Mayor Ed Lee is going to be in the state capital tomorrow stumping for State Senator Mark Leno’s Ellis Act reform bill.At 1:30 p.m., Lee and Leno plan to testify at the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee hearing on Senate Bill 1439 for Ellis Act reform specifically in San Francisco.
The bill, which Leno announced in February, will give The City’s leaders new tools to stop speculators from using loopholes in the nearly three-decade-old Ellis Act to evict tenants.
Leno’s bill would close these loopholes by mandating that landlords own the building for no less than five years before invoking the Ellis Act.
It would also force disclosure of all previous owners of a property to the tenants of the building where an Ellis Act eviction is taking place.
It would prohibit current landlords from conspiring with prospective buyers to get around the Ellis Act.
Under the law, San Francisco would have the option to impose these new requirements but would not be required to do so.