Speaking for the Bay Area, this is totally, completely, and insanely wrong. I ended up letting a tenant who had not paid rent for two months stay for an additional three months for free and keep his entire security deposit because if my lawyer didn't come to an agreement with him before they got in front of the judge (this happened at the courthouse after repeated failed negotiations beforehand), he was going to request a trial by jury, which would have delayed anything happening for at least a couple of months. This was not someone who had a lawyer or financial resources, but it was pretty apparent he had done this before (and would do it again, since our agreement meant he did not end up with an eviction on his record).
> all they have to do is decide not to renew your lease
Again, just wrong. Rent control means you don't just get to not renew a lease.
I think you just got unlucky. Most tenants don’t know their rights in the Bay Area and there’s a lot of smarmy landlords here. I have had to deal with them almost regularly. I hate condos but they were the best to rent. All SFH landlords want to increase rent every year so they can go galavanting about the world. I hope rent control is here to stay, it’s the only way I can hope to save some money while inflation is so crippling.
Speaking for the Bay Area, this is totally, completely, and insanely wrong. I ended up letting a tenant who had not paid rent for two months stay for an additional three months for free and keep his entire security deposit because if my lawyer didn't come to an agreement with him before they got in front of the judge (this happened at the courthouse after repeated failed negotiations beforehand), he was going to request a trial by jury, which would have delayed anything happening for at least a couple of months. This was not someone who had a lawyer or financial resources, but it was pretty apparent he had done this before (and would do it again, since our agreement meant he did not end up with an eviction on his record).
> all they have to do is decide not to renew your lease
Again, just wrong. Rent control means you don't just get to not renew a lease.