Sporadic rentals seem OK, but our S.F. homes are no hotel

PROPH13 Ted Gullicksen, manager of the San Francisco Tenant's Union takes a little break while working in his office. Proposition H is on the SF ballot this year. It calls for significantly higher relocation assistance costs to tenants that are asked to leave by the landlord for repairs or for relatives to move in. The tenants group say the old payments of $1,000 per tenant are not enough to cover the costs of moving. Landlords say the new schedule of payments is too onerous. Event on 10/12/06 in San Francisco. Penni Gladstone / The Chronicle Ran on: 11-09-2006 Ted Gullicksen of the San Francisco Tenants Union says Prop. H will ease the pain of evictions. less PROPH13 Ted Gullicksen, manager of the San Francisco Tenant's Union takes a little break while working in his office. Proposition H is on the SF ballot this year. It calls for significantly higher relocation ... more Photo: Penni Gladstone, SFC Photo: Penni Gladstone, SFC Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close Sporadic rentals seem OK, but our S.F. homes are no hotel 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

As residents of a 100-unit condominium building South of Market, my wife and I are familiar with the "homeowner squint." That happens when the elevator doors open and someone comes out rolling suitcases, wearing shorts and an "Alcatraz Swim Team" sweatshirt.

"Who the heck is that?" we ask each other, narrowing our eyes in suspicion. "I've never seen them in the building before."

They are, of course, tourists on a short-term rental. And except for the occasional cigarette smoker in one of the common areas, they are no trouble. We don't mind if our neighbors rent their units out from time to time.

What we don't want is for someone to use an Internet service like Airbnb, Home-Away or VRBO to turn their unit into a full-time vacation inn. Ted Gullicksen, executive director of the San Francisco Tenants Union, says that's already happening.

"We're hearing about cases where the place is rented to people you don't know night after night," Gullicksen said. "They're treating it like a hotel room."

It is an issue that Board of Supervisors President David Chiu addressed this week with proposed legislation that would regulate short-term rentals. And first let's say that Chiu's approach is both balanced and thoughtful. It takes on some of the glaring problems with the "hosting platforms" that allow homeowners and renters to lease out their places for short-term occupancy.

For example: A potential renter would have to have already lived in the unit for at least 60 days and intend to make it his primary residence for three-fourths of the year. Hotel tax must be paid, and a renter cannot make more in subletting his apartment than he pays his landlord in rent. There would be a city registry of the people who are providing short-term rentals. They would have to apply to be put on the list and then renew the application every two years.

And that's fine. Well done Mr. Supervisor.

But this is a short-term solution.

Here's the problem. Many buildings like ours are in the process of rewriting their homeowners association agreements to restrict those rentals. And we are not alone. Gullicksen says condo buildings all over the city are putting in language that would specifically ban Airbnb-type transactions.

Gullicksen supports that. He says his group "has no problem whatsoever with the couple traveling to Paris for a couple of weeks and renting out their place," but he says the Tenants Union has "identified thousands of units of rental stock that have been eliminated," because the resident wants to turn the unit into a daily or weekend vacation rental.

That's the problem with many of the new "shared economy" models. Although they're easy to use, there are long-term ramifications. Ride-sharing companies are wrestling with insurance and liability issues, and short-term housing rental companies are going to run into legal objections. As one insider said, the hosting services "may be a better mousetrap, but it is still a mousetrap."

Chiu's legislation specifically says it would not override landlord-tenant or HOA agreements, so if it is written into the lease or building agreement that the tenant is not allowed to rent with Internet hosting platforms, the option is off the table.

That will put the ball back in the court of the Airbnb types. They've mastered the convenience of renting a place with a few computer clicks, but they are going to have to find a way to convince landlords and condo associations that it works for everyone.

A reasonable case can be made for someone making a little spare cash by renting out their place for a couple of weeks while they are on vacation. But taking it to an extreme, with a different renter every weekend, is a whole different animal.

"We've heard of cases where people get off the elevator and ask 'Where's the bellhop?' " Gullicksen says.

That's never going to fly. Not where I live.