{"id":466845,"date":"2026-09-17T14:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466845\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:40:22","slug":"even-in-a-hot-rental-market-what-renters-shouldnt-settle-on-when-looking-for-a-new-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/466845\/","title":{"rendered":"Even in a Hot Rental Market, What Renters Shouldn\u2019t Settle on When Looking for a New Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is part of How We Get By, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with rising costs in the Bay Area and California. Find the full series here<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking for a rental property in San Francisco<\/a> is not for the faint of heart \u2014 a fact Beyond Deng has come to understand very well.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old policy researcher has a few days left to find a new home, after his landlord sold the Mission District apartment Deng shares with two friends. To stay in the city, Deng is now searching for a new home in one of the country\u2019s hottest rental markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the sky-high prices and intense competition weren\u2019t even the biggest surprises, he said: \u201cIt was how little I would get for so much that I would have to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"An apartment-for-rent sign hangs outside of an apartment building on Dec. 4, 2025, in San Francisco.\u00a0(Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Fueled in part by the AI boom, rents in San Francisco have risen<\/a> this year faster than anywhere else in the country \u2014 bringing with them a new breed of scams<\/a> \u2014 and the rest of the Bay Area is also feeling the heat<\/a>. The few remaining options on the market, however, are forcing many renters to scale down their expectations even more to find a home in the region.<\/p>\n

One spot Deng considered was a 110-square-foot room<\/a> with only a sink and a closet. The kitchen and bathroom were shared by more than a dozen other residents. Monthly rent for the property was listed at $1,400.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m going to pay that much, let me just gather all my things, go back down South and try to find a whole house,\u201d Houston-raised Deng joked.<\/p>\n

\nA compromise too far?\n<\/p>\n

Other renters are looking into homes where tenants are already jostling for limited amenities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c1lvaro Galv\u00e1n, a data scientist who just found a new rental spot, recalled visiting a three-bedroom home in the Excelsior District shared by seven people during his own search. When he asked about the TV in the living room, Galv\u00e1n said the existing tenants told him, \u201cThat\u2019s our TV.\u201d Meaning: \u201cThey could use the TV \u2014 but me, as their subtenant \u2014 could not,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

High prices and endless competition may encourage you to look for fewer amenities than you\u2019d like, said San Francisco-based attorney and tenants\u2019 rights advocate Joshua Ezrin. But there are actually \u201cbasic state rules governing habitability,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n

\"\"A for-rent sign hangs in the window of an apartment building in San Francisco\u2019s Nob Hill on July 29, 2021.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

And you should be very careful, he added, \u201cabout entering into any type of lease with a landlord that is knowingly renting a unit that is violating these basic state rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Think you could hypothetically live in a rented room with no natural lighting \u2014 and where the bathroom is located in a different building<\/a>? The law says something different, said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation for the San Francisco renters\u2019 rights group, Eviction Defense Collaborative. \u201cYou do have rights and protections as a tenant,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n

Keep reading for what legal experts recommend tenants should remember when looking for a new rental home in California \u2014 especially when a limited budget and a tight market might be forcing you to limit your expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nWhat does the law say homes in California need to have?\n<\/p>\n

There are several laws that detail what all living spaces \u2014 \u201cdwelling\u201d is the official term used \u2014in California must have. These rules apply when you own the home you live in, or when you are renting a house, apartment or an individual room.<\/p>\n

The home \u201chas to be fit for a human being to live in,\u201d said Prochovnick from Eviction Defense Collaborative. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty low bar to meet \u2014 but it is a requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

One law requires<\/a> all dwellings (including hotel rooms) to have the following:<\/p>\n

A sinkA working heating systemA toiletShower or bathtubElectricityA ventilation systemSome form of natural light<\/p>\n

But another law<\/a> specific to rental agreements goes even further: landlords have an immediate obligation to comply with the standards above if they expect individuals to live in this home.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of this year, California also requires<\/a> rental homes to have a fridge and a stove \u2014 and property owners must repair or replace them if they stop working.<\/p>\n

If the home didn\u2019t have a heater or fridge when you moved in, you can still ask your landlord to meet the state\u2019s obligations after you\u2019ve begun living there, as there\u2019s no time limit on invoking these rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cTenants don\u2019t waive their rights if there are problems when they move in,\u201d Prochovnick said.<\/p>\n

And if you are renting an individual room in a house or large building but that room does not include its own private bathroom or kitchen, your landlord must grant you access to the bathroom and kitchen of that property. You have access to the shared amenities even if the space you are paying for does not explicitly include them.<\/p>\n

\nHow can you flag problems before you move in?\n<\/p>\n

Renters absolutely have a right to ask property owners to follow state regulations even if they haven\u2019t signed a lease yet, Prochovnick said. But she also acknowledged that some people may feel unsure \u2014 to put it mildly \u2014 about bringing issues up with a landlord during an interview or a crowded open house.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there\u2019s a lot of competition for every unit, and you don\u2019t want the landlord to think you\u2019re a troublemaker from day one,\u201d she said. \u201cBut this is something we have to weigh: How bad are the problems that you want to point them out now \u2014 or later?\u201d<\/p>\n

And how a property owner responds to you asking a question about what the apartment has \u2014 or lacks \u2014 can also be an opportunity for you to learn how they may deal with future needs, added Ezrin, the San Francisco-based attorney.<\/p>\n

\"\"A for-rent sign on a house in San Francisco\u2019s Mission District on March 31, 2020.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

\u201cAre these going to be folks that will be responsive to your repair and maintenance requests?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n

Ezrin recommended that you get a record \u2014 in writing \u2014 from a prospective landlord outlining what problems will be fixed: \u201ceither in the lease itself, in a lease addendum or in some separate side agreement before you execute the lease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why is this important? So you have something in writing verifying the problem actually exists, Ezrin explained. This also means you\u2019re putting the landlord \u201con notice of the issue,\u201d he said, so that they can move forward with necessary repairs before you move into the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are folks who have no other options based on financial limitations and what the market has available,\u201d he acknowledged. \u201cSo sometimes you\u2019re going to concede points that you might not want to.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, \u201cyou should be very careful about entering into any type of lease with a landlord that knowingly is renting a unit that is violating the basic state rules governing habitability,\u201d Ezrin warned.<\/p>\n

\nHow small is too small?\n<\/p>\n

Another thing many Bay Area tenants might grudgingly sacrifice to find a place that\u2019s in their budget: space.<\/p>\n

On Craigslist, there are hundreds of Bay Area listings<\/a> for homes with three or more people already sharing the space \u2014 and of course, some San Franciscans are even paying $700 per month for a bunk bed<\/a> in a room with 30 other adults.<\/p>\n

But even in a very crowded home, state law requires minimum physical requirements for those inhabitants. The ceiling height must be at least 7 feet, 6 inches. \u201cYou have to be able to stand up straight without bumping your head,\u201d said Prochovnick.<\/p>\n

\"\"A for-rent sign hangs outside of an apartment building in San Francisco\u2019s Nob Hill on July 29, 2021.\u00a0(Beth LaBerge\/KQED)<\/p>\n

State law also dictates<\/a> that every dwelling must be a minimum of 70 square feet, she said \u2014 which includes bedrooms. And if you\u2019re renting just a bed in a room that\u2019s shared with other people, the room where you all sleep in must be bigger than 70 square feet.<\/p>\n

You also have a right to privacy within the space that you are paying for. Even if you are renting a room in a friend or family member\u2019s home, they cannot enter your bedroom without a proper reason and proper notice, Prochovnick said.<\/p>\n

One of those reasons could be that you have invited your landlord to enter your room, or there\u2019s an emergency. Otherwise, your landlord can come in only<\/a> to:<\/p>\n

Make necessary or agreed-upon repairs.Inspect the room\u2019s condition at the start or end of your lease.Show the space to a potential tenant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of How We Get By, a KQED series exploring how people are coping with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-466845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466845\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}