(a) A lifetime lease arises as to each tenant who is qualified to purchase under Section 1399.8 but who has not exercised his or her right to do so on the date that the subdivision map for the property is recorded. In consideration of the benefit of this Article 11 to the Subdivider and any successors in interest from permitting the conversion of buildings of 2 units or more, the Subdivider and all successors in interest agree to waive any right to any rent increase other than as provided in this subsection that may be permitted by any other provision of law, and to waive any claim against the City of a taking under the California or United States Constitution based on the lifetime lease provision. These waivers will be binding on any heirs, successors in interest, or assigns.
(b) The initial rent payable under the lifetime lease shall not exceed the rent charged on the date the application for the Certificate of Clearance is submitted, plus ten (10) percent. Subsequent annual rent increases may not exceed the average annual percentage increase in Carrying Charges paid by all Resident Members. At no time may rent for a unit occupied by a Qualifying Household exceed the Maximum Annual Rent as defined herein. A tenant receiving a lifetime lease under this Section 1399.8A may exempt himself or herself from the restrictions on rent imposed by this limitation at any time if the tenant enters into an express agreement waiving the requirements of this subsection. A Subdivider or Limited Equity Housing Cooperative that is applying to or has converted under this ordinance may not evict a Resident Tenant based on his or her refusal to enter into such a waiver agreement. Any written waiver under this subsection 1399.8A(b) shall be invalid and unenforceable unless the following statement is printed in bold and all capital letters on the first line of the written waiver agreement:
REFUSAL TO ENTER INTO THIS WAIVER AGREEMENT WILL NOT TERMINATE YOUR RIGHT TO CONTINUE TO OCCUPY YOUR UNIT UNDER A LIFETIME LEASE WITH THE LIMITED EQUITY HOUSING COOPERATIVE. REFUSAL TO ENTER INTO THIS WAIVER AGREEMENT CANNOT BE USED AS A BASIS FOR EVICTING YOU.
(c) The lifetime lease shall contain a provision allowing the Resident Tenant to terminate the lease and vacate the unit upon thirty days written notice to the landlord.
(d) The lifetime lease shall terminate on the death of the Resident Tenant or the date on which the tenant ceases to actually and continuously reside in the unit as his or her sole residence, whichever occurs first. The landlord may terminate the lease during its term only for a Permitted Eviction.
(e) There shall be no decrease in maintenance of the unit occupied by a Resident Tenant under a lifetime lease.
(f) If, on the date the application packet as provided in Section 1399.17 is submitted, the tenant jointly occupies the unit with a person who is not a tenant or a Resident Member but who is a related party, then, at the request of the tenant, the related party shall become a tenant under the lifetime lease. A "related party" is an adult who is a grandparent, grandchild, parent, child, brother, sister, or spouse of the tenant, or person registered as a domestic partner of the tenant pursuant to San Francisco Administrative Code 62.1-62.8, and who, for purposes of this ordinance, has occupied the unit for at least one year prior to the date of submission of the application for a Certificate of Clearance.
(g) A tenant's rights under a lifetime lease are not transferable, and any attempted transfer shall be of no force or effect. The foregoing does not prevent a Resident Tenant with a lifetime lease from allowing other persons to occupy the unit with him or her to the same extent as allowed Resident Members, provided that (i) the Resident Tenant continues to actually reside in the unit as his or her principal residence, and (ii) no other person residing in the unit who is not a party to the lifetime lease shall have the rights of a Resident Tenant. A Resident Tenant must provide the landlord with the name of each person who occupies the unit with the tenant as well as emergency contact information for that person in writing. The Resident Tenant must also give any other occupant of the unit a written notice that the occupant is not a tenant and has no rights under the lifetime lease.
(h) The Resident Member occupying a unit subject to a lifetime lease or his or her successor in interest may require a lifetime lease tenant to enter into a written agreement documenting the tenant's lifetime lease rights. The lifetime lease shall include the terms set forth in this Section and shall also include the terms of the existing written rental agreement between the landlord and the tenant to the extent those terms do not conflict with this Section. If there is no existing written rental agreement, the written agreement shall include the usual and customary terms of residential rental agreements in the City and County of San Francisco that do not conflict with the terms of this Section. Where the Resident Tenant has the right to use certain common areas of the property, as, for example, parking or storage, or the right to have pets, those rights shall be included in the written agreement.
(i) A Notice of Right to Lifetime Lease shall be in the following form, printed in 12 point type or larger:
NOTICE OF RIGHT TO LIFETIME LEASE
TO: (name of tenant)
RE: (address of unit)
This Notice of Right to Lifetime Lease is given to you as required by Section 1399.8A of the San Francisco Subdivision Code. If the property in which you live becomes a Limited Equity Housing Cooperative and you do not purchase a members share, you will have a lifetime lease.
A. The lifetime lease will start on the date that the subdivision map for the Limited Equity Housing Cooperative is recorded with the San Francisco Recorder. In consideration of the benefit of this Article 11 to the Subdivider and any successors in interest from permitting the conversion of buildings of 2 units or more, the Subdivider and all subsequent owners shall agree to waive any right to any rent increase other than as provided in Article 11 that may be permitted by any other provision of law, and to waive any claim against the City of a taking under the California or United States Constitution based on the lifetime lease provision. The waivers will be binding on any heirs, successors in interest, or assigns.
B. The following terms will be incorporated into your lifetime lease.
1. The initial rent payable under the lifetime lease shall not exceed the rent charged on the date the application for the Certificate of Clearance is submitted, plus ten (10) percent. Subsequent annual rent increases may not exceed the average annual percentage increase in Carrying Charges paid by all Resident Members. At no time may rent for a unit occupied by a Qualifying Household exceed the Maximum Annual Rent as provided in the San Francisco Subdivision Code Section 1399.3.
2. You have a right to terminate your lifetime lease at any time on thirty days prior written notice to your landlord.
3. The lifetime lease automatically terminates only on the death of the last person named as a tenant in the lease or when you no longer actually and continuously reside in the unit as your sole place of residence.
4. Your landlord may terminate the lifetime lease during its term only if:
a. you fail to pay the rent to which the landlord is lawfully entitled under the oral or written agreement between you and the landlord or you habitually pay the rent late or give checks which are frequently returned because there are insufficient funds in the checking account;
b. you have violated a lawful obligation or covenant of tenancy other than the obligation to surrender possession upon proper notice and you have failed to cure the violation after having received written notice of it from the landlord; provided that notwithstanding any lease provision to the contrary, your landlord shall not endeavor to recover possession of your unit as a result of your subletting the unit if your landlord has unreasonably withheld the right to sublet following a written request from you, so long as you continue to reside in the rental unit and the sublet constitutes a one-for-one replacement of the departing tenant(s) as set forth in Rent Board Regulations 6.15A(d) and 6.15B(b).
c. you are committing or permitting to exist a nuisance in or are causing substantial damage to the rental unit, or you are creating a substantial interference with the comfort, safety or enjoyment of the landlord or tenants in the building;
d. you are using or permitting the unit to be used for any illegal purpose;
e. you have, after written notice to cease, refused the landlord access to the unit as required by state or local law; or
f. you are a subtenant holding at the end of the term of an oral or written lease not approved by the landlord.
5. If, on the date the application for conversion is submitted to the San Francisco Department of Public Works, one of the following persons lives with you at the unit and is an adult and who, for purposes of this ordinance, has occupied the unit for at least one year prior to the date of submission of the application for a Certificate of Clearance, at your request the landlord must name that person as a tenant on the lifetime lease, even if the landlord has not previously accepted that person as a tenant: your grandparent, grandchild, parent, child, brother, sister, spouse, or domestic partner.
6. You may not assign or transfer the lifetime lease. However, you may allow other persons to occupy the unit with you to the same extent as allowed under the existing agreement between you and your landlord so long as you actually and continually reside in the unit as your sole place of residence and you give the landlord the name of each person who resides in the unit with you and emergency contact information for that person. You must give any person who resides in the unit with you notice that he or she is not a tenant and has no rights under the lifetime lease.
7. At your landlord's request, you must enter into a written lease with your landlord that includes those terms of your existing rental agreement that do not conflict with your rights under the lifetime lease. If you do not have a written rental agreement, the written lifetime lease will contain provisions usually and customarily found in a residential rental agreement in San Francisco that do not conflict with your rights under the lifetime lease.
Date:____________
____________
Signature of Subdivider
Signature of Subdivider
(j) If any provision of this Section 1399.8A is found to be unenforceable in a court of law, then the Department shall no longer accept and cease to process any applications for conversion submitted under this Article XI as of the date of the determination by the court.
(Added by Ord. 319-08, File No. 081513, App. 12/19/2008)