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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Ontario Tenant Air Conditioner Rules 2026: Landlord Notice, Seasonal Charges and Doubled Fines A tenant in an Ontario apartment with no air conditioning, a lease that bans window units and a heat wave outside has a new answer to "can I just install one?" Since July 1, 2026, the Residential Tenancies Act lets tenants put in a window or portable air conditioner if they meet a short list of conditions, and it lets landlords who include electricity in the rent charge a seasonal amount for the extra power. The same date doubled the maximum fines for offences under the Act. | Guides | Handle a repair request | Oct 6, 2026 |
Washington Tenant Air Conditioner Rights 2026: Portable ACs and Heat Pumps Allowed A Washington landlord who told a tenant that no window unit, no portable AC, nothing beyond the lease's original HVAC setup, no longer has blanket authority to say that. Since June 11, 2026, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6200 gives tenants a statutory right to install a portable air conditioner or heat pump, with specific, narrow conditions under which a landlord can still say no. | Guides | Handle a repair request | Oct 5, 2026 |
Virginia Central A/C Law 2026: Working Air Conditioning Is Now an Essential Service A Virginia landlord who treated a broken central air system in July as a lower priority than a heating outage in January now has the same statutory urgency attached to both. Since July 1, 2026, House Bill 519 adds central air conditioning to the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act's definition of an essential service, putting a failed A/C system on the same legal footing as a lack of heat, water, or electricity. | Guides | Handle a repair request | Oct 5, 2026 |
Virginia Habitability Law 2026: Localities Can Now Sue Landlords Over Material Violations A Virginia landlord who treated a serious habitability complaint as something only an individual tenant could pursue in court now has a second, institutional party who can step in. Since July 1, 2026, House Bill 14 and Senate Bill 290 let a city or county sue a landlord directly over conditions that threaten life, health, or safety, seeking both an injunction and damages on a tenant's behalf. | Guides | Handle a repair request | Oct 5, 2026 |
Texas Repair-and-Deduct Rule 2025: Repairs Must Be Done by Independent Contractors A Texas tenant who used to satisfy the repair-and-deduct remedy by hiring a company listed in the yellow pages now faces a different standard entirely. Since September 1, 2025, House Bill 2037 requires the repair be done by an independent contractor, licensed wherever the local municipality requires it, and specifically bars a tenant from using their own family or business connections to do the work. | Guides | Handle a repair request | Oct 4, 2026 |
Page 1 of 1 · 5 resources
From reading to managing
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What you read about
Rent increase dates and notice
In Platuni
Obligation tracking with reminders
What you read about
Move-in and move-out photos
In Platuni
Records kept per unit, per tenancy
What you read about
Repair requests and responses
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Maintenance log with timestamps
What you read about
Everything a hearing could ask for
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