Resources/FAQs

Resources

SFAA Member Meeting 8/14/25

Panel discussion on the state of San Francisco rental market, AI industry effects, trends in marketing and best practices in leasing in a highly competitive market. 

“The SF rental market is on fire in large part to the AI Revolution finally and firmly taking root in our city, how is that affecting market rents and what's going on, will it last?”

OWNER FAQs

  • Yes, we accept rental applications for any property by any person. We do not discriminate against source of income. We will process a Section 8 recipient application through the same lens as we would any other.

  • Yes, S&L Real Estate, Inc and S&L Property have the same managing broker, Robert Link. The California DRE license number is #01200902.

  • Yes, for my clients I do provide my mobile phone number and avail myself after hours. We also have a voicemail service that goes direct to email. Calls received at our main office after hours will be transcribed and sent to all members of the office staff.

    Emergency phone numbers also exist on the phone menu to address urgent after hours needs.

  • Yes, many of our owner clients have embraced the paper free means of monthly disbursement. You no longer have to receive a paper check and walk it to the bank we can direct deposit via ACH or Zelle services to your destination account.

  • Our clients will receive a copy of lease agreements once they are fully executed upon request. Our management agreement assigns S&L Property Management the ability to work as agent on behalf of our owner clients. Therefore the office broker sets rents and will execute lease agreements on behalf of the owner in correlation with parameters mutually determined that the onset of the relationship.

  • Yes, we are also a full service brokerage and can represent buyer or seller in transaction of any property type. My areas of knowledge are single family homes, condos, and apartment buildings.

  • Since our bookkeeping is done on a cash basis, we issue monthly reports and monthly owner distribution checks by the 7th of the month. The report and distribution will be for the previous month. This allows rent collection to occur over the first 10 days of the month and all related monthly expenses to cycle through in that month. Our clients can choose the delivery method of their monthly report and distribution. Both items can be mailed or reports can be sent via email with digital financial transfer. This takes approximately 3 to 5 working days to credit to your account. We bank primarily with First Republic Bank.

  • We write our lease agreements to have rent due on the 1st and late by the 3rd. We typically allow a short grace period thereafter. About 50% of tenants are still writing checks and the balance of tenants have moved towards digital payment. Digital payment is secured through Appfolio, a cloud-based management application. We do not allow payments from third parties for our San Francisco properties.

  • The vast majority of our lease agreements are signed with a 12-month minimum lease term. This term can be augmented if there are special circumstances that have been agreed to between property manager and owner. Shorter terms are applicable in fully furnished rental environments and or in single family home or condominium rentals.

  • A California law limiting security deposits to one month’s rent for both furnished and unfurnished units took effect July 1, 2024.       

    The legislation, AB 12 by Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2023. It marks a significant change from previous regulations, which allowed landlords to charge up to two months’ rent for an unfurnished unit and three months’ rent for a furnished one, except where the tenant was a service member. 

     The new law includes an exception for certain small landlords. Property owners with no more than two residential rental properties, collectively including no more than four dwelling units offered for rent, may still collect up to two months’ rent as a security deposit. To qualify for this exception, the owner must hold the property as a natural person, a limited liability company (in which all members are natural persons), or as a family trust.This small-landlord exception does not apply when the tenant is a military service member.

  • It takes approximately 4 weeks to properly notify all residents in an apartment building about a change in management and to effectively onboard a new building. The onboarding process includes tenant notification, evaluation of the entire rental file including rent increase history, inputting and scanning all relevant documents and data regarding each apartment and resident. Significant dates relative to the operation of the building must also be noted in the file which include fire safety deadlines insurance, premium renewal dates, etc.

  • We now manage only apartment buildings and mixed use buildings of four total units and up.

    We do not offer management services for single-family homes and condominiums.

    However, we do offer leasing services for single family homes and condos.

  • We will issue a monthly profit and lost statement along with rent roll. This report is issued by the 7th of the month for the previous month. This report can be transmitted to you either by mail or email depending on your preference. Monthly disbursement are also issued at the same time as the report.

  • We have an escrow account where security deposits are held on behalf of your residents. This is a designated static account separate from operating. We may establish a dedicated escrow account for you depending on the number of units you are bringing into management.

TENANT FAQs

  • We can hold an apartment with a $500 holding deposit. This would be subject to the final approval of the application process and is most likely done over weekends when employment verification cannot be established.

  • No, we collect first month's rent and security deposit only at the lease signing. Last month's rent is not done in San Francisco.

  • You must be a legal adult of 21 years old to have your application considered.

  • Yes, security deposit can be fully refundable but it is subject to a move out inspection and security deposit disposition process. The disposition schedule will be made available to all residents at the lease signing.

  • You may need a cosigner if you're gross verifiable income level is below the threshold of earning 3x the rental amount. Cosigners must also establish their verifiable income and credit worthiness through the same application process. Cosigners must reside in the United States and preferably in the State of California.

  • Our policy allows for application consideration only if the applicant has physically viewed the apartment. Your application will not be considered until you have done so and you will have met one of our leasing agents that will guide you through the application process.

    Our application process is handled by a third party service, myintellerent.com.

    You will log in establish an account establish your identity and upload relevant documents to establish your income and residence history. You'll be asked to provide the name of your current landlord and your credit score will be determined by TransUnion. Once all requested items in the application process have been executed, we will receive a completed renter's resume from which we can determine your application approval or denial.

  • Rent payments can be made by sending in a personal check which must be received by the 3rd of the month. Payments can also be made online using an ACH service provided by our property management application, Appfolio.com

  • First consult your lease agreement to check if pets are allowed in your building. If pets are allowed, you may add a pet with proper verification of the animal and approval of the owner. You will be required to sign a pet addendum and additional security deposit for the animal. You will also be legally responsible for the actions of your animal in or around the building and should therefore have adequate renters insurance coverage in the event of an accident or unintended consequence. The owner will bear zero responsibility for the actions of your animal and therefore you must provide adequate documentation of indemnity.

  • If your roommate is an original tenant on the lease, they may retain the apartment with the understanding that they are responsible for 100% of the rental amount. The remaining original tenant may seek to replace your position with a sub-tenant. That sub-tenant will not be added to the lease and is therefore a tenant of the master tenant. San Francisco Rent Ordinance provides the ability for the replacement of a master tenant on a one-to-one basis.

  • You must notify our office and give a minimum 30-day notice prior to move out despite the lease termination date. Our leases convert to month to month after the initial 12 month term expires. Once the 30-day notice has been submitted to our office, a verification of receipt will be issued to you with the option to schedule a pre move out walk through with a representative from our office. That walkthrough will determine if there are any obvious security deposit deductions that might occur, thus giving the departing resident adequate time to remedy such items.

  • Generally speaking the landlord is responsible for maintaining the functionality of appliances and all building systems. If the cause of a maintenance request is determined to have been attributed to misuse by the resident; it will be charged to the resident. For instance, if a resident calls to say that their disposal is jammed and it is determined that a bottle cap was dropped down the drain, that maintenance request cost will be billed to the tenant.