SF cracks down on landlord health and safety violations

There is general consensus on the need for more housing in San Francisco — but not like this.

That’s the message the San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu sent landlord Jack Tseng and his 320 Alemany LLC. Tseng is accused of converting his 13 authorized apartments in Bernal Heights into a row of 32 units. The city won a $1.2 million judgment against the landlord over allegations of various health and safety violations stemming from the bootleg renovations to the four properties on the 300 block of Alemany Boulevard, the San Francisco Standard reports.

The judgment brings the penalties in three recent cases against separate landlords in San Francisco to $2.5 million. Tseng and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Building and planning permits filed for the buildings from 316 to 328 Alemany Boulevard show little effort to address violations at the buildings, according to the Standard.

Tseng has appealed the finding that the additional residential units created by the renovations are illegal. The city’s Board of Appeals has a hearing scheduled for Aug. 14.

City officials recently won a $1 million judgment against Naim and Sana Jamali, over code violations at their apartments at 333 Randolph Street in Ingleside Heights. The Jamalis allegedly renovated a four-unit building to include 22 apartments without legal clearance. They also are accused of leasing commercial space in the basement of their property illegally.

Court documents show that the landlord took in $1 million in rent on illegal or substandard units over the past six years.

The landlords allegedly targeted renters with limited English-language skills. Several tenants had sued the property owners for health violations, and city inspectors reported cockroach and rodent infestations, among other alleged violations.

The case is nevertheless “a complete travesty of justice,” Philip Segal, lawyer for the Jamalis, told the Standard. He said delays caused by the city’s Planning Department were a chief cause of problems at the building.

The city also recently won a $550,000 settlement against Nasir Patel and the other owners of Marathon Hotel and Apartments in the Tenderloin, again citing various health and safety violations.