C Rental Agreement - San Francisco: Fill & Download for Free

San Francisco's law before 2014's so-called "Airbnb law" was black and white, what Airbnb was promoting was illegal. Administrative Code Section 41(a) used to forbid renting out residential units for "tourist or transient use", which is defined as rentals of less than 30 days. San Francisco made a surprising, and thorough, attempt to legalize but regulate short term rentals in 2014, the "Airbnb law". Here is a non-final version of the legislation that was passed to amend the law.Technically, it's not Airbnb that violated the law, they're just a listing service. It's the individual owner who rents out units that weren't legal to rent, and also owners that rent to businesses that allow it, and businesses to allow it. By promoting the rentals, setting rules, and handling the money, Airbnb could be seen as a participant in the acts, or allowing the acts, but it's not clear that this truly snags Airbnb. It also doesn't seem to apply to apartment renters who sub-rent.I don't see any loophole for Airbnb, HomeAway, VRBO, or anyone else. Perhaps they thought they had one, but Airbnb's website until recently promoted people to complain about the law rather than arguing that they didn't violate it. They were walking a tightrope, because they couldn't assure owners it's legal for fear of being wrong, yet they couldn't tell them it's illegal lest they admit to taking illegal lodging funds.There are strong reasons for these laws, not just the stated concern that tourist / executive lodging takes long-term residential housing off the market, increases rent prices, and undermines rent control laws. Real hotels are subject to myriad rules to protect customers and the neighbors - fire safety, security, inspections, disabled access, etc. They go through planning and get approved. They're accountable for ripping off customers and vice-versa.Another thing - even when a tourist rental doesn't violate the hotel law, it probably violates your rental agreement if you're a renter, your CC&Rs if you're a condo owner, and probably some zoning codes and other local rules.Unregulated rentals have a potential for abuse, and the legitimate businesses feel they're unjustly penalized for following the laws. Not everyone wants daily and weekly tourists roaming their building or neighborhood. Some of that is just due to an "not in my back yard" attitude, but they might have a point. Residential areas are quiet, with responsible neighbors and just enough parking. Short-term visitors cause noise, congestion, and wear and tear on neighborhood resources.Not every short term hotelier is a regular person just trying to swap apartments or make a few bucks - there are shady slumlords, developers, and others out there who make mint running illegal operations. You may recall one of the biggest, CitiApartments / Lembe, that caused tremendous harm to the San Francisco market for years with illegal evictions, unlicensed conversion of entire buildings to executive rentals, harassing and abusing tenants, distorting real estate prices, and eventually, bankruptcies and foreclosures that left a lot of people holding the bag.The new law is a little bit restrictive because it doesn't permit professional hosts. You have to: (a) be a permanent resident of a unit in order to rent it out, and you can't rent out the whole unit for more than 90 days (it's okay to rent out part for more than 90 days, if you are still living there), (b) carry $500K of insurance directly or through Airbnb, and (c) collect and pay the hotel tax. Beneficiaries of rent control cannot charge renters more than they are paying the landlord.

I don’t know San Francisco tenant law specifically but I do know CA tenant law.Yes, the landlord can do periodic inspections. The landlord needs to give sufficient notice (24 hours is considered normal). The notice can be oral if the tenant agrees, otherwise it has to be in writing.Cal Civil Code 1954(d)(3) The tenant and the landlord may agree orally to an entry to make agreed repairs or supply agreed services. The agreement shall include the date and approximate time of the entry, which shall be within one week of the agreement. In this case, the landlord is not required to provide the tenant a written notice.However, if an oral agreement can’t be reached, the landlord will have to do it in writing. Note: you rarely will improve the landlord relationship if you go out of your way to make it hard on the landlord.The landlord can’t abuse the inspection.Cal Civil Code 1954(c) The landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.I have heard inspection schedules ranging from once a quarter to once a yearBut, as I said, I don’t know San Francisco tenant policies nor do I know what is written in your lease. Both of these may affect the inspection schedule.

Finding housing at Berkeley is difficult especially if you are on a limited budget and are an international student looking for a house remotely from another country. Here are few options you can consider:a) International house – You need to apply at the earliest to get an allotment here. It is also more expensive than renting on your own and sharing a room. The rooms are also much smaller too.International House Berkeley: Student Campus Housingb) Free and for Sale UC Berkeley - Facebook page - Current students who are looking to share/sublease post vacancies here and is a good way to find housing and roommates.c) Rental websites - Trulia, Apartments.com, Zillow etcd) Shared Apartment rooms – Nishpad, Berk etce) Craigslist -Be careful of scammers, can find few options if you do enough researchf) Cooperative Housing – These are run by students and are cheaper, but again the wait list is very long, and you usually get it only in 2nd semester if you apply in the 1st semester. HomeMy house- hunting experience:I was an international student who got admission at UC Berkeley, looking for a place to stay from July to May. I was lucky enough to find a roommate through mutual friends, so both of us decided to find a studio/1 BHK to share. We started looking for a place as early as March and decided against International house as it was expensive.Initially our search was limited to craigslist and rental sites like Trulia. We contacted the owners via email in Craiglist. They were very responsive and said they could block the place for us. But as we started inquired deeper about the place and asked if a friend could come see it, they were unwilling and asked for deposit. We were willing to give deposit once a friend sees it and signs some form of agreement. But the owners were not willing to show the place nor were they ready to have a Skype call. We had the same experience with 7–8 owners and began to understand the pattern. When we checked deeper into their listing address and photos, we realized they were all fake. This is a common fraud that happens via Craigslist. NEVER give money before seeing the apartment! You might feel it is a genuine listing, but if the owner is asking for a deposit even before you see the place, it is most likely a SCAM.Since craigslist was not working for us, we decided to look for vacancies from rental websites closer to our move to USA as suggested by some friends here. I shortlisted around 20 apartments from these websites and a friend in USA visited few of them and took videos/photos for us. Once I reached USA, I stayed with a relative for the first week. During this time, I called to book appointments for apartment viewing from the list I made, visited some 7 apartments that day and finalized on a place that is closer to campus on the South side of University.Things to remember:a) Understand that finding an apartment is difficult and time consuming. Don’t get frustrated, keep looking !b) Make a list of apartments available from rental websites/facebook ads 3-4 weeks before planning to start the lease. Once you arrive in San Francisco, book a hotel/hostel/YMCA for couple of days or stay with a relative/friend till you find a place.c) Beware of the multiple scammers in Craigslist. They will ask for deposit first, even before you view the apartment. Only transfer money after you physically check the space.d) There are 3 main areas near the University campus: 1) South Side – this is were most of the undergrads live. It is very lively with students, shops and multiple rental opportunities. There are multiple restaurants that open until 2 am here. 2) North Side – This is mostly where the graduate students live. It is much quieter than the south side and gets deserted after 6pm. 3) West/Downtown Berkeley – This is the downtown Berkeley area, closer to BART metro station and has multiple shops/restaurants.Then there are adjacent cities like Emeryville, Oakland, Richmond etc where you can stay and commute by bus/car.e) The apartments in Berkeley are usually in the following range:Studio : 1800$ onwardsBHK : 2100 $ onwardsUsually it comes to 900$ per head for a shared place excluding utilities. It might go down to 700- 800$ if you are sharing a room in a 3-4 bedroom house with shared bathroom. Usually 3 to 4 bedroom houses in Berkeley has 1 or 2 bathroom, so 6- 8 people sharing the house has only 1 or 2 bathrooms. The utilities include electricity and wifi which comes to around 50$ per head.f) Also, if you are planning to lease an apartment, you will need to submit the application fee, need a co-signer with good credit score if you don’t have a credit score yourself and need to have a security deposit which is usually 1 month rent .g)Finally, few of the rental realtors in Berkeley which I listed during my search are:K & S Company K&S Real Estate ManagementNakumura Realty HomeMB ApartmentsNishpad Berkeley Berkeley HomesHope you find this helpful. Good Luck!