The San Francisco Superior Court recently tossed the Ellis Act eviction notices for all the tenants of 1357 Folsom Street based on a notification technicality.
Andrew M. Zacks, which handles the vast majority of Ellis Act evictions for landlords in San Francisco, failed to provide a crucial piece of information on the notices – the estimated amount of relocation costs.
Landlords are required by the San Francisco Rent Ordinance and state law to offer evicted tenants a relocation payment that would compensate them for moving costs. Every Ellis Act eviction notice issued by Zacks prior to 2005 may not contain such a figure, opening the door for tenants citywide who’ve received such a notice to legally contest it.
If you’ve recently been served with an Ellis Act eviction notice, and you’re looking to buy some extra time, you might want to check your notice for an explicit estimate of relocation costs. Something tells us that it’s Zacks that might be needing a lawyer in the not so distant future.
· Tenants Win Major Ellis Act Eviction Case [Beyond Chron]