San Francisco Supervisors Vote to Bar Evictions Over Less Than a Month’s Unpaid Rent

San Francisco supervisors voted unanimously on October 20, 2026 to bar landlords from evicting tenants for unpaid rent unless the tenant owes more than one month’s fair-market rent. Under the city’s rent ordinance until now, a tenant could be evicted for nonpayment of any amount. The measure, by District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder, has the support of Mayor Daniel Lurie and could take effect as early as December 2026, Mission Local reports. KALW reports that the ordinance still has to go through a second hearing at the board.

The New Threshold

The cutoff is tied to fair-market rent, a federal HUD figure, not to the tenant’s actual rent. Mission Local, citing the San Francisco Housing Authority’s 2026 payment standards, lists the amounts a tenant would have to owe before an eviction for nonpayment could proceed:

• Studio: more than $2,485
• One-bedroom: more than $2,977
• Two-bedroom: more than $3,604

Fielder told a committee last month that 25 percent of 2025 eviction cases were over less than a month’s fair-market rent, per Mission Local. Fielder called the measure “a simple but very meaningful change to our rent ordinance.”

Why Landlords Object

The San Francisco Apartment Association told the board the ordinance conflicts with state law and asked supervisors to wait for a California Supreme Court ruling on a similar Los Angeles rule, KALW and Mission Local report. The Apartment Association of Los Angeles sued Los Angeles over its threshold in 2023. Oakland and Berkeley have also passed similar laws.

A Second Tenant Law Passed the Same Day

The board also unanimously approved District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood’s “No Hidden Rent” act on October 20, Mission Local reports. It requires landlords to show the total cost of an apartment, including recurring fees for amenities, utilities and trash, on listings and leases, so a renter sees one estimated monthly figure up front. Tenants whose landlords did not disclose fees could end their leases early without penalty and could not be evicted for failing to pay those fees. Mission Local cites an Urban Institute analysis finding that such fees can raise a tenant’s monthly costs by 10 to 30 percent.

What It Means for Renters

Neither ordinance is in effect yet, and the current rules apply until each one clears its remaining board vote and is signed by the mayor. If you are behind on rent or comparing apartment listings, the San Francisco Rent Board at sf.gov/rentboard handles questions about the rent ordinance.

Both votes come after Lurie declared a rent emergency in September. For background, see our stories on the rent emergency declaration and the proposed cap on banked rent increases.

Photo: Runner1928, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.