SEC. 37.9F. CIRCUMVENTION OF TENANT PROTECTIONS.
(a) Findings. As market rents continue to increase in San Francisco, landlords of rent-controlled units have a greater incentive to prevent long-term tenancies. Complementing the just cause protections in Section 37.9, this Section 37.9F addresses the growing efforts among some landlords to induce their tenants into believing that they are required to vacate their units at a specific time designated in the lease or agreement, despite existing law to the contrary, or to try to avoid certain landlord-tenant obligations altogether. This trend is especially common with respect to corporate rentals, though it is not limited to corporate rentals. Such tactics by landlords undermine rent control and frustrate the purpose of ensuring that rent-controlled units in the City remain available as a long-term housing option for the City’s renters.
(b) Prohibition of Fixed-Term Agreements. Consistent with Section 37.9(a)(2) and Section 37.9(e), any provision of any lease or rental agreement that purports to require a tenant to vacate a rental unit at the expiration of a stated term, or that purports to characterize a tenant’s failure to vacate the rental unit at the end of the stated term as a just cause for eviction (either of them, a “Fixed-Term Agreement”), shall be void as contrary to public policy, and a landlord may not attempt to recover possession of the unit without just cause. This prohibition shall not apply where this Chapter 37 expressly authorizes a fixed-term tenancy (e.g., Section 37.2(a)(D)), or where it expressly authorizes a tenant to be evicted without just cause (e.g., Section 37.9(b)).
(c) Restrictions on Non-Tenant Uses.