Tenant
Law

Kellogg & Van Aken specializes in representing tenants in San Francisco, Oakland and the greater Bay Area in a wide variety of matters. We are passionate about fighting for the rights of tenants in order to maintain affordable housing, combat tenant harassment, and ensure rental units are maintained in a habitable way.

We have extensive experience in defending tenants in unlawful detainer (eviction) lawsuits and filing lawsuits against landlords for failure to repair and maintain units (breach of warranty of habitability), tenant harassment, wrongful eviction, breach of the lease, and negligence.

We represent tenants in hearings before the San Francisco Rent Board for unlawful rent increases, decrease in housing services, and failure to repair and maintain.

We have a proven track record of obtaining excellent results for tenants, including achieving six-figure settlements for clients who were wrongfully evicted or living in horrible conditions; successfully defending against owner and relative move-in and Ellis Act evictions; invalidating landlords’ attempts to increase rent based on Costa Hawkins Rental Act or SF Rules and Regulations Section 1.21; successfully fighting for disabled tenants’ rights for reasonable accommodations; and stopping ongoing tenant harassment for long-term tenants in rent-controlled units.

The types of tenant cases we handle include

Constructive and wrongful evictions

Failure to maintain or repair (breach of warranty of habitability)

Failure to maintain or repair (breach of warranty of habitability)

Tenant harassment

Owner and relative move-in evictions

Buy-out negotiations

Lock-outs

Ellis Act evictions

Rodent and Pest Infestations

Building floods, fires, and other disasters

Buildings with mold and defective waterproofing

Illegal in-law units

Air BnB issues

Violation of the San Francisco Rent Ordinance

Unlawful rent increase petitions

Retaliation

Requests for reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities

Defending rent increases pursuant to SF Rules and Regulations Section 1.21