San Francisco fines Chinatown SRO owners for housing violations

San Francisco’s ongoing crackdown against the owners of single room occupancy, or SRO, properties produced some results this week.

City Attorney David Chiu’s office said yesterday (Tuesday) that three landlords in San Francisco's Chinatown have agreed to pay more than 800-thousand dollars  in penalties for repeated code violations related to health and safety at their properties.

Those include shoddy plumbing, electrical code violations, and illegally adding units to their single room occupancy properties.

The SROs are used as hotels and for longer term tenancy. The City Attorney’s office said properties involved were primarily rented to Chinese immigrants, who did not speak English.

The stipulated injunction and judgement settles a lawsuit brought by the city in 2023. The suit alleged the violations created a public nuisance and violated state housing laws.