SF judge blocks rent hikes on low-income tenants

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/04/BA4T1OSJ7F.DTL&type=newsbayarea

A judge has blocked rent increases for 33 low-income tenants of a San Francisco apartment house while a lawsuit by the city against the building's owners proceeds through the courts.

The citysued the owners of Geary Courtyard in the Tenderloin, arguing that the renters are protected by the terms of a 1988 bond measure that financed construction of the building.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn issued an injunction allowing the tenants to stay in their units at current rents. He said the city is likely to prove that the increases would violate the building owner's contract with San Francisco.

The city issued $18 million in tax-exempt bonds in 1988 to construct the 164-unit building at 639 Geary St.The owner agreed to reserve 20 percent of the apartments for low-income tenants at affordable rents, up to 30 percent of a defined low-income level.