(4) Subsection 37.3(d) does not affect the authority of the City and County of San Francisco to regulate or monitor the basis or grounds for eviction.
(5) This Subsection 37.3(d) is intended to be and shall be construed to be consistent with the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act (Civil Code Sections 1954.50 et seq.).
(e) Effect of Deferred Maintenance on Passthroughs for Lead Remediation Techniques.
(1) When lead hazards are remediated or abated pursuant to San Francisco Health Code Articles 11 or 26, are violations of State or local housing health and safety laws, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the lead hazards are caused or created by deferred maintenance as defined herein of the current or previous landlord. If the landlord fails to rebut the presumption, the costs of such work shall not be passed through to tenants as either a capital improvement or an operating and maintenance expense. If the landlord rebuts the presumption, he or she shall be entitled to a rent increase if otherwise justified by the standards set forth in this Chapter.
(2) For purposes of the evaluation of petitions for rent increases for lead remediation work, maintenance is deferred if a reasonable landlord under the circumstances would have performed, on a regular basis, the maintenance work required to keep the premises from being in violation of housing safety and habitability standards set forth in California Civil Code Section 1941 and the San Francisco Municipal Code. In order to prevail on a deferred maintenance defense, a tenant must show that the level of repair or remediation currently required would have been lessened had maintenance been performed in a more timely manner.