The San Francisco Residential Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance — Chapter 37 of the SF Administrative Code, enacted in 1979 — is one of the strongest tenant protection regimes in the United States. But it doesn't cover every SF rental. Coverage turns on two questions: when was the building's certificate of occupancy issued, and what type of unit is it. Get either wrong and you'll miscalculate everything downstream — rent increases, eviction rights, relocation payments.
The two-question coverage test
Every SF rental fits into one of three coverage buckets. Determining which requires answering two questions in order:
Question 1: Was the building's certificate of occupancy issued before June 13, 1979?
Question 2: Is the unit a single-family home or condominium, or a unit in a multi-unit building?
The three coverage buckets
Bucket A — Full coverage (rent limits AND just cause): Buildings with certificate of occupancy before June 13, 1979, that are units in multi-unit buildings (duplexes, triplexes, apartments), and single-family homes/condos where the tenant took occupancy before January 1, 1996. These units are subject to both the annual rent increase cap AND the 16 just-cause eviction grounds.
Bucket B — Just-cause only: Post-1979 construction that is otherwise not exempt. Also single-family homes and condos where the current tenant took occupancy on or after January 1, 1996 (Costa-Hawkins vacancy decontrol removes rent limits but leaves just-cause protections in place). These units can have rent set at market rate for new tenancies, but the tenant cannot be evicted without a permitted just-cause ground.
Bucket C — Fully exempt: Government-owned housing (with some exceptions), some subsidized housing regulated by other agencies, hotels/motels with occupancy less than 32 consecutive days, and units insured by HUD.
The June 13, 1979 line
This date is the effective date of the original Rent Ordinance. Coverage attaches based on when the certificate of occupancy was issued for the building, not when construction began or when tenancy started.
This matters because:
- A building whose CO was issued June 12, 1979 is fully covered
- A building whose CO was issued June 14, 1979 is not covered by rent limits (though may still have just-cause protections)
- Substantial rehabilitation of a building doesn't reset the clock — the CO date on the original building controls
To find your CO date: SF Department of Building Inspection (DBI) maintains records. Property owners can request a copy of the CO through DBI's online portal or in person.
What full coverage actually means
For a unit in Bucket A (full coverage), the SF Rent Ordinance limits:
Annual rent increases. The Rent Board sets a permitted increase each March 1 based on 60% of the CPI change over the prior 12 months, capped at 7%. Recent examples:
- March 2025 – February 2026: 1.4%
- March 2024 – February 2025: 1.7%
- March 2023 – February 2024: 3.6%
The cap is per 12-month period. Landlords can only impose one increase per 12 months, on the anniversary of the tenancy or a Rent Board-approved date.
Just-cause eviction grounds. Only the 16 grounds in Section 37.9 permit termination:
- Non-payment of rent
- Habitual late payment
- Bounced checks (three or more in 12 months)
- Breach of lease
- Nuisance or damage
- Illegal use
- Refusal of a similar lease renewal
- Denial of access
- Unapproved subtenant remaining after tenant vacates
- Owner or relative move-in (with strict conditions)
- Sale of unit as a condo conversion
- Demolition or permanent removal from housing use
- Capital improvement (temporary vacancy)
- Substantial rehabilitation
- Ellis Act withdrawal
- Good Samaritan (short-term subsidy conditions)
No-fault evictions (owner move-in, demolition, capital improvement, substantial rehab, Ellis Act) trigger relocation payment obligations under Section 37.9C.
What just-cause-only means
For a unit in Bucket B (just-cause only), rent can be set at market rate for a new tenancy, but the same 16 just-cause grounds apply. Practically:
- A landlord can rent a newly-vacant single-family home at any rate
- Once the tenant moves in, no annual rent cap applies from the SF Rent Ordinance (though AB 1482's state cap may apply)
- The tenant still has full just-cause protection
- No-fault evictions still trigger relocation obligations
The AB 1482 layer
Just-cause-only SF rentals are typically also covered by California's AB 1482 statewide statute, which imposes its own rent cap (5% + regional CPI, max 10%) and just-cause requirements. For 2026, the SF Bay Area AB 1482 cap is approximately 8.6%.
Because AB 1482 is a state law and the SF Rent Ordinance is a local law, both apply where both are triggered. The stricter of the two controls each specific issue:
- On rent increases in fully-covered units: SF rate (1.4% for 2025-26) controls
- On rent increases in just-cause-only units: AB 1482 (8.6%) controls
- On just-cause categories: SF categories are typically stricter, so SF controls
A specific worked example
Consider a landlord who owns a 4-unit building in the Mission District, built in 1965.
- Question 1: CO before June 13, 1979? Yes → building qualifies for full rent-limit coverage
- Question 2: Multi-unit or SFH? Multi-unit → Costa-Hawkins vacancy decontrol doesn't apply
- Result: Bucket A (full coverage). All 4 units are subject to the annual rent increase cap AND all 16 just-cause grounds. For 2025-26, the maximum permitted increase is 1.4%.
Now consider the same landlord owning a single-family Victorian in Noe Valley, built in 1902, rented since 2019.
- Question 1: CO before June 13, 1979? Yes → potentially fully covered
- Question 2: SFH or condo? SFH → Costa-Hawkins applies for tenancies starting January 1, 1996 or later
- Since the current tenancy started in 2019 (post-1996): Bucket B (just-cause only)
- Rent: market-rate at initial occupancy; AB 1482 cap (8.6% for 2026) governs annual increases
- Eviction: all 16 SF just-cause grounds apply
What to do next
If you own SF rental property, confirming your coverage bucket for each unit is the foundational compliance step. Every downstream question — how much you can raise rent, what grounds permit eviction, what relocation you'd owe, what disclosures you must make — turns on this answer.
The LandlordOS engine will classify each SF property into its correct bucket once the SF rules are encoded. Add your property to see the classification for your specific unit.