The Board of Supervisors held a hearing yesterday to determine whether Section 37.10 (h), a law which requires realtors to tell potential buyers if tenants have been evicted from a building, is being properly enforced. The issue was brought to the table by Supervisor Chris Daly and numerous residents and organizations came to show their support of the cause.
Based on their testimony, it is abundantly clear that realtors are either not disclosing proper information to potential buyers, or are doing so at the last minute in the fine print of written agreements. Either way, the result is that buyers are less likely to know the truth about the eviction history of their new unit.
Recent protests at open houses by tenants rights activists are proof that realtors fears of disclosure are legitimate. According to several reports, picketers successfully discouraged potential renters by simply alerting them of the fact that people had recently been evicted from the premises.
Although Ted Gulickson of the San Francisco Tenants Union was pleased with the results of the picketing, saying that it “gave [him] a lot of faith in the social responsibility of San Francisco Buyers,” he was quick to note that we should not have to rely on our own citizens and local activists to enforce a law. Rather, the realtors should have total responsibility, and the government should see to it that they are punished if this is not the case. Brian Basinger of the AIDS Housing Alliance cited his worst fear – that a client of his organization would find housing only to be informed too late that an AIDS victim was evicted from the building into which the client was moving.
With terrifying examples like this in mind, all the public testimony came to the same conclusion: a law has been passed, so enforce it. “We’re doing what the real estate brokers should be doing,” said activist Terry Frye, “we’re alerting the people.”
