Mayor Lurie Unveils Sweeping Package With Immediate Actions to Address San Francisco’s Rent Emergency

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today unveiled a broad package of reforms tackling the rent emergency that is driving up the number of tenants being evicted across the city and the cost of living for many San Franciscans. The series of measures—including six proposed ordinances and more than $30 million in investments—will help protect renters from unfair evictions, prevent sudden rent spikes that can drive people out of their homes, and empower tenants with legal tools and information to exercise their rights if they are facing unlawful landlord behavior.

The package represents a major new component of Mayor Lurie’s Family Opportunity Agenda and his administration’s work to help people put down roots in San Francisco. With a significant expansion of childcare assistance, Mayor Lurie is making San Francisco the first major city in the country where every family with children under five years old have access to childcare. Through his Family Zoning plan and a major investment proposed for affordable housing, the city is driving new housing creation so San Franciscans can afford to raise their kids in the city. Mayor Lurie has also made significant investments in keeping families housed, launching the Family Homelessness Prevention Pilot last year and then making key investments in this year’s city budget, including $120 million in homelessness prevention and legal services and $100 million for a new reserve to prepare for potential federal cuts to health and homelessness services.

“Today, most San Franciscans feel our city is finally moving in the right direction, but many are also asking whether they can still afford to live here. Today, we are taking action to tackle San Francisco’s rent emergency head-on and help San Franciscans stay in their homes,” said Mayor Lurie. “Leaders from across government and across the city are standing together, united behind a sweeping package of reforms and investments to provide renters greater stability. We have lived through booms before—this time, we have an opportunity to build a recovery that is broad-based and lasting, where San Franciscans can put down roots and participate in our city’s success.”

PROTECTING RENTERS FROM EVICTION
Mayor Lurie’s rent emergency package includes a series of measures to protect renters from unwarranted evictions:

• Tenant Right to Counsel: Legislation sponsored by Mayor Lurie will expand the city’s Tenant Right to Counsel program with an additional $3 million this year, providing full-scope eviction representation to 400 households who previously would have received only partial representation. Regional research has found that tenants receiving full-scope legal representation were 39% more likely to remain in their homes than those receiving limited-scope representation.
• Ellis Act: Legislation sponsored by Mayor Lurie will increase by 25%, nearly $3,000 per person, required payments to tenants being displaced under the Ellis Act to reflect the increased cost of finding a new apartment in San Francisco.
• Nonpayment Evictions: Legislation sponsored by District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder will stop evictions of renters who have fallen narrowly behind on rent, preventing eviction for nonpayment unless a tenant owes at least one month of fair market rent set by the federal government.
• Expiring Federal Vouchers: Legislation sponsored by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) will unlock $27 million to keep approximately 650 extremely low-income households in their homes after key federal funding lapses this year. Federal Emergency Housing Voucher funding is set to expire at the end of 2026, four years earlier than initially anticipated—this funding will provide rental subsidies to support households as the city helps them transition to other federally funded rental subsidies.
• Legal Enforcement: With City Attorney David Chiu, the city will drive renters to the City Attorney’s Office complaint portal in its tenant education efforts to expand the city’s work addressing illegal systemic practices or patterns of illegal behavior.
• Know Your Rights Campaign: Led by the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD), the city will invest $1 million and partner with private employers to launch a “Know Your Rights” campaign, educating renters and property owners on their legal protections and responsibilities, with a focus on targeted outreach to those most vulnerable to eviction.

“Everyday San Franciscans cannot afford to live here, and even those paying astronomical rents are getting evicted. This is not sustainable and renters need help,” said City Attorney David Chiu. “Our renter protection laws can only help if tenants know about them and they are enforced. My office is bringing a renewed focus on weeding out systemic bad behavior that forces people out of their homes. Thanks to Mayor Lurie for spearheading this effort and bringing us together to address this challenge head on.”

“I want to thank the mayor for supporting the eviction threshold legislation my office worked on with Anti-Displacement Coalition that will prevent evictions of longtime rent-controlled tenants who have miniscule, one-time, or accidental rent shortages,” said Supervisor Fielder.

“I have been fighting to keep our city affordable for our tenants, seniors, working families, and small business owners. I am pleased to see this sweeping package from Mayor Lurie and the Board of Supervisors to strengthen tenant protections, prevent displacement, and provide greater housing stability,” said District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen. “Together we are building a more affordable city where people can raise a family and call San Francisco home.”

“San Francisco’s small businesses and employers across the city depend on a stable, thriving workforce, and housing stability is a critical part of that equation,” said Rodney Fong, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce President and CEO. “The chamber is proud to partner with Mayor Lurie and MOHCD on this effort to help ensure employees and residents across San Francisco understand the resources and protections available to them, while housing providers have clear information about their responsibilities. Stronger housing stability means a stronger workforce and a stronger local economy.”

PREVENTING RENT SPIKES
Mayor Lurie’s rent emergency package also includes reforms that will protect renters from sudden rent spikes that push them out of their homes:

• Banked Increase Cap: Following a Budget and Legislative Analyst report evaluating banked rent increase caps, District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter will introduce legislation to cap annual allowable rent increases from banked increases and capital improvement charges at 10% for rent controlled tenants. Property owners will be able to accrue increases, but the amount passed onto a tenant will be capped at 10% annually, protecting renters from absorbing a devastatingly large banked increase in one year. The legislation would be effective on the date of introduction.
• Tenant Notifications: Legislation sponsored by District 6 Matt Dorsey will guarantee tenants an annual reminder of rent-increase limits and just-cause eviction rules, including information to help renters assess whether their building has entered state rent regulations. New buildings are exempt from state rent regulations for 15 years after construction.
  

“This moment calls for stronger action to keep longtime residents in their homes, free of harassment and clear of devastating surprise rent hikes,” said Supervisor Sauter. “Alongside Mayor Lurie, I am introducing legislation to add important guardrails to the practice of banked rent. Annual rent increases from banked rent and capital improvement charges will be capped at 10% for rent-controlled tenants, bringing stability and protections to hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans. As a renter myself, I'll continue to work to bring down the cost of housing, bolstering tenant protections and aggressively working to build more homes.”

“San Francisco is facing an eviction crisis, and we’re excited to see the mayor and Board of Supervisors act with urgency to go to bat for tenants,” said Gail Gilman, Eviction Defense Collaborative Executive Director. “Investing in Know Your Rights education and expanding legal representation for tenants facing eviction will empower tenants and help prevent displacement. This is how we stop homelessness before it starts and keep San Franciscans housed.”

For Fiscal Year 2026-27, the city has dedicated more than $54 million to emergency rental assistance and eviction legal defense. That funding includes $31.3 million through MOHCD for direct financial assistance to keep San Francisco renters housed: $18.1 million in tenant-based rental subsidies for families in single-room occupancies, older adults, adults with disabilities, and youth, as well as $13.2 million in emergency rental assistance for households behind on rent.

In this year’s budget process, Mayor Lurie increased this investment by 15%, committing more than $4 million in new funding: $2.7 million to expand rental subsidies for families in single-room occupancies and $1.1 million for older adults and adults with disabilities.
That funding also includes $23.1 million this fiscal year in legal defense and advocacy for renters: $18.2 million for the Tenant Right to Counsel program providing free legal representation to tenants facing eviction, $3.5 million for tenant counseling and education, and $1.3 million for tenant-landlord conflict resolution.  

“Stable housing is essential to San Francisco’s recovery, and this package gives renters stronger, clearer protections to stay in their homes,” said Daniel Adams, MOHCD Director. “By expanding legal representation, boosting financial supports, and improving outreach, we’re delivering practical solutions that help prevent displacement and support a more resilient, inclusive San Francisco.”

“Keeping people housed is one of the most effective ways we can prevent homelessness and strengthen our communities,” said Mike Levine, HSH Executive Director. “San Francisco is stepping up to protect hundreds of extremely low-income households who were at risk of losing their Emergency Housing Vouchers, while also making major new investments to help people stay in their homes before they ever enter the homelessness response system. Whether someone is transitioning out of homelessness, struggling to make rent, or facing an unexpected financial setback, our goal is the same: keep San Franciscans of all income levels safely and stably housed.”

In the last year, the median rent in San Francisco has risen 25.6%, with the city seeing faster rent increases than any other major city in the country in 2026. The city has already seen more than 1,000 eviction notices filed this year, on pace for the most in nearly a decade—roughly one-quarter of them initiated because of nonpayment. With several years of weak housing production, and the city in 2024 authorizing the lowest number of new housing units since 2010, only 2.2% of the city’s multifamily housing is vacant and available for rent as of June 2026—less than Oakland (4.5%), San Jose (4.1%), Chicago (6.5%), and New York City (3.4%).