San Francisco has one of the strongest and most complex tenant-protection regimes in the country, and the single biggest mistake a property manager makes is treating it as one thing. It is actually two independent layers, and a unit can fall under one, both, or neither: rent-increase control, which limits how much you can raise the rent and applies mainly to older buildings, and just-cause eviction protection, which requires a legally recognized reason to end a tenancy and applies to nearly every rental unit in the city, regardless of building age. A manager who assumes "my building is too new for rent control, so I can evict freely" has just walked into a wrongful-eviction claim, because just cause almost certainly still applies.

Both layers live in the San Francisco Rent Ordinance (Chapter 37 of the Administrative Code), administered by the San Francisco Rent Board, and they interact with two state laws (Costa-Hawkins and AB 1482) that determine which units are covered by what. This guide walks the framework a manager actually needs: which units are subject to rent control versus just cause, how the annual allowable increase works, the just-cause categories and the warning-and-cure requirement, the relocation-assistance and Ellis Act rules, and the Costa-Hawkins interaction that trips up owners of single-family homes and condos.

The two layers: rent control vs. just cause

Everything about San Francisco starts with understanding that rent control and just-cause eviction are separate protections with different coverage. Getting this distinction right is the whole game.

Rent-increase control limits the annual rent increase and applies to most residential buildings of two or more units that received their first certificate of occupancy on or before June 13, 1979. That is the bright line for the rent cap: older multi-unit buildings are generally rent-controlled; newer buildings generally are not (though the statewide AB 1482 cap may still apply to them).

Just-cause eviction protection (§ 37.9) is far broader. Since 1980, it has applied to nearly all rental units in San Francisco, including single-family homes, condos, and buildings constructed after June 13, 1979, that are exempt from the rent cap. In other words, a unit can be free of rent-increase control but still fully subject to just cause. So the practical questions for any unit are two, not one: Is it rent-controlled (build date)? And is it just-cause protected (almost always yes)? A manager who conflates the two, and assumes no rent control means no eviction protection, is exposed.

How much can a landlord raise rent under the SF Rent Ordinance?

For a rent-controlled unit, the increase is tightly limited and set by the Rent Board, not the landlord. Each March, the San Francisco Rent Board sets the allowable annual increase using a formula: 60% of the year-over-year change in the CPI for the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward area. Because San Francisco's CPI-linked formula produces a low number, the allowable increase is famously small, often well under 2%. For the current March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027 period, the allowable increase is 1.6% (the prior period was 1.4%). The figure changes annually and runs on a March-to-February cycle, so a manager should always confirm the current published rate on the Rent Board's website before serving any increase rather than rely on a figure from an older guide.

Several rules constrain how that increase is applied. A rent-controlled unit may generally take one allowable increase every 12 months; and if a landlord does not impose all or part of an allowable increase, the unused amount may generally be banked and imposed at a later rent-increase anniversary, subject to the Rent Board's banking rules (banked increases are added together, not compounded, and larger combined increases require longer advance notice). One procedural step managers miss: a landlord must obtain a rent-increase license, which requires first reporting into the Rent Board's Housing Inventory, before imposing an annual allowable or banked increase. Additional increases or passthroughs beyond the base allowable increase are permitted only when authorized under the Rent Ordinance and applicable Rent Board rules (for example, certain capital-improvement passthroughs), which may require a petition or other prescribed process that the tenant can oppose. And the penalty for getting it wrong is real: charging above the allowable amount is a violation, and a tenant can petition the Rent Board for the excess, with treble (triple) damages available for willful overcharges. For units that are not rent-controlled (newer buildings, or single-family homes and condos exempt under Costa-Hawkins), the SF rent cap does not apply, but the statewide AB 1482 cap may, RIOO's guide to California rent control and AB 1482 covers that state-law layer.

Do you need just cause to evict in San Francisco?

Almost always, yes, and this is the protection that reaches the widest. Under § 37.9, a San Francisco landlord may not terminate a tenancy without one of the ordinance's defined just-cause reasons, and the stated reason must be the landlord's dominant motive for the eviction. Crucially, this applies to nearly all rental units, not just rent-controlled ones, so an owner of a post-1979 building or an exempt single-family home still needs just cause to end a tenancy.

The just causes fall into two families, and the distinction drives the process:

• At-fault reasons (the tenant did something): nonpayment of rent, breach of a lease term, nuisance, illegal use, refusal to renew a similar lease, refusal of lawful access, and similar tenant-side grounds. For the core at-fault grounds, the ordinance requires the landlord to first serve a written warning describing the violation and give the tenant at least 10 days to cure before serving a notice to vacate (§ 37.9(o)). Skipping the warning-and-cure step is a common, fatal procedural error.

• No-fault reasons (the landlord's own reasons): owner or immediate-family move-in (OMI), withdrawal of units from the rental market under the Ellis Act, certain permitted demolition or redevelopment projects requiring the unit or building to be vacated (San Francisco added a demolition/redevelopment just-cause ground effective February 9, 2026), government order, capital improvement work requiring the unit to be vacated, and similar owner-side grounds. No-fault evictions require the landlord to pay relocation assistance and carry additional protections for senior, disabled, and (during the school year) certain family tenants.

The ordinance defines a specific enumerated list of these just causes (the count is commonly cited as around 16 to 17 grounds), and San Francisco reads them strictly, so a manager should identify the exact ground and follow its specific notice and procedural requirements. The eviction itself still runs through California's unlawful-detainer court process; RIOO's guide to the California eviction process and timeline covers that court procedure.

Relocation assistance and the Ellis Act

For no-fault evictions, San Francisco requires the landlord to pay relocation assistance, and the amounts are significant and specific, so a manager underwriting a no-fault eviction has to build the cost in.

For an owner move-in (OMI) eviction (and similar no-fault grounds such as demolition, temporary capital-improvement work, or substantial rehabilitation), the landlord generally must pay relocation assistance to each displaced tenant. For notices served from March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, the standard amount is $8,245 per tenant, subject to a $24,733 per-unit maximum, plus an additional $5,497 for each elderly (60+) or disabled tenant, or household with a minor child. These are Rent-Board-set figures adjusted annually, so a manager should confirm the current schedule and the eligibility rules before serving an OMI notice.

The Ellis Act is the mechanism for a landlord to exit the rental business entirely by withdrawing all the building's units from the rental market at once. In San Francisco, an Ellis withdrawal requires at least 120 days' notice (one year for elderly or disabled tenants with a qualifying tenancy), substantial relocation assistance, and carries a 10-year right of first refusal for displaced tenants if the units are re-rented, along with re-rental rent restrictions. Ellis is heavily regulated and litigated in San Francisco, and it is not a shortcut, it is a decision to leave the rental business, with lasting constraints.

The Costa-Hawkins interaction: single-family homes, condos, and vacancy decontrol

Two state-law rules shape which SF units are rent-controlled, and they are where owners of houses and condos most often get confused. The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act does three things that matter here:

• It exempts single-family homes and condominiums from local rent-increase control, so an SF single-family home or condo is generally not subject to the annual allowable-increase cap, though it remains subject to just-cause eviction protection.

• It generally limits local rent control to buildings built on or before the ordinance's cutoff (in San Francisco, June 13, 1979), so newer buildings fall outside the local rent cap.

• It enables vacancy decontrol: when a tenant voluntarily vacates or is lawfully evicted, the landlord may reset the rent to market for the next tenancy (after which the new tenancy is again subject to the annual cap if the unit is rent-controlled).

For a manager, the Costa-Hawkins takeaway is the same two-layer lesson in a different form: a single-family home or condo may be free of the rent cap but is still bound by just cause, so "Costa-Hawkins exempts my condo" answers the rent-increase question, not the eviction question.

What a San Francisco property manager should actually do

Putting the SF Rent Ordinance together, the priorities are precise and procedural:

For every unit, answer the two coverage questions separately, is it rent-controlled (a 2+-unit building first occupied on or before June 13, 1979, and not a Costa-Hawkins-exempt single-family home or condo), and is it just-cause protected (nearly always yes). For rent-controlled units, take only the Rent Board's current allowable annual increase, once per 12 months, track any banked increases and apply them only in accordance with the Rent Board's banking rules, obtain the required rent-increase license (via the Housing Inventory) before imposing an increase, and use only authorized passthroughs for anything above the base, confirm the live rate on the Rent Board's site before serving an increase. Never terminate any tenancy without a defined just-cause reason that is your dominant motive, and for at-fault grounds, serve the written warning and 10-day cure opportunity first. For any no-fault eviction, budget and pay the correct relocation assistance (with the enhanced amount for elderly, disabled, and family tenants) on the required timeline; for an Ellis withdrawal, plan for the 120-day/one-year notice, the substantial relocation, and the 10-year right of first refusal. And document everything, the coverage analysis, the increase calculation, the just-cause ground and warning, and the relocation payment, because the SF Rent Board and courts read the ordinance strictly and the penalties (including treble damages for overcharges) fall on the procedural misses. Because so much of this turns on tracking each unit's coverage status, increase timing, and notice requirements across a portfolio, running the leases and their compliance dates through a disciplined lease management process is what keeps an SF operation defensible rather than exposed.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Which buildings are covered by San Francisco rent control?

Rent-increase control applies to most residential buildings of two or more units that received their first certificate of occupancy on or before June 13, 1979. Single-family homes and condominiums are exempt from the rent cap under Costa-Hawkins, and buildings built after June 13, 1979 are generally outside the local rent cap (though AB 1482 may apply). Importantly, even units exempt from the rent cap are still subject to San Francisco's just-cause eviction protections. Confirm a unit's status with the SF Rent Board.

2. How much can a landlord raise rent in San Francisco in 2026?

For a rent-controlled unit, the Rent Board sets the allowable annual increase each March at 60% of the year-over-year change in the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward CPI, which produces a low figure (1.6% for March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027; the prior period was 1.4%). The increase runs on a March-to-February cycle and changes annually, so confirm the current published rate with the Rent Board before serving an increase. A landlord may generally take one increase per 12 months, and unused allowable increases may be banked and applied later subject to the Rent Board's rules; a rent-increase license (via the Rent Board Housing Inventory) is required before imposing an annual or banked increase, and anything above the base allowable amount requires an authorized passthrough or petition.

3. Do I need just cause to evict a tenant in San Francisco?

Almost always, yes. Under § 37.9 of the Rent Ordinance, a landlord must have one of the defined just-cause reasons, and it must be the dominant motive, to end a tenancy. This applies to nearly all rental units, not just rent-controlled ones, so owners of newer buildings and even exempt single-family homes and condos still need just cause. For at-fault grounds, the landlord must first serve a written warning with at least a 10-day opportunity to cure before the notice to vacate.

4. What is the difference between rent control and just cause in San Francisco?

They are two separate protections. Rent control limits how much rent can be raised and applies mainly to pre-June 13, 1979 multi-unit buildings. Just cause requires a legally recognized reason to evict and applies to nearly all rental units regardless of age. A unit can be exempt from rent control (for example, a single-family home under Costa-Hawkins) but still fully protected by just cause. Always analyze the two questions separately.

5. How much is relocation assistance for a no-fault eviction in San Francisco?

For an owner move-in (and similar no-fault grounds), the Rent Board sets fixed relocation amounts adjusted annually. For notices served from March 1, 2026 through February 28, 2027, the standard amount is $8,245 per tenant (up to a $24,733 per-unit maximum), plus $5,497 for each elderly or disabled tenant or household with a minor child. Ellis Act withdrawals carry their own substantial relocation assistance. Confirm the current amounts with the Rent Board before proceeding, since they change every year.

6. Are single-family homes and condos rent-controlled in San Francisco?

Not for rent increases. Under Costa-Hawkins, single-family homes and condominiums are exempt from San Francisco's rent-increase cap, so a landlord can generally raise the rent without the local percentage limit (subject to AB 1482's statewide cap where it applies). But they remain subject to San Francisco's just-cause eviction protections, so the landlord still needs a defined just-cause reason to end the tenancy. The Costa-Hawkins exemption answers the rent question, not the eviction question.

7. What happens if a landlord overcharges rent in San Francisco?

The tenant can file a petition with the SF Rent Board to recover the excess rent, and for a willful overcharge, treble (triple) damages are available. Charging above the allowable increase, or stacking increases above the annual cap, is a violation of the Rent Ordinance, which is one reason a manager should confirm the current allowable rate, take only one increase per 12 months, and apply banked increases only under the Rent Board's rules.

Note: This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It reflects the San Francisco Rent Ordinance (San Francisco Administrative Code Chapter 37, including § 37.9), administered by the San Francisco Rent Board, and its interaction with the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act and California's AB 1482, as of 2026, including the demolition/redevelopment just-cause ground effective February 9, 2026. The allowable annual rent increase, relocation-assistance amounts, and enumerated just-cause grounds are set and periodically amended by the City and the Rent Board and change over time. Confirm the current figures and requirements with the San Francisco Rent Board (sf.gov) and a qualified California attorney before serving a rent increase, terminating a tenancy, or acting on a dispute.