by Jordan Wasilewski
On September 3, I rolled out of bed, went to the Homelessness Oversight Commission (HOC), saw that the director’s report did not include the annual report of evictions from permanent supportive housing, and, as is my style, called them out on it in the loudest and most profane way possible. I had a copy of the FY2025-2026 eviction data in my hands, but after channeling my best Peter Finch from the movie “Network,” I decided to rip up the report right in front of the commission.
On August 25, 2022, the San Francisco Chronicle released its exposé on permanent supportive housing evictions. A child born on the day that exposé came out would already be in transitional kindergarten. In response to this, PSH tenants contacted then-District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, who inherited a majority of the PSH portfolio because of redistricting, to figure out next steps. At a Land Use and Transportation Committee hearing in March of 2023, Emily Cohen, deputy communications director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH), promised that there would be real-time tracking of evictions instead of relying on annual reports. So far, we don’t have that, and the yearly reports show an incomplete picture.
However, HSH released a set of guidelines on how to handle non-payment issues . If these were actual requirements that could be written into the contracts, though, it would get evictions down to functional zero. But I don’t know how many permanent supportive housing providers use these guidelines, which call for eliminating barriers to rent payment and progressive interventions prior to filing an unlawful detainer, as well as guiding the requirements for stipulations. If the permanent supportive housing providers were in a multi-person canoe, there would be a couple of directors who would try to steer in the opposite direction, and in the process, tip the boat over. There is absolutely no reason for tenants to suffer because the provider refuses to follow best practices.
A bunch of us tenants presented solutions at the August 2023 Homelessness Oversight Commission meeting, but they took no action and they continue to let this issue fester for the next three years. A baby born on the day of our presentation would be potty-trained and talking and forming friendships and possibly entering pre-kindergarten, which is kinda why I told the commission at the following meeting to “put on their big boy or big girl pants.” If HSH disburses money to housing providers, then there’s no reason contracts with the City can’t require pre-eviction arbitration hearings.
Instead of concentrating on the data, I wanted to interview the people who are engaged with the issue. Andres Salerno, an eviction defense attorney, confirmed that tenants are still being evicted for flimsy reasons. That tracks with 63% of recorded evictions for lease violations only. Furthermore, there is a troubling trend of supportive housing providers directing their attorneys—often private firms like Zanghi Torres Adams LLP—to draft stipulated agreements, in which the end product runs against best practices.
“If the City had the political will,” Salernon wrote in an email, “it could standardize the stipulation agreements and force providers to adhere to some basic terms, but this has not had a lot of success so far.”
I also spoke with Lauren Hall, executive director of Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing, who said she’d like to strike a balance between keeping residents housed and maintaining the buildings’ safety.
“We see the attorney as advising us on the best plan to balance housing retention and building/tenant safety and the property supervisors are engaged on the final agreement,” she said. While that might be true for some providers, others are just doing what they want to do.
On September 14, I attended a screening of “Beyond the Bridge,” a documentary film about the successes and challenges of Housing First. In the post-screening panel discussion, Ora Prochovnick, director of the Eviction Defense Collaborative, which oversees the Tenant Right To Counsel program, spoke about the eviction crisis, and HOC member Whit Guerrero quoted me on how the City needs to “put on their big boy pants.” While the film primarily makes the case for scattered-site housing and focuses on the successes in Milwaukee and Houston, it also addresses the power of collaboration, inclusion of residents in the process and steering everybody in the right direction—something that must happen in San Francisco.
We cannot have people whose agendas are at cross purposes with best practices, nor those who let their pettiness or discomfort hinder these meetings. Everybody needs to talk to each other, work together in good faith, and allow feedback to ensure that we have the best policy possible.
Both Salerno and Prochovnick emphasized the need for tenants in default to be able to restart their cases as well as early notification and outreach for the Eviction Defense Collaborative, but more needs to be done. For non-payment evictions, we need to remove barriers to paying rent, banning late fees, and instituting a step-by-step process of progressive interventions such as applying for rent assistance programs and third-party payments as a last resort. For lease violation evictions, we need to require substantial nuisance grounds, consideration of an appropriate alternate placement for the tenant, mediation by a third party, the abolition of internal processes for grievance, and, as a last resort, pre-eviction arbitration. For all evictions, perhaps it’s time to require HSH approval of evictions only until all options have been exhausted, parameters for stipulated agreements, as well as real-time tracking and better data collection.
Meanwhile, I have been burning the midnight oil trying to cobble together a legislative outline for a comprehensive anti-eviction policy that balances tenant safety, program solvency and ensuring that tenants are set up for success, because our success as permanent supportive housing tenants is the City’s success. I’ve already been community lead on two legislative efforts in the City regarding permanent supportive housing and SROs, and I assisted in the drafting of transgender rights legislation back when I was living in Philadelphia. I am willing to collaborate in refining this into something community-driven; I don’t know how we’ll get there, but I would like to see this passed before a child born on the day of the Chronicle exposé enters kindergarten.
If you want to be involved, please contact me at 30rightnow@gmail.com
Jordan Wasilewski (she/her) is a long-term permanent supportive housing and SRO tenant advocate, former commissioner, affordability activist, and good government girlie. You may follow her at @sfpshsro on Instagram.
