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UID:Indybay-18826149
SEQUENCE:18974957
CREATED:20190910T230800Z
DESCRIPTION:Join tenants living under SF's largest landlord, Veritas Investments, as we 
 march to stop excessive rent hikes at 20 buildings across the 
 city.\n\nWhile this march has a specific demand of a specific landlord, it 
 is also about ALL tenants in SF who are on the verge of being priced out, 
 who are one rent increase away from losing their apartment, and who know 
 they'd be displaced from SF or homeless if that rent increase came 
 tomorrow.\n\nUltimately, we march for our right to just stay, and we march 
 against the feeling of helplessness that we can't do anything about losing 
 our community, our neighbors, our families.\n\nBACKGROUND INFO ON DEMAND OF 
 VERITAS\n\nLast year, Veritas tenants, SF tenant groups, and allies 
 successfully passed a law banning increased debt service -- a landlord’s 
 mortgage payments -- and property tax from being passed on to 
 rent-controlled tenants as part of 7% Operations & Maintenance (O&M) rent 
 increases.\n\nWhile the ban on debt service and property tax is benefitting 
 thousands of rent-controlled tenants, last year’s law does not cover a 
 number of buildings where landlords filed O&M petitions prior to the change 
 in the law but after the publication date of the SF Chronicle’s first 
 article on the proposed legislation.  For these buildings, a landlord must 
 show that they “reasonably relied” on their ability to pass through 
 increased debt service and property tax at the time of buying the 
 building.\n\nVeritas has filed the majority of these O&M petitions, and to 
 our knowledge, there are at least 20 Veritas buildings in this “gray 
 zone.”  Most of these 20 buildings have already had Rent Board 
 arbitrations for the O&M rent increases.  In every case, the Rent Board 
 judge sided with Veritas.  In nearly every case, tenants have appealed the 
 judge’s decision.  In every appeal, the Rent Board Commission has voted 
 2-3 against the tenants.\n\nHaving exhausted the Rent Board process for 
 preventing these excessive rent increases, tenants turned to their elected 
 Supervisors for support.  Starting about a month ago, tenants began sending 
 group letters to their Supervisors asking them to contact Veritas and urge 
 the landlord to drop the O&M rent increases.  In all, seven Supervisors 
 heard from tenants in their districts, and most of the Supervisors 
 contacted Veritas.  While the advocacy -- and a Channel 5 story -- did 
 result in the announcement of a public hearing on passthroughs (date of 
 hearing TBD) and one-time “courtesy” rent credits from Veritas to the 
 tenants, the effort did not stop the rent increases.\n\nTenants then 
 decided to take the next step of public action, and the march on 9/24 is 
 that step.\n\nVeritas has said on the record in Rent Board hearings that 
 they are doing these rent increases because they can, and that these 
 buildings are investment properties.  In an affordability crisis, this 
 business model must stop.  We march on 9/24 to make clear this message.\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/10/18826149.php
SUMMARY:Tenants Are Not Prey: March for Our Right to Stay
LOCATION:Meet at One Bush Street outside the building.  We will rally outside One 
 Bush Street (Veritas' corporate office), then march to their management 
 office at 724 Pine St.  It's about a 15-minute walk.
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/09/10/18826149.php
DTSTART:20190924T190000Z
DTEND:20190924T210000Z
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