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes to
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speak. >> hi. [inaudible] >> -- greatly provide ongoing housing for an indefinite period of time. obviously, no one wants to be without a home, and that includes me. i'm still responsible for the mortgage, expenses, and everything else that goes along with this, and i don't have the deep pockets to foot this unless the tenants pay. i have wonderful tenants, and i deeply care for them, but i cannot continue to provide housing if they don't pay. i think you assume that i have unlimited means of making up for other people. i have been in a place where i've had to work three jobs for
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years during economic crises. i understand the pressure firsthand. i've had the life experience of losing my home during another recession. callers have said no one should be put out on the street because they can't pay their rent. tell that to a mortgage lender. it's unfair to assume that landlords have deep pockets. please don't add this to other landlords who are in my position. landlords did not create this crisis, either, and you are expecting us to foot a financial bill that many of us cannot sustain. please consider all our welfare. please do not support 200375. there has to be a better solution for all of us. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. you will hear that your line has been unmuted.
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hello, caller? next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is nancy lang. i've owned a building in district 5 since 1988, and it's a three-unit building, and i also live in district 5. i just wanted to say, you know -- and i consider myself a mom-and-pop business, but i'm really just the mom part of it. there's no pop, and i'm a senior citizens. one of the issues that's happened to me, of the three units, i have two vacant right now. they just became vacant right before the covid, and i'm in an age group -- vulnerable age group. so i'm basically in a situation where i'm hearing all this going on, and i'm concerned about actually even rerenting the two vacant units partly because i'm concerned about
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getting other people moving in who won't pay rent. they'll take advantage of the new law, the new ordinance. i'm really on the fence. i've always been a conscientious landlady. i've always respected my tenants, and i'm alarmed at the hostility toward the people who have provided housing. i've considered it over the years a good thing to do, and i've worked well with people. but in recent years, it's becoming more and more difficult because everybody seems to be really hostile and also assuming that you're out to get everything and you're not going to be reasonable, and i've worked with people many, many times, where they've had a little trouble, and i've worked things out with them. but i'm automatically considered not worthy of having, you know, any rights to control my building or run what is a tiny business.
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so any way, i appreciate the opportunity to speak, and i really feel terrible about what's going on for everybody. so, you know, i'm against it, obviously, so i would hope for other improvements. thank you. >> clerk: next speaker, please. hello, caller. you have two minutes. next speaker, please. >> hello? >> clerk: oh, hi. you have two minutes to speak. >> hello. i'm from housing rights committee. i have to say, at housing rights, the phone has been ringing off the hook by tenants who can't pay their rent.
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people who are scared, people who lost their job during this period or who are sick. tens of thousands of people can't work now because they are honoring the stay-at-home order. they are protecting others' health or their own, and frankly, they won't be able to pay this back, many of them. you can't get blood out of a stone. so the question is for those tenants -- many tenants are going to pay the money back after this, but many tenants already paid 50 to 70% of their income before this, and the question is, when they don't have the money, you can't get it from a tenant who doesn't have it, and the question is should these thousands of people be evicted? should these thousands of people be evicted during the
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pandemic? we've heard from the small landlords that they've been able to talk to their mortgage carrier about postponing payments during this pandemic, too, so small business owners often call their bank, but we're not hearing the majority of these landlords also waiting gleefully for their tenants to not -- long-term rent controlled tenants to be able to repay this because when you get back to work, if you can get back to work, and you're working that job, you're still not going to be able to pay the rent. we ask everyone to sacrifice right now. we all have to be together in this pandemic. >> clerk: thank you. thank you for your comment.
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[inaudible] >> clerk: we have 144 listeners and 67 people in queue to speak. again, press star-three if you would like to get -- get in the queue to speak. if you have already, please continue to wait. again, we appreciate your patience. you will hear your line has been unmuted, and you will have two minutes to speak thereafter. >> resources are underfunded.
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these kinds of experiences are unavoidable, during a public health crisis, that they have no ability to cope. evicting people during this time would be a direct act of violence and systemic racism. this board should be aware that they will be held responsible for that. i support this legislation. please hear us. that's my comment. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. >> thank you. i'm a renter with two children living in a building, and it's really hard. my job just got consolidated,
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and i don't get paid over the summer. the fence is dilapidated, and we don't have any money to fix the fence. it costs us $8500 a month to maintain the building, and i couldn't afford to be on the main floor. i don't think it's fair for legislation to leave us out. we'll figure it out ourselves, and when we talk about foreclosure, it really means that we have three months to leave the property if we cannot keep up with the payments. we only have three months, and
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the eviction law here in the city is not mutual, and i think you have to treat us like family and friends, and it's not fair when our mortgage and electric and all those utility companies won't give us a break. how are we supposed to maintain it all ourselves? right now, it's about $10,000 or $11,000 for property tax, and i have a hard time paying it. and i wish you could just put some of the p.p.p. money or idea money that you have received from the federal package -- [inaudible] >> clerk: thank you for your comments. we have 137 siclisteners with in queue.
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this is your opportunity to speak. >> my name is kathy lipscomb, and i live in district 8, and i've been a tenant for all of my time in san francisco, which is over 25 years. as the deadline for the eviction moratorium draws near, tenants who cannot pay their rent because of covid are grateful that you have taken a proactive role in this matter. dean preston and the other cosponsors of the legislation, we don't need another disaster, which is what mass evictions would be. people in unemployment don't need to go through hell with worry over losing their homes. ideally, small landlords who can't meet their bills should have access to financial aid, and i'm very glad that supervisor preston is moving in this direction. but meanwhile, the landlords and small landlords should be knocking on the doors of the
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san francisco apartment association and asking them to do something, such as set up a fund to help them immediately. this could happen if there's enough pressure put on them by their members. these people in the association have access to some of the wealthiest people in the city, so i think that would help immensely in the immediate urgency of poor landlords not meeting their bills. this ordinance is a great example of what other cities in the country should be doing. it breaks new ground for human rights. thank you very much for listening. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next caller, please. you'll hear that your line has been unmuted. >> thank you. my name is cynthia, and i am a renter in district 9 and an organizer in district 1. on behalf of housing rights committee and the tenants
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association which represents renters in the richmond and sunset, i am calling to express full support for this legislation. according to recent surveys, a lot of renters actually paid rent in may. part of why that has happened is a lot of our renters are making really difficult decisions, choosing to pay for rent, even over things like food and medicine. this is not about making your mortgage in the end or not but in surviving this crisis. we know what will happen to tenants after the state of emergency expires without legislation like this, and months of back rent becomes due. they will be evicted unless this legislation passes veto proof. and if you don't pass this bill, you will be choosing to allow a wave of evictions in san francisco, knowing it will disproportionately affect our most marginalized renters.
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it doesn't actually stop landlords from getting what they might be owed, it just takes evictions off the table. these landlords are worried about bills? join us in the movement that cancels rent and mortgages. this is the most important step that san francisco can take in the fight against displacement during this national emergency. thank you. >> clerk: hi. thank you for your comments. next caller, please. you have two minutes. >> hi. i am in support of this bill. >> clerk: hello, caller? >> -- because i believe --
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hello? can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. >> i believe the goal of this bill is not simply to provide free housing, but to protect those at greatest risk of homelessness during the pandemic. the plan also includes reparations for tenants who are unable to pay. an increase in homelessness is also a huge threat to public safety and leaves those without shelter to contract the covid illness. instead of worrying about contracting covid-19, they should be able to worry about preventative protection measures from the virus. the people of san francisco are not the cause of the pandemic and should not have to worry about eviction or lost jobs. thank you. >> clerk: next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors.
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ozzie reaume from district 8 speaking on behalf of noe neighborhood council. >> in the past three months, many of our local and national leaders have correctly compared this crisis to a war, a war against a deadly pandemic. so here's what i'd like to say to those disgruntled landlords who spoke in opposition to this ordinance. we're at war, and all you care about is what's owed to you? these tenants didn't choose to go to war. they didn't choose to shelter in place. they didn't choose to not have a paycheck. the government made those choices to save their lives, including the governors who called in earlier in opposition
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to this -- including the landlords who called in earlier in opposition to this legislation. that's why they should protect tenants who have no income through no fault of their own from eviction. i would also like to add that this has made the need for a rental registry even more urgent. if we had a rental urgency, we could have better foreseen the impact of this crisis and could have better planned solutions such as this ordinance. if los angeles could create a rental registry as early as a few years ago, so could we. time is now for us to stop the paralysis and provide policy to react to this crisis.
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in a city with 64% tenants, there is no excuse for not knowing where tenants are, so please, supervisor preston, supervisor peskin, and supervisor safai, thank you so much for introducing this measure, and i 100% support it along with noe neighborhood council. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. hello. you have two minutes to speak. hello, caller? next caller, please.
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[inaudible] >> -- i am also a renter in
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d-10. [inaudible] >> clerk: thank you. we have 136 listeners with 58 in queue. next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is andrea danger. i'm a finance manager, and i live in the mission in san francisco. i've been here 28 years. i'm calling in strong support of this measure. i'm a renter. i would say that 25% of the people in my building, we've been talking about organizing.
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about 50% of our building is unemployed. as a finance manager, i just want to point out that the landlord investment model hinges on the fact that you'll be able to meet your mortgage. so to the landlords talking about recovering represent, you're being heartless in a -- recovering rent, you're being heartless in a way that i'm not sure you understand. fob landlords and investors, financial balance is something that you plan out. it's profit-and-loss statements. it's real, but it's not going to put you out on the street and maybe kill you, especially if you're like one of the black and brown families left in san
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francisco. [inaudible] >> -- between living in a car or living on a street or moving out to tracy and commuting into the community like people that i know. t this is legislation to try to help people through this crisis; this is a step. i just thank you to the board of supervisors and thank you for hearing our plea. thank you for keeping us safe so we can figure this out together. thank you very much. >> clerk: thank you, caller. you have two minute to speak, and -- two minutes to speak, and you'll hear that your line has been unmuted? >> has my line been unmuted? [inaudible] >> my name is steven crest
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mulverson, and i own a 500 unit building. like many other small business owners, i'm hurting. we're at a deep moment in our country where the most vulnerable among us are under attack. by the most vulnerable, i refer to landlords and other people who own property and make money off that property. we all know that poem that starts with, first they came for the landlords, and i said nothing because i wasn't a landlord. this legislation would divert landlords' attention from the important tasks of property management, namely requests for maintenances, and deciding arbitrarily whether people
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should own or not own pets. i urge you to listen to the landlords who are speaking in opposition to this measure and not to the many people who are facing difficulties in this situation. i urge you to side with the landlords and not the people by voting no on this measure. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. we have 132 listeners with 62 in queue. thank you. next speaker. hello, caller? >> hello? >> clerk: hi. you have two minutes. >> okay. hello. my name is emily, and i work in the south of market community action network, and i strongly support this ordinance. i am also a renter in san francisco that's facing the staple struggles, and i can always tell so much of what my
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family is going through. even before this pandemic, renters in san francisco were already struggling to make ends meet. we were having difficult times finding ways to cover expenses, and some of us are still working in the middle of all of this, which is a high risk that we're willing to take, and you know, the risk goes on. these are just a few examples of a situation that we did not ask for. for us, eviction will lead to homelessness and put us at a higher risk of getting sick. if you are against this ordinance, the question for you is why do you choose to make policies and take advantage of a deadly global pandemic that already killed thousands of peop people? for the privileged mom and pop landlords, we're not saying you don't matter, but your focus
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should be on the most vulnerable in your community right now. you can always put that money payment in your pockets once things get better, but you can't bring back a human life who suffered from covid-19 because you decided to take away our housing rights in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. in rough times like this, we all deserve better. we want your compassion, empathy, and we definitely need genuine support. thank you. >> clerk: thank you. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. >> hi. this is gabe gothman, and i'm a resident in district 2. thank you, supervisor preston, for your legislation. i think it's the least we can do to help the most vulnerable during this time. i think landlords are being a
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little miopic here. evictions will lead to further unrest and decreases in property value. i do work with finance, and it's not a job to own a building or property. it's a source of income for some people, but it's an investment, so you're not even providing a good or service, really, you're just making money off of your own money that you invested in a building, and so if you're having trouble making money because just of a small delay in payment with an entering of a megacrisis much worse, quite frankly, than the great depression, there are other things you can invest in. you can sell your property really at no cost, and you can recoup probably hundreds if not millions of dollars from the
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sale of your property, and then, you can invest in bonds that are tax free. some of them, for example, you can get from municipalities here in california, and that way, you don't have to worry about covering your incentives or worrying about maintenance or other things related to a billing. but if you don't want to sell your property, should you have some compassion to people that could live on the street and, you know, have nowhere to go. and especially, someone mentioned children earlier. it's devastating for incredibly young people to be sent out -- to be homeless and to not have somewhere to live. >> clerk: thank you. thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. you'll have two minutes. >> hi. can you hear me? >> clerk: yes. yes. >> hi. my name is sylvia.
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i am a property owner, but i'm also -- i own two units, and after that speaker, i just want to let you know, we all live in an ecosystem, and rules like this can have really devastating unintended consequences. i -- i want to make sure everybody's safe. i actually love my tenants, but my tenants make more money than i do. i have to take mortgage applications all the time when i see people in rent controlled apartments that own units, and in fact both my tenants own other properties. but you know what? we've got to concentrate on what's happening with covid, but some of the comments that have come here, really, they don't understand financing. you know, freddy and fannie
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flooded the market, and then, anybody that wanted a loan could get a great rate. if you're high balance, which is this part of the country, you can't get cash out or very, very, very expensive. you own a property that's free and clear for $1.2 million, and baby, you better be ready to pay $15,000 to take any money out of that. all i can say is the infrastructure -- i'm afraid for the infrastructure of california. i think that supervisors should take a cut. it should come from the city. we've got to help the tenants. let's get their rents paid, but
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to go after 88-year-old women, which, you know, is my mother, who's a landlord, who can barely walk, and then have tenants who make her take out the garbage, you can't say anything to them, that's the positions we're in. so i think landlords are very afraid. you know, i want to be compassate, but i just think this is the wrong way to go about it. i think it's a lie, and i don't have $600 for a lawyer, or the tenants are the lawyer, and that's what they charge. every time you go to the rental board, they go, go find a lawyer or find somebody who mak -- lawyer to fight somebody who makes more money than you. we've got to figure out a way
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to help people pay their rent. my suggestion is why don't you try low interest loans? in hawaii, they introduced the mongoose to get the rat? the mongoose was killed, and the rat got the relief. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, you'll have two minutes. >> first, i want to talk about a legislation that must be passed. this is a complete no brainer from a practical and moral standpoint. a bunch of evictions are coming, and we cannot afford to throw a bunch of people in the middle of the street during a global pandemic, full stop. not only is it completely immoral, it's going to produce huge costs, both financial and -- to the landlords, grow up. you guys are babies.
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grow up and stop being such sociopaths. not only did dean describe that you're going to get some relief that you don't deserve, it just stops you from evicting, which is a gross thing to do, any way. if you have that much problem, you're awful at running your business, and you should stop doing it. if you can't budget for a few months of potential lost revenue and operating costs, then you're bad at business and you should get out of the game and sell to your renters or something. if you want to make yourself whole, stop glomming onto the right to evict tenants during a global pandemic, and stop evicting people out of their right of a place to live and get a real job.
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thanks. i yield my time. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. next speaker, please. hello, caller? ner next speaker, please? we have 148 listening with 48 to speak. >> hi. my name is robert, and i live in district 5. i'm very happy to see this bill from supervisor preston. i think this is the kind of leadership that i want to see from think elected representative. i think it's ridiculous that landlords can say that they need every single month of rent in order to be made whole. i mean, if you are really so strapped for cash, you can always sell your building, which is probably worth a few million dollars, and i imagine
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that would put some pennies in your piggy bank at least. if you are a 90-year-old person, and you want to evict people, i think that's probably really a mark of who you are. if you want to evict tenants, you probably should not be a landlord. you should probably sell to someone who wants to take care of your tenants and do the job properly. it shouldn't even be the case that landlords can make money by not having a job. it's -- it's crazy that this is the world we live in. it's crazy that -- it's crazier that since 2012, san francisco's real estate has gained $280 billion in value. that's over $300,000 per resident, and it's not going to every single resident in san francisco, it's only going to people who own property, so i think this is the -- the
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tiniest ask that we can give to landlords, asking them not to evict tenants when their land is increasing billions of dollars each decade. thank you. >> clerk: thank you for your comments. again, public caller number is area code 415-655-0001. that's 415-655-0001. the access code to join is 1454836716. press pound, and pound again. that's 1454836716. press pound, and pound again. press star-three to lineup for public comment. it'll take you have raised your -- it'll indicate you have lined up for public comment. when your line is unmuted, you
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will hear "your line is unmuted" and you'll have two minutes to speak. thank you. next caller, please. [please stand by]
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>> they have to pay profit tax and they work hard to get their house and support us. they have a house and i'm enjoying my life and i will continue living in this house
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and i will pay my landlord and i don't support the district 5 proposal for the 237 -- (indiscernible). >> the proposal from the district.
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>> i'm appalled by the comments by landlords and this is once again pitting tenants against the landlord expose they should be working together. that's what i try to do with my tentants.
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this will make it difficult as a property opener to try to keep up with the maintenance cost, the utilities, the property taxes and my own mortgage on my house. and i understand that a lot of people think, well, ok, if you have been a landlord for all of this time and you can't make a go of it if people don't pay their rent for awhile, then i should get out of the business. and i guess that's probably what will have to happen under these circumstances. i don't tend to evict anyone but foreclosures of these properties will also cause a huge displacement of tenants and they
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will not be evicted by me but by money-grabbers who will come in and swoop these buildings up and they won't be good landlords. >> thank you for your comment, next speaker, please. we have 135 listeners with 55 in queue. >> hello, caller? you have two minutes. >> hello, ok, thank you very much. hi, supervisors. good afternoon. i'm a resident of district 5 and
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first, i just want to thank you for all of your leadership during this time of crisis and in particular, i would like to thank supervisor preston whose leadership has been truly extraordinary. i'm calling you to urge you to unequivocally pass this legislation. the covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented human tragedy that will have devastating impact on our city and the rest of the word for the foreseeable future and people with disabilities, people who are black, indigenous and who people of colror are disproportionately affected. these communities are vulnerable to housing and security and further loss of wealth during the pandemic, given the dis-pro fortudisproportionate losses ane racial disparities in the security pandemic. even before covid-19, the
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pandemic struck, many people in san francisco struggled to pay their housing costs, utility bills, food costs and afford medical care. economic hardship result hardshm the pandemic falls on people of color and indigenous, especially our latina community, people with disabilities and, again, families with children. the covid-19 pandemic has exposed a structural inequality throughout san francisco and the united states. roughly 568,000 people experienced homeless last year in the u.s. and black people make up 40% of that total. despite being only 13% of
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overall population. of particular concern, people who are undocumented. please do everything you can -- >> thank you so much for your comment. next speaker, please. your line has been un-muted. >> hello. my name is sam judge and i'm a renters in district one. no one should lose their housing due to a pandemic. we shouldn't be placing people in vulnerable situations in a global pandemic. thank you for your time.
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>> i'm chelsea merick and i'm speaking on behalf of myself and mmy colleagues. we're a nonprofit legal service. we're also district 9 renters and strongly support this legislation. nothis pandemic has affected
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everyone. no one should become homeless because of it but that is what will happen if we continue to threaten renters with eviction for an economic crisis out of their control. supervisor pretson's proposal was necessary to keep san francisco residents housed not only through covid but in the wake of it.
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>> next week, your line has been un-muted and you will have two minutes to speak. >> majority of the people i work with and some rely on help for work and it's not enough. we support this legislation because we know that it's needed in this city that is very expensive and we cannot afford any more families to be on streets because they can't afford rent, not because they don't want to pay but there's to work and no set date to go back to work. it just takes eviction off the
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were able and this is the most important step they can take after the state of emergency. thank you. >> thank you, next speaker. you'll have two minutes to speak. hi, you have two minutes. >> ok. thank you. i saw a pos(indies indiscernibl. >> prompproperty owners and the property owners need the income
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to support themselves and maintain their property. they avoid paying any rent, even if they are able to. (indiscernible). please do not sacrifice the small property owner. we cannot take any more. >> thank you for your comments and next speaker please. you'll hear that your line has been un-muted.
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>> hello? >> hi. >> this is lynn and we own a small -- hello? ready? >> yes. >> i'm lynn and we own a small two-unit property in the mission district and i urge the supervisors to pause on this legislation, which is extremely one-sided and wait until you have determined the appropriate protection for the landlord. we can't go get another job and this unit is our income. by having to forgive rent and not be able to collect rent for the foreseeable future, because there is no timing that we know that the covid crisis will be over, i won't be able to pay my husband's medical bills for his cancer treatment and the maintenance expect utilities and the property taxes associated with our unit. and i think that this
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legislation is great if you're a tenant and can devastate you financially if you're a landlord. and our family has worked extremely hard in order to have a building that would give us income during our retirement years. we're both high risk and cannot get another job. so i urge the supervisors to step back and come up with a much more bad legislation that has a deadline in it and timelines so we don't have something completely open-ended which means i may not have any income for the foreseeable future. >> thank you for your time. we have 13 139 listeners with 4n queue. next speaker, please. >> hi. i'm a san francisco native and other than of an older four-unit apartment building built by my immigrant grandfather and it's been in my family for
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generations. it's my understanding the city does not have legal authority to permanently restrict a landlord's ability to recover rent due. that said, i am fe fervently against this ordinance. small businesses are trying to survive and trying to continue the legacy. i am not rich and i take offense to so many people that have spoken today saying we're all rich. small property owners are victims and it's not favour to carry the burden because no one is helping us pay expenses we incur on a daily basis, paying tenants and security deposits, not to mention attorney's fees, just to name a few. i'm working with my tenants who can't pay their rent but i'm worried how i'll pay my past-due bills if they don't pay me back.
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the city isn't helping me pay my past-due bills. it's not fair to put the burden on us once again. don't meddle until you can help. this will be lost if you pass an unrealistic and unfair ordinance. thank you. >> thank you for your comment and next speaker please. there's 43 in queue. hello, caller? >> you have two minutes. >> hi. sorry. thanks for giving us time to speak today. i strongly support the eviction protection ordinance. i'm a renter in district 5 and a paraillegal at legal systems for
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the ederly an ederly. the economic impact of the pandemic will be so much longer than six month. we can't expect tenants who have lost income because of the pandemic to repay thousands of dollars in back-rent just six months after the emergency is lifted. this proposed ordinance is not only going to help protect much of san francisco from displacement but also all of san francisco's eviction nonprofit which will undoubtedly be overwhelmed by the impending eviction cases. it's important that we pass this ordinance to prevent a surge in evictions and displacement. thank you for listening and proposing this, supervisor peskin. >> thank you, next speaker please. you have two minutes. >> hello.
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can you hear me. >> yes, you have two minutes. >> hi. so my name has been in the bay area since the '60's. i've worked in san francisco since i was younger and i'm here to say it's imperative that we ensure the most vulnerable populations are given shelter, especially during this time. landlords and san francisco have georgenjoyed skyrocketing for te last ten years and it's completely unfair to expect the people who have these landlords
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make their money off of to, you know, buil build out an investmt they've made in an incredibly lucrative field. this ordinance needs to pass because the way covid affects our population i is preportion yachtlpreportionately harsh andt forgiving rent and making ten cents back-pay rent would be exacerbating the crisis and it would be cruel and harsh. this doesn't make sense to commute the crisis further by, basically, flailing out
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landlords instead of tenants. it will cause unnecessary death and suffering if we don't relieve these tenants. i yield my time. >> hello, caller? you have two minutes to speak. >> i think i already spoke. >> oh, great. we'll move on to the next carol,
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thank you for letting us know. >> googood afternoon. i'm susan marsh and a tenant of district 6. i'm here to urge you to pass this legislation. as many should have been clued by now, without this legislation we will have a massive wave of evictions with homelessness and the massive suffering, the massive uprooting of community and the amplification of the covid-19 pandemic that will come.
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(indiscernible). >> many, many tenants will not be able to pay, particularly those who have already been paying 50% to 70% of their income and who are among the most vulnerable tenants in san francisco. by the same token and even by the appalling suffering that many landlords are exhibiting, here in focusing on their right to be made whole, their right to collect the rent, no matter what, the ironic thing is that for the same reason we will have this eviction, that legislation does not pass the evictions they are seeking to carry forward by defeating this legislation will
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not enable them to collect that rent. they'll have a far better chance under this legislation than without it. the important thing is to present the application of the covid-19 eviction. the amount of suffering that comes from the displacement in the uprooting of tenants and that is the important thing and i urge you in the strongest pass terms to pass this legislation. thank you. >> thank you for your comment. to those who need interpretation, we are losing our staff support. he's booked for another meeting, we apologize. and so, moving on to the next
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caller. we have 42 in queue. >> hi there, my name is monique. can you hear me? >> yes. >> i live in district 5 and i'm calling in support of the ordinance to prevent evictions. i believe there are already enough homes in san francisco for everyone. there's no reason everyone should be homeless and that landlords are hoarding homes and continue doing to do. do so.
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>> call (415)655-0001 for call-in and the access code is (145)483-6716, press pound and pound again and to be added to the queue, press star 3. for the folks on hold, we appreciate your patience and will get to you soon. you'll have two minutes to speak. the next caller, please.
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>> there are many people at risk of eviction due to this global pandemic and i'm calling in for them. this is the most that could place mass displacement of residents in our city. and nobody should fear homelessness in the wake of a global pandemic. thank you. i yield the rest of my time.
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>> hello, caller? you have two minutes. >> ok, this is unconstitutional. covid-19 does not discriminate whether you are a landlord or tenant. you are blaming the landlord and making the landlord responsible for this pandemic. proof of the income, even receiving edd per week $1,000, $8,000 per month but do not pay the rent. you are allowing them to do that. with this bill passed, they should pay rent and why should they? they shoulthey should not look r solutions and not abide by the mutual agreements to leech on
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the society so the supervisor becomes heroes to the tenants. number five, the bill is forcing the landlords to file in supreme court. you district 5 supervisor knows better that anyone that money will not get recovered from the small claim's court because they have go through a legal process to get their own money back and this is a lie to the public and ther.number six, san francisco s spent $364 million on taxpayer's money to help homeless people and the budget committee is not managing the money appropriately, but it's not the fault of the landlords. no wonder the state has
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$450 billion. shame on those who talk about the right thing do. they're teaching our kids not to take responsibilities on their lives and that is ok not to keep promises and to be a loop on the society. number seven, if the tenant think they have the right -- >> thank you for your comment. next speaker, please. you'll hear your line has been un-muted. next speaker, please. hello, caller? again, you'll hear your line has been un-muted and you have two minutes to speak. >> good afternoon. this is jean, a san francisco native, long-time tenant in district 11. please vote yes and i support this legislation sponsored by
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supervisor dean preston. how can tenants continue to shelter in place if they can not pay rent. prior to covid-19, many renters in san francisco were struggling to make ends meet and many were employed and underemployed. not every tenant has the privilege to pay back months of unpaid rent. they need to be more compassionate to tenants. i have clients laid off as a result of covid-19 and relied on the eviction moratorium for being misplaced.
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this is vital regardless if they're under rent control, we must prevent vulnerable populations such as seniors, low-income and working class families from being evicted. this is the most crucial step in san francisco to stop displacement and evictions at the state of emergency. say yes and prevent the further displacement of further tenants in sanfrancisco. >> thank you for your comments. if you wish to speak, press star 3. you will be un-muted when it is your turn to speak and next caller, please, two minutes. >> hello, supervisors. this is ken