![]() The master tenant had already been there for more than 10 years, was messy and had a penchant for late-night parties. One SFGATE staffer said he suffered through a terrible master tenant situation for eight years because the rent on his apartment in Russian Hill was significantly cheaper than it would have been in a market-rate unit. I left rather than be stuck with them.- Ben Dover June 13, 2022 They all left at the same time for various reasons, had to bring in 3 new people, it was a disaster. Had 3 other good, stable, roommates for years. I was a master tenant at a great flat on Oak Street back in the late nineties. Some San Franciscans get a room in a master tenant-run apartment that’s too cheap to leave, even though the master tenant is dangerous, abusive or just plain a terrible roommate. We also never had contact with the landlord, we could only communicate through the master tenant who lived in a different time zone.- Bonny Light Horsewoman June 14, 2022 The master tenant moving out of their apartment entirely happens more than you’d think, whether or not they ever plan to return. Yup the total rent for the 3 bed was $1600 that the master tenant was paying I was paying 1200 of that!!!!- Michael Farley June 14, 2022 The full rent for the apartment was $2,150, and his rent for the smaller bedroom was $1,500. Adam came home one day to find a note taped to the front door that showed the full rent amount of the apartment, which was far lower than the "half" he was paying for his room. But the master tenant later rented her room out to another tenant, who was very messy, and then eventually stopped paying rent entirely. Adam, who declined to give his last name, said when he first moved to San Francisco, he found a two-bedroom apartment in Nob Hill with a master tenant who was never around (a nice perk). A common grift? Master tenants charging subtenants an amount that adds up to more than the actual rent, allowing them to keep the profit. Search “master tenant” on Twitter and there are plenty of horror stories out there. … The roommate is a way to make ends meet.” People get into these roommate situations in order to survive. “There’s no document that’s signed that empowers someone to be a master tenant,” said tenants’ rights attorney Joseph Tobener. Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATEīut becoming a master tenant often happens by accident. “It’s unfortunate in this tight housing market because you want to be able to be picky about who you have as a master tenant.”Ī "for rent" sign hangs outside an apartment building in San Francisco. “These arrangements are pretty much the only affordable arrangements that are left,” said Scott Weaver, an attorney and volunteer with the San Francisco Tenants Union. That’s about 15% below the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment according to Zumper’s most recent rental estimations. If you moved into your current two-bedroom apartment in 2010 and paid $2,800 a month, the most your rent could be now is $3,339. This year, the allowable increase has risen to 2.3%. The allowable annual increase amount for March 2021 to Feb. The San Francisco Rent Board sets a percentage per year based on the Consumer Price Index in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose region for a 12-month period. Their apartments are likely cheaper than market rate and can only increase in rent costs by a certain amount each year. Under the San Francisco Rent Board, people living in rent-controlled apartments are entitled to special protections regarding rental increases and eviction. Specifically, rental units in a building constructed before June 13, 1979, qualify. More than 60% of San Francisco’s rental units are subject to rent control. To understand a “master tenant” situation, it’s important to start with rent control and all the rules that come along with it. But it’s not a perfect arrangement for the de facto landlord, either: They often hold even more power than they may have bargained for. This situation is ripe for conflict, seeing as one person has drastically more power than the other tenants. The “master tenant,” as they’re often known, gets to decide your rent you’ll likely cut a check directly to them and even funnel repair requests their way. And one of the best ways to get a deal is to luck into a room in a San Francisco apartment that’s been rent-controlled for years.īut when you sign up to live with someone who’s paying far below market rate, they’re not just becoming your roommate - they’re also becoming your landlord. ![]() From bunk bed pods to beds that descend from the ceiling, living in one of the most expensive cities in the country forces people to get creative in order to find semi-affordable housing. San Francisco has all kinds of unique rental situations. A "for rent" sign posted on the exterior of an apartment building on June 2, 2021, in San Francisco.
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