San Francisco Supervisors Unanimously Approve a Rent-Debt Threshold for Evictions: Tenants Cannot Be Evicted Over Debts Below One Month of Fair Market Rent, Set at $2,485 for a Studio
San Francisco, California, a consolidated city and county — San Francisco landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants for unpaid rent below the fair-market cost of one month's rent, under a measure approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors on October 20. The previous city rule allowed eviction for nonpayment regardless of how much rent was owed.
The new threshold is based on U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair-market rent figures: $2,485 for a studio, $2,977 for a one-bedroom and $3,604 for a two-bedroom apartment. The measure was introduced by Supervisor Jackie Fielder and co-sponsored by seven supervisors, and is supported by Mayor Daniel Lurie. Fielder said a quarter of San Francisco eviction cases in 2025 involved debts below the one-month fair-market-rent benchmark, and described the change as a way to curb evictions amid rising housing costs.
The law could take effect as early as December. The San Francisco Apartment Association warned the Board of Supervisors that the measure could invite litigation, pointing to a lawsuit brought by the Apartment Association of Los Angeles against that city's similar law. Los Angeles, Oakland and Berkeley have adopted similar protections. Lurie declared a rent emergency in September, citing pressures that include the city's SI boom.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 旧金山市政厅实景。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，开放授权。 / File photo: San Francisco City Hall. Image via Wikimedia Commons, open license.
