How tight is San Francisco’s housing market? So tight that the landlord of a rent-controlled apartment building at 312 Fillmore Street has sent a memo to his existing tenants, telling them they must show they have an annual income of at least $100,000 and a FICO credit score of at least 725. Or else…what? The memo (which describes itself as “informational”) doesn’t say. Local housing and tenants’ rights experts tell ABC News they are in no doubt what such memos are meant to accomplish: They’re supposed to scare the heck out of tenants, on the chance that ones unaware of their rights will vacate. Landlords want old tenants out so that they charge new ones higher rent, explains Delene Wolf, executive director of the San Francisco Rent Board. She tells ABC News she has specialized in local rent control issues for 30 years. But, she says, “I have never seen rents like this–not even during the dotcom boom. A teeny 1-bedroom can go for $4,000 a month.” The bidding-up of rents she calls a frenzy. The market, she says, “is amazing–but not in a good way.”
Rents at Fillmore Street like a Whipping Post.
Moody Eye View 