The Big One Could Destroy SF Rent Control

The Examiner reported yesterday on something else you can add to your list of things to be scared of should the Big One hit: loss of rent-control. Should you survive, you still might have to move in with your parents because the price tag on your house won't. That's because right now there's no law in place saying that homes erected on sites of once rent-controlled buildings would have to adhere to the same rent laws. Right now, newly built homes in SF do not have set limits on rent increases. If a big earthquake were to hit and knock out a substantial amount of SF homes, it would also effectively knock out rent-control. Senator Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, is trying to avert such a disaster by introducing a bill that would require property owners to replace every demolished rent-control unit with a rent-controlled unit somewhere in the city. The bill also applies to homes that are torn down by property owners, not just those affected by natural disasters. This is great news for people like me, who live in poorly renovated houses built out of crackers and peanut butter and depend on rent control to continue living in San Francisco. –Andy Wright