Landlord 'nightmare' in eviction attempt (San Francisco)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | September 7, 2012 | Neal J. Riley

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Janet Sluizer knew she was taking a bit of a chance when she turned to Craigslist this summer to find a tenant for her apartment in the Mission.What she didn't expect was that she'd be spending thousands of dollars in a struggle to evict a roommate who she says hasn't paid rent beyond the first month.

"This is a nightmare,"Sluizer said.

It's a nightmare that landlord advocates say is all too common in SanFrancisco, where 64 percent of residents rent.

.....According to [Janan]New[executive director of the San Francisco Apartment Association], a combination of confusing rent ordinances and an abundance of free legal resources for tenants make it difficult for inexperienced landlords to evict someone on their own.

[SNIP]

"A lot of the situations in other counties would be dealt simply with a 30-day notice and that's the end of it,....In San Francisco,you just can't do that."

According to SuperiorCourt records, seven unlawful detainer suits have been filed against [Louis]Podover in San Francisco. Landlord attorney Drexel Bradshaw has a term for those who game the system by paying only the first month's rent and delaying eviction proceedings: professional tenants.

"They move in, they take advantage and they end up living rent free," he said. "A few days before the prospective subtenant is forced to move out, they'll find another landlord of whom they can take advantage."

[SNIP]

[Sluizer] said she takes full responsibility for not getting anything in writing from Podover as soon as he moved in, something that landlord attorneys said is a recipe for disaster. She said she's offered to pay movers and cover a motel for two weeks for Podover, anything to get her piece of mind back.

"This guy is having a field day on my dime," she said. "I just want him out of my house."

[muggs]

I actually depend more on credit and complete court/criminal background check than on reference from a current landlord. I have been lied to too many times by a current landlord that is wanting to unload a bad tenant.

[doug from upland]

PACIFIC HEIGHTS is a great movie. I showed it every quarter to my real estate law students.

[GeronL]

Yep, it’s a start

[ex91B10]

She also alleges he is stealing from her and smokes in the house

Can't have the smoking now, can we? Is this now an "actionable" offense?

The Kenyan must go.

[kearnyirish2]

“I always require the proof. Too many people will try to say they get paid under the table. If they want me to rent to them, they better have some kind of proof to back up what they say.”

That makes a lot of sense. I don’t know how people do it here in NJ with so many illegal aliens.