. >> reporter: brian hanlon has multiple graduate degrees, a steady job and a middle-class income. >>obably hasn't been renovated since the eisenhower administration. >> reporter: yet at 34 years old, he's the subtenant of a woman lucky enough to have a rent-controlled apartment. but hanlon's time is running out. >> i've been in this room for about four and a half years. >> reporter: four and a half years. he worries the owner of his apartment house will offer the actual leaseholder a lot of money to move, meaning hanlon will have to pay a lot more to live in this mission district neighborhood. >> well so market rate for this place, i'm guessing it's probably about $5,000 a month. >> reporter: $5000 a month? >> a three-bedroom in the mission? sure. >> reporter: the situation is forcing a growing number of people-- low, medium and high- income workers-- into ever tighter living conditions. and some, with no income, out of their homes altogether. >> i got here because i got nowhere to go. >> reporter: claudia rocha has lived on this sidewalk since losing her assembly line job last year.