San Francisco Landlord Compliance
Everything you're responsible for as a landlord in San Francisco
Rent control, just-cause eviction, deposits, entry, repairs and recordkeeping, written for people who own or manage a few units, checked against the official sources, and kept current when the rules move.
Jurisdiction
key details
Rent cap · Detail
Tenant Protection Act: max 5% + regional CPI or 10% (lower) per 12 months, max 2 increases/yr; exempts housing <15 yrs old, most single-family homes not owned by corporations/REITs, and rent-controlled units. Sunsets 2030-01-01.
Deposit cap · Detail
Max 1 month's rent (since 2024-07-01, AB 12). Natural-person/LLC owners with ≤2 rental properties totalling ≤4 units may take 2 months, except from service members.
Rent increase notice · Detail
Month-to-month: 30 days' written notice if the increase (with all increases in prior 12 months) is ≤10%; 90 days if >10%. Fixed-term rent can only change per the lease.
City rules · Detail
Costa-Hawkins allows local rent control but exempts units with certificate of occupancy after 1995-02-01 and single-family homes/condos, and requires vacancy decontrol. Ordinances in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Berkeley.
Just cause · Detail
After 12 months' continuous lawful occupancy (24 if adults added), landlord may terminate only for stated at-fault or no-fault just cause; no-fault requires relocation assistance. Same exemptions as §1947.12 (new construction, some single-family).
Return deadline · Detail
Refund and itemized statement no later than 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates; landlord must photograph unit before/after (2025 amendments).
Nonpayment notice · Detail
3-day written notice to pay or quit, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and judicial holidays, before an unlawful detainer may be filed.
What are you trying to do?
Start from the task. Each route gathers the guides, checklists and forms that apply to it in San Francisco.
Essential local guides
If you're new to owning here, these five cover most of what will come up in your first year.
View All GuidesWhen a Tenant Breaks Condo Rules in Edmonton, Is the Landlord Responsible?
An Edmonton owner opens a notice addressed to their tenant. It alleges a bylaw breach for a loud Saturday night, names a possible $500 sanction, and gives three days to respond. Can the corporation do that, will the owner end up paying, and can the lease push the cost back? Each has its own answer.
Guide
Can an Edmonton Condominium Corporation Require Tenant Approval or Registration?
An Edmonton owner signs a lease and the condo manager sends a "tenant registration package": photo ID copies, proof of income, a credit check, and a processing fee, with fob activation to follow board approval. The tenant is already paying rent. The owner has to decide whether any of this is something the corporation can actually require.
Guide
Can an Edmonton Condominium Corporation Restrict Long-Term Rentals?
An Edmonton owner is about to list a one-bedroom and finds a bylaw saying no more than 20 percent of units may be rented. A neighbour says the board will enforce it. The property manager says it can't. Alberta's Condominium Property Act backs the manager for ordinary leases, yet an Edmonton court decision shows where the protection stops.
Guide
When a Tenant Breaks HOA or Condo Rules in Tampa, Is the Landlord Responsible?
A tenant plays music too loud after a pool party, parks a second car in a visitor spot overnight, or lets a dog off-leash past the clubhouse, and the violation letter that shows up a week later has the tenant's name on it, not the owner's. Florida allows that. What it doesn't do is treat a Tampa condo and a Tampa HOA the same way once that letter turns into an actual fine, and the gap between the two has only widened since a 2024 change to the HOA statute.
Guide
Renting in an HOA or Condo in Tampa: What Move-In Rules Can the Association Require?
A tenant's car gets towed from a Tampa HOA street the first week of the lease, and the landlord's first question isn't about the tow fee. It's whether the association even had the authority to order that tow in the first place, and the answer turns on a fact most people never check: whether that particular street is actually private property the association controls, or a public road the county or city owns underneath the HOA's landscaping and signage.
Guide
Recent changes
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Full San Francisco collection
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| Resource | Type | Task | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
Yukon's Two-Step Process for Unpaid Rent: The 5-Day Notice and the 14-Day Termination Notice A Yukon tenant misses the first of the month. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, the landlord cannot go straight to a termination notice. There is a 5-day notice first, then a 14-day notice only if the rent is still unpaid, and a tenant who pays the arrears in time can stop the process. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Yukon No-Cause Evictions Ended Under the New Residential Tenancies Act: Grounds, Notice and Compensation A Whitehorse landlord who wants a unit back used to be able to ask whether a cause was needed at all. Under the Residential Tenancies Act that took effect on September 1, 2025, it is. Tenancies end only on listed grounds, each with its own notice period, and some carry compensation the landlord has to pay. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Hamilton Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law: What Landlords Must Do When an N13 Is Served A Hamilton landlord who serves an N13 because a unit needs renovations that require the tenant to leave now has a week to file something else: an application for a City renovation licence. Hamilton's Renovation Licence and Relocation By-law, in effect since January 1, 2025, adds a municipal layer to a process the province otherwise controls, and it comes with fees, paperwork and duties to the tenant. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Toronto Rental Renovation Licence By-law: What Landlords Must Do and Pay When an N13 Notice Is Served A Toronto landlord who has just served an N13 on a tenant because a unit needs renovations that cannot be done while someone lives there now has a second clock running at city hall. Since July 31, 2025, the City of Toronto has required a Rental Renovation Licence for that kind of eviction, and the licence comes with duties to the tenant that the provincial notice alone never carried. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
Ontario 50% Arrears Rule for LTB Hearings: What Tenants Must Pay Before Raising Issues An Ontario tenant served with an L1 application for unpaid rent used to be able to walk into the hearing and tell the adjudicator the heat had been broken for months. For applications filed on or after September 21, 2026, that tenant has to have paid the landlord half of the arrears at least 7 days before the hearing, or the Landlord and Tenant Board will not hear the complaint in that proceeding. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 6, 2026 |
New Hampshire Eviction Timeline Law 2026: New Deadlines for Appearing, Answering, and Hearings A New Hampshire landlord who has watched a tenant sit on a writ of possession for up to 3 months after losing in court is getting a much tighter clock. Starting October 8, 2026, eviction cases follow fixed answer and hearing deadlines, and the maximum stay before a writ can be enforced drops to 60 days by default, though a tenant can still ask for more time under a narrower test than before. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 5, 2026 |
West Virginia Eviction Hearing Law 2025: The Court Now Schedules the Hearing When the Petition Is Filed A West Virginia landlord used to file an eviction petition and then wait, sometimes for weeks, for a court to actually put a hearing on the calendar. Since July 11, 2025, House Bill 3272 eliminates that gap entirely: the court now has to schedule the hearing automatically upon filing, within a fixed 5-to-10-judicial-day window, with a built-in deadline for the tenant to respond in writing. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 5, 2026 |
Wisconsin Victim Lease Termination 2026: Sexual Assault and Stalking Victims Can End a Lease Early A Wisconsin tenant who survived a sexual assault, but couldn't point to an ongoing, provable threat of future physical harm from the person who assaulted them, previously had a hard time qualifying for early lease termination under the state's general protective-tenancy statute. Since 2025 Wisconsin Act 90 took effect, a tenant with a certified restraining order or a filed criminal complaint for sexual assault or stalking can terminate the lease on notice, without separately satisfying that broader imminent-threat standard. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 5, 2026 |
Virginia Rent Payment Plans 2027: Larger Landlords Must Offer a Written Plan Before Terminating for Arrears A Virginia landlord with a large portfolio who moved straight to termination over a single month's missed rent will soon have an extra step to take first. Starting July 1, 2027, House Bill 95 requires landlords who own more than 4 rental units to offer a structured payment plan before ending a tenancy over arrears that don't exceed one month's rent. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 5, 2026 |
Virginia Pay-or-Quit Notice 2026: 14 Days Required Before Terminating for Unpaid Rent, Up From 5 A Virginia landlord who sent a 5-day pay-or-quit notice the moment rent was late used to be able to move toward termination almost immediately after. Since July 1, 2026, House Bill 15 and Senate Bill 48 nearly triple that window, giving a tenant 14 days after written notice to pay before a landlord can terminate the rental agreement and file for eviction. | Guides | End a tenancy | Oct 5, 2026 |
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