As we first reported back in 2018: San Francisco’s City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, has just filed suit against construction engineering firm Santos & Urrutia Associates, its principals and several clients and contractors over “an elaborate scheme” to excavate and expand under multiple San Francisco homes without securing proper permits... Read More »

While the number of formal complaints related to illegal short-term rental activity in San Francisco had been on the decline since the second quarter of 2016, following the passage (and eventual enforcement) of San Francisco’s short-term rental law, said decline came to end in the second quarter of last... Read More »

It was back in April of 2018 that we tied the eye-popping sale of 2755 Fillmore Street for $13.5 million to Michael Lacey, the co-founder of Backpage.com, and two counts of money laundering with respect to the purchase of said home. As we noted at the time, the federal... Read More »

While the original terms of the Academy of Art University’s nearly $60 million settlement with the City of San Francisco – to resolve allegations that the institution had systematically schemed to violate state and local laws in its acquisition and use of real estate holdings in San Francisco over... Read More »

Having been accused of routinely engaging in the under-permitted renovation and expansion of residential properties throughout San Francisco, Ashok Gujral, a local real estate developer, has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle with the City. In addition to the cash settlement, Gujral has been required “to bring all... Read More »

The number of formal complaints related to illegal short-term rental activity in San Francisco has continued to drop, with around 130 complaints lodged in the first half of 2019, which is down nearly 30 percent versus the same time last year and 60 percent fewer than the roughly 320... Read More »

Six years ago, the plans for the four-story infill development at 2867-2899 San Bruno Avenue in Portola were drawn, approved and subsequently constructed. Technically five separate buildings, with 10 residential units over 10 “non-residential” office units and 5 ground floor commercial spaces as designed in order to conform to... Read More »

Back in 1999, Caroline Novak appears to have fraudulently purchased a below market rate (BMR) condo at 300 Beale Street, having failed to disclose that she already co-owned property in San Mateo which would have disqualified her from participating in San Francisco’s BMR program. Having paid $178,500 for the... Read More »

Having been charged with evicting tenants from rent-controlled units and then illegally marketing the apartments as short-term rentals on Airbnb, Homeway and VRBO, Darren and Valerie Lee agreed to pay $276,000 in penalties and fees back in 2015. As we first reported at the time, the settlement included injunctive... Read More »

The number of formal complaints related to illegal short-term rental activity in San Francisco has continued to drop, with a total of 231 complaints lodged in the first three quarters of the year, down nearly 50 percent versus 2017 and 55 percent fewer than the 516 lodged in the... Read More »