There’s nothing we dislike more than people who scam a system put in place to protect vulnerable consumers from abuse, but the sad fact is that they do exist. SF Weekly has an article that tracks the exploits of a serial evictee, a “renter” who leases apartments with no intention of paying rent, and then games the system in order to stay rent free for as long as possible.
Depending on the vigilance of the landlord, a seasoned serial evictee like Getzow can get away with a minimum of 45 days and sometimes up to a year of free rent. The actual number of serial evictees operating in San Francisco is difficult to track, but some attorneys who specialize in representing landlords estimate there are between 20 and 100.
Landlord attorney Clifford Fried of Wiegel and Fried says these types of tenants know they’re unlikely to be punished for withholding rent. “You can go into a store and steal a loaf of bread and do a year in jail,” he says, “but you can steal months of rent from a landlord and never do any time in jail. It’s a great crime to commit because there are no penalties.”
The evictees are well versed in the ins and outs of the San Francisco eviction process. They take advantage of the all the programs and aid that the city provides to its residents who are facing eviction. Of course, they’re only a small percentage of the renters that seek help:
Carolyn Gold directs the San Francisco Volunteer Legal Services Program, which manages a group of 10 volunteer attorneys who help tenants in the 30 or so eviction cases that come through Superior Court each week. She says she sees very few serial evictees like Getzow. “In fact, what we see more of is serial evictors, landlords who continually come up with ruses for one eviction after another,” she says. “There are lots of tenants who have gotten themselves into a tight spot for one reason or another — they’re elderly, they have medical conditions, lost jobs — things that are beyond their control. I see it every day, and it’s very, very sad.”
The serial evictee profiled in the story, however, is an especially nasty one. His last run in with a landlord ended in charges for assault:
According to police, Getzow came into the Holy Grail on Feb. 10 at about 1:30 a.m. complaining about noise and attempting to goad O’Reilly into a fight. O’Reilly refused and tried to get Getzow to leave. Bartender Patricia Herlihy was so alarmed at Getzow’s behavior that she began taking photographs of him with a digital camera. Getzow approached her and shoved or pushed the camera into her face, SFPD Sergeant Neville Gittens says.
Herlihy was taken to the hospital, Gittens says, though the police report contains no information about the extent of her injuries. Getzow retreated to a nearby crepe restaurant, where he was still in such an agitated state when the police arrived that it took several officers to restrain him, the report says.
How Renters Work the System to Live for Free in One of America’s Most Expensive Cities [SFWeekly]
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@Julia789: Eek! My sympathies. While she’s unfortunately correct that you can’t talk about delinquencies yourself, any court filings are a matter of public record – if the board filed a lien or a suit, there’s no way she can quash that.
@consumerman: I know some very good California landlord attorneys who would be rather insulted to learn there is “nothing” that they are doing for their clients.
@consumerman:
Correction. Never be a landlord in San Francisco County.
You can get away with a lot more in other counties in the bay area, but not in the city.
@mythago
There really is nothing you can do but wait and send warning notices…. in San Francisco.
Just remember… in the poorer states (mostly southern)… the majority of the rental housing laws are in favour of the landlords. Like in my state… there is no law when the landlord can come & go into your apartment without any notice. Legally… he could walk in at any time & never even need a reason! Good thing I lock my doors with my own portable locks.
Being a good renter…. I have had more bad experiences with landlords than good. The biggest problem is that the landlord wants to accept the rent checks, but not spend any money on the place. When I first moved into my current place…. the landlord refused to replace the locks/keys , but said I could do it if I wanted to pay for it. The miserable SOB!
I got this idea to pick up a row home in an “up and coming” area. Since it was a bank-foreclosure, I could get it on the cheap, maybe even two units. Then I was going to fix it up to rent. (one unit would cover both mortgages). A friend tells me to rent Pacific Heights. I gave up on the idea…
I rented for a good eight years (college, plus a few years after). I was always careful to show my landlords respect and consideration, and it annoys me when others do the same.
Shout-out to Southern Management Corp – my wife and I have stayed in several of their properties, and it’s been a great experience each time.
@Jhonka: if you really think all a SF landlord can do is “wait and send warning notices”, then you don’t know what you’re talking about. In EVERY county in California, the procedure for eviction is the same: you send a notice, if your tenant doesn’t comply you file an unlawful detainer action. SF is not the only city or county with rent-control laws, either. The problem is that because the rules are extremely complex, it’s easy for a landlord to screw up.
Believe me, I really wish it were as simple as “there’s nothing the landlord can do” – I could represent dozens of pro bono clients a year if that were the case. Generally my job is easy only when the landlord has behaved very badly or is an idiot. There is no magical way to prevent an eviction just because the tenant wants to stay.
(My favorite in the idiot category was a guy who lost a Rent Board action because over several years, he violated rent-control laws and overcharged one tenant $10K. The rent board gave him the choice of pay her a lump sum, or simply apply it towards her monthly rent until it was all gone. He chose the latter. First month, she sent him a letter asking him to deduct the rent from the amount he owed her – so he tried to evict her for nonpayment of rent. TWICE.)
@Mr.SithNinja: BOOYA! Well done.
@AirIntake: You are wrong, once he produces keys, mail or other proof that he/she has lived in your house, you’re going to have to go before a tribunal and then you get to folow Canada’s version of the eviction process, ehy.
I don’t comment a lot but I gotta jump in on this one… as a part-time landlord, I truly do not understand the implication by the lawyer, that it is wrong to evict those … “tenants who have gotten themselves into a tight spot for one reason or another – they’re elderly, they have medical conditions, lost jobs – things that are beyond their control.”
When did it become socially acceptable to force a property owner into a charitable contribution by forceing him to pay his mortgage with no off-setting income (rent.) I’m a very charible guy, but I don’t like the government telling me I HAVE to. Over a 17 year span, I’ve given lots of tenents breaks and with only one except (a guy that goes to my church), it has come back to bit me in the butt. (No good deed goes unpunished.) As my mentor told me once “Give them an inch and they think they are F$%^*ing ruler.” The electric company can stop service for non-payment, so can the phone, water, cable, and everyone else…just not landlord??? WTH??? The bank does not accept any of those hardship reasons for non-payment for me, yet I am expected to accept them from my tenants or I am a bad guy. Can someone explain this to me???
Thanks for letting me vent.
@forgottenpassword: Just out of curiosity, if fresh locks were an expectation on your part, why was it not agreed upon in writing via the lease? If it was then, shame on the landlord, if not, then why are you expecting it post lease signing?
@nogas2speed: All good points. I’ve tried to be nice to tenants years ago when i had a rental property. You always get screwed in the end.
I had one idiotic renter who placed a window unit A/C on the coffee table and used it for weeks! I ended up having to replace half the floor in the living room. Or the renters who didn’t assemble the water bed correctly and it busted. Or the renters who kept flushing the toilet once it was clogged. Had to replace the floor in the bathroom.
I wanted to start renting again, but reading this will probably change my mind.
reminds me of my first adventure as a landlord. This guy is just like my former tenant in the fact that he’s obviously a sociopath. The constant lies and deceit are a hallmark of the sociopath. The pleasure derived from ‘fooling’ those around you must be addictive. This tenant spray painted appliances, made body-sized holes in the sheetrock, broke the ceiling fans, literally tried to make it unrentable. This was after a 3-month process to evict. Luckily, our insurance company covered everything but a $500 deductible, and went after this person with their much-better-paid legal team. I never followed up, but I can only hope Karma is real.
@Amiga_500: I’m not surprised. It is always something. It is a crazy business when 90% of your clients are morons. Makes for a very tough business. If you are brave enough to jump back in, this is the time to do it. Good Luck.
@nogas2speed: of course you have the right to kick people out for not paying their rent. Problem that I see from the tenant’s end is when the landlord uses that as an excuse to evict a tenant so they can jack up rent on the next one – I’ve seen landlords suddenly refuse to accept rent except in person during business hours (knowing that the tenant works those hours), for example.
No argument that there are plenty of assjack tenants who take advantage – however I also tell people who are renters to put everything in writing and not ‘cut some slack’ to their landlords, because that will bite them in the ass in the end as well.
These assholes fall into the same category that people on welfare use when they have more kids just to up the state check.
They all deserve to burn
@xsmasher:
Here in Toronto when a tenant moves out (or is evicted for whatever legal but bogus reason) the LL can raise the rent as high as the market will carry.
I have just recently fought off an eviction notice served me (and another long-time renter in this small apt.bldg – 6 units). Two other tenants had left voluntarily this year; the LL subsequently – and legally – rented out the flats at a 100% increase over the previous tenant’s rent. NO WONDER the LL tried to boot the two of us out (“need the premises for family members”). It was a nightmare, but I managed to prevail.
Rat-bastard.
@e.varden: I have to play devil’s advocate…at what point is it okay for the landlord to take advantage of the marketplace? Assuming it’s not a rent control situation, why can’t the LL ask you to leave at the end of your lease? I realize people establish places as their homes, but you are renting after all. Free market and all that…because it’s a time limited resource, any business wants to maximize its profits.
My father and uncle own rental property and know this type all too well. They get a few months behind on rent, but the landlord gives them extra time. Soon, they just disappear in the dead of night. We then have to clean out the piles of trash they left, fix the damage they caused, and start the cycle again.
And when you finally do kick them out, they steal all your light fixtures.
Oh wait, that was “Pacific Heights”.
There are some whore landlords out there though.
I think many landlords take renting personally but don’t realize terms like ‘normal wear and tear’ or understand that if the law says the old apartment must be cleaned including carpets you have the right to bill that as damage.
I’ve heard or seen alot though.Knew one person who lost her entire deposit simply because they wanted to repaint the APARTMENT-a couple months rent to have an apartment painted by hourly staff???
I’ve also seen where landlords and real estate lobbys wanted to be able to collect more for alleged damages other than with-holding the deposit.I mean no court or nothing,make up the bill and if the renter doesn’t pay report them to the credit bureaus and collection agencies.
I think it was Florida that proposed one of these bills that had a retroactive clause in there so even though you left that place many years ago the landlord would’ve been allowed to go after even though they got your deposit ALREADY.
Some landlords don’t realize that being a landlord has responsibilities other than collecting rent.They thought it would be just a monthly check.
here – if someone wanted to rent your place your could do background checks with the police as well as reference and credit checks – unfortunately that’s not allowed anymore
@RandomHookup: “In Mass., it takes 6 months to evict if they contest (I know from experience) — scheduling court hearings is what takes time. The “smarter” ones break everything then call the health department on you to stretch things out.”
This happened to a friend in Sacramento. It took nine months to get the deadbeat out. Every hearing had some new evidence that needed verification. Not just the Health Department, but a couple of civil rights groups were brought in (they all rejected the complaints, but not until the judge postponed the hearing to get a copy of the investigation). And a health problem.
Plus a trick that most landlords fall for once (this was California)- a small payment shows up between the filing and the court date. If the landlord cashes the check, then the numbers in the filing are incorrect and the case has to be refiled. There is a procedure to inform the court of the change and put the money in escrow until he hearing.
After the judge finally ordered the tenant to vacate, my friend overheard the tenant’s lawyer telling his client, “No, you will vacate…. “(then something about what will happen next.) And the tenant was out the next day.
One of my best friend’s dads owns a few properties on the south side of Chicago. This was a big problem. I mean, a huge problem. People would rent in September, pay one month’s rent, and then take advantage of the fact that you can’t evict during winter to not pay again for six months and then leave him stuck with a multi thousand dollar gas bill. He’s not some rich slum lord, but a hard working Indian immigrant. It was enough to force him into bankruptcy.
One lady even claimed that she would call the police to say that he beat her unless he paid her $5K to leave. It was disgusting.
Yah, these people are called drug addicts and mentally ill people who don’t stay on their meds.
@scarletvirtue (Sadie, Sadie Married Lady): It’s insulting that he referred to her by race, too.
@bbb111: I’m guessing your friend did not have a lawyer.
Having rented through college and then throughout the last 15 years I can weigh in on a few items.
I have always tried to be a good renter and I even know how to fix some things. Some of the properties I rented were houses/duplexes owned by individuals (or their llcs).
I was able to work with these folks easily by including the reciept for a repair part (say toilet flushing mechanism) that I repaired. These folks typically liked this arrangement since they either didn’t have to come out to fix it or pay someone to fix it. They then were willing to work with me on items such as cutting down a rotten tree that could have fallen on their house or getting more gravel dumped in the washed out driveway. By establishing my credibility to them, they were willing to help out when I needed something. I usually tried to fix up the exterior of the property by doing landscaping that was with free or almost free items such as free mulch or salvaged paving brickes/railroad ties.
One of the most pain in the neck landlords was in the most expensive duplex my ex-wife and I rented. He was a property manager who sang the virtues of his maintenance crew when I mentioned that I could do small repairs myself. When some minor easily fixable stuff ( a 2nd bathroom toilet flusher and some other minor electrical item) broke, my ex and I called and left messages requesting repair three times a week for a solid month. When I finally got tired of it, I called and left him about a three minute message detailing all of the time/dates called, told him that I understood that since his crew was very busy, I would be calling electricians and plumbers the next day for quotes and I would use the lowest quoted contractor and deduct it from the next months rent. Funny thing that my ex got a call the next morning and maintenance was there by noon to fix said problems.
Another good one was a house we rented in a mixed housing area – houses/ double wides / trailers- some owned some rented. The house had been moved from somewhere else and renovated just before we rented it. When we were moving out ( on good terms) the land lord had a For Rent sign posted by the mail box. I was finishing cleaning the carport out by hosing the floor and wall down, as a couple drove up in a POS hillbilly car. They asked if I was a cleaning contractor who knew about the rental home. When I replied that I was the exiting tenant who was cleaning, the man looked at me and the hose like I had just landed from Mars. I figured I ~pre~disqualified him for the land lord when I said that the land lord was very particular and like his place kept clean… The couple got back in the car and took off without stopping to copy down the sign phone number.
Another funny thing about that same place was that my ex and I got our full deposit back but then got a phone message from the old landlord about 5 months later. I wondered if he was going to try and get some money out of me somehow after the fact. When I talked to him, he said he needed me to sign an affidavit that we had left the place in good condition as the next tenant in (or her dirtbag boyfriend) had caused about $5000 worth of damage to the place! Quite a difference from a tenants (us) who did landscaping, fixed a couple of leaking pipes in the crawlspace, insulated around the header in the crawlspace, insulated the hot water heater in the crawlspace, fixed the landlords old lawnmower to use it, etc, etc
One thing that I have found in apartments is to remember the management and maintenance during the holdidays by getting them gift cards. This especially works in places where they are not appreciated – the higher and lower ends of the renting spectrum. A $25 gift card goes a long way in getting prompt service or them allowing a me to store a boat and trailer for a few weeks in a back parking lot.
You can tell a landlord who has been in the business a while from one who hasn’t or doesn’t do it full time. Our current landlord owns about 30 properties, all within close proximity to each other. He takes very good care of them all and has a very strict screening process–to the point where I wonder if it may be discriminatory. The only non-white people I’ve seen in there are a yuppy-looking asian guy and the indian girlfriend of a white guy. All are relatively young (20′s-30′s) yuppies (my gf and I are too of course).
That said, he also is anal about the places. If I wanted to paint, it would have to be repainted professionally and he “has very high standards.” As we’re not sure if we’re going to live there more than a year, its definitely not worth it.
@mythago: “I’m guessing your friend did not have a lawyer.”
After the first round of dirty tricks, my friend contacted his lawyer to handle the eviction. Even the lawyer couldn’t stop the surprises presented to the judge – Each new surprise had to be responded to (with a six week wait for another court date). As long as there was an open case with a government agency, the judge would not allow eviction – other landlords in the area had experienced the same thing.
ought to be illegal to own a dozen properties in which you don’t live and rent them to people who can barely afford it. I have mixed feelings on this because I despise most landlords so heartily. (“lords”? what is this, feudal times?)
“Carolyn Gold directs the San Francisco Volunteer Legal Services Program, which manages a group of 10 volunteer attorneys who help tenants in the 30 or so eviction cases that come through Superior Court each week. She says she sees very few serial evictees like Getzow. “In fact, what we see more of is serial evictors, landlords who continually come up with ruses for one eviction after another,” she says. “
This statement makes no sense at all. It costs thousands for a landlord to evict and prepare another apartment to rent, what motive would a landlord have? Even if they rent to someone who pays more rent, they still are losing money during the time it is vacant and to fix up the building, and if they are doing it to sell the building, then often it is because they can’t afford to maintain it anymore because tenants won’t pay