San Francisco’s City Attorney is suing a Bernal Heights property owner for illegally subdividing 13 units to make 32 different dwellings. In doing so, he failed to abate a host of “imminent and substantial” fire hazards so severe that, in one case, tenants were immediately removed from their unit because it would have been impossible to rescue them during a fire.
All the while, James Tseng, the manager of four neighboring four buildings on Alemany Boulevard, was charging tenants rent in 26 units, as of November, 2022, to live in his buildings.
“The landlord has made significant profit from the same tenants he put in harm’s way,” City Attorney David Chiu wrote in a statement. “We are taking action to ensure the safety issues are corrected and the landlord is held accountable.”
The city accused Tseng, his company, 320 Alemany LLC, and other unnamed persons involved in the illegal conversions. The city is pushing for the defendants to remediate all outstanding violations and pay tenants’ relocation fees. In addition, the defendants may be charged some $11.1 million for failing to abate 26 outstanding code violations.
In November, 2022, several city agencies investigated Tseng and found that he was collecting rent while illegally mish-mashing the interiors of his buildings, maximizing every inch of space.
Tseng allegedly crammed multiple bedrooms into a unit by partitioning rooms, converted a laundry room into a full kitchen and added laundry hook-ups into closets, according to the lawsuit.
“Unless these nuisance conditions are abated, the occupants … will suffer irreparable injury and damage,” the city’s lawsuit states.
The illegal construction led to units with a litany of fire hazards that could have resulted in disaster, according to the lawsuit.
In one Notice of Violation, issued in December, 2022, the Department of Building Inspection cited Tseng for converting the dens of five units into bedrooms “without fire escape landings.” Tseng never secured proper permits to abate the issue, and the violation remained outstanding, despite the building inspector’s repeated warnings.
Multiple units lacked fire-safety tools, like a building-wide fire alarm system, up-to-date sprinklers, and fire exits. The suit also described evidence of “unlisted fireplaces.”
In another unit, inspectors concluded that tenants “could not be rescued in the event of a fire” and vacated the unit with a 72-hour emergency order, relocating the tenants.
Tseng has a history of malfeasance, with Notices of Violations dating back to January 2009 — his first alleged illegal conversion, where he “divided each floor of the building from one permitted residential unit to two unpermitted residential units.” While Tseng and his LLC filed for permits in 2022 to rectify the situation, the applications remained pending. The violations cited by the city are still unabated.
In one particularly long-standing violation, Tseng was cited in March, 2009, for failing to have an accessible fire hose connection in the unit, alongside other habitability concerns, like a leaky sink and broken cabinets in another unit. The city issued a serious penalty known as an Order of Abatement on the property in 2013 to pressure remediation but, to date, the Notice of Violation remains, some 10 years later.
Tseng also allegedly approved shoddy electrical and plumbing work in his units, which also suffered from pest infestations, including mold and cockroaches; the roach infestation was never completely abated. The City Attorney alleged that conditions in Tseng’s units not only endanger the health and safety of residents, but “are offensive to the senses.”
The properties targeted in the City Attorney’s suit are at 316-18 Alemany Blvd., 320 Alemany Blvd., 322 Alemany Blvd., and 326-28 Alemany Blvd, all a stone’s throw from the Alemany Farmers Market space.
The buildings are not the first in District 9 in which contractors have illegally added numerous units into buildings to the detriment of tenants’ safety: In 2021, the city investigated a series of connected four-story buildings at 2867 San Bruno Ave. with 19 extra units, leading to the resignation of senior inspector, and since-confessed federal criminal Bernie Curran.
Supervisor Hillary Ronen, for her part, called attention to a pattern of developers unlawfully maximizing space — and profits — at the expense of tenants.
“The violations outlined against the owner in this complaint are alarming and serious,” she said. “We must continue to make it clear as a city that knowingly flouting our building and fire codes is not tolerated as the cost of doing business for developers and will be fined to the maximum extent of the law.”
I’m happy to know that the rules are in place, so well done, San Francisco; but why has it taken so long to prosecute this man? A flouted rule is better than no rule, but the outcome for the tenant is the same.
the existence of long ignored violations and orders shows just how unaccountable some city depts are in ensuring their work and duties are ACTUALLY CARRIED OUT!!! For such an important dept for public safety to allow serious violation of law go unattended is totally obscene. and those who were asleep at the wheel are still employed and collecting pay (from our taxes).. for nothing, thank you very much.
The city should seize the building from Tseng, and do the same thing with any other slumlords.
Great article, crappy situation. I wonder what could have been done sooner? Should the BOS consider some ordinances that make sure cases like this don’t fester?
I know I once reported an illegal unit and despite speaking with inspector, nothing could be done unless the owner voluntarily agreed to an inspection. Of course they’re not going to. I don’t understand how the city could possibly enforce anything if they have to be voluntarily invited in to view illegal activity.
These are the unethical owners that the city should prosecute harshly. Instead, Dean Preston penalizes and villainizes small mom n’ pop landlords, nickeling and dime-ing us, always trying to increase rent controls, and forcing us to keep on tenants who refuse to pay the rent that they are contracted to pay. That is why many are getting out of the business. Thanks to SF’s rent control laws, it will soon have no more small landlords. I doubt that it will like its corporate owners any better.
I doesn’t make sense to be a landlord in SF. The landlord is always in the middle. Both the city and renter have so much leverage indeed the landlord is better off taking the units off the market and writing them off on their tax
returns as a loss. My 4 unit Mission building will sit half rented. It’s like I’m signing a deal with the city not the potential tenants. I price my units at 2005 rates. Meanwhile I’m responsible for every new city mandated code update. It doesn’t make sense to rent. For the private landlord it’s at best a break even business. With the minuscule allowed rent increases it’s not possible maintain the building and with inflation forget it. The landlord is the whipping boy for renters.
Serious question: At some point, doesn’t this behavior warrant criminal charges? Why does the city have to sue him? Can’t they just arrest the guy?
What do you expect to happen when no punishment results after repeated warnings or notices? People think you have no guts to back up your threats.
The real issue is the expensive, corrupt and inefficient permitting process and totally lack of effort by our city to build affordable housing. I guess the city would rather have these people homeless (seems in line with our local politics). Some local corrupt nonprofits waiting in the wings for funding to “help” these citizens once they land in the streets.
To all those who complain about building casting shadows, seems you prefer tents on the sidewalks.
Since the landlord put his tenants in harm’s way by illegally converting dwelling units, he should be arrested and charged with endangerment.
Is there a direct correlation between Mr. Tseng and the San Bruno Ave buildings?
The 300-block of Alemany is also in the sewer-flooding zone that extends from the 101-280 interchange. It isn’t just the Mission that gets flooded by the SFPUC.