With rising rent in San Francisco, proposal would prevent renters from surprised hidden fees

As rents continue to climb in San Francisco, a new proposal at City Hall aims to prevent renters from being surprised by hidden fees that can add hundreds of dollars to their monthly housing costs.

Supervisor Bilal Mahmood plans to introduce legislation next week that would require landlords to disclose all fees associated with a rental unit and provide renters with an estimated total monthly housing cost before they sign a lease.

The proposal comes as San Francisco's rental market remains among the most expensive in the country.

Alyson Isaacs recently began searching for a new apartment in the city. 

"There's a lot on the market right now, but it's all very expensive, I think, because of the AI boom," Isaacs said.

Isaacs, who works in tech and is developing an AI-powered personal wellness assistant, said apartment hunting often becomes more costly as additional fees are revealed.

"There's always these kinds of hidden fees you don't really realize you owe until you're either in the apartment, you're deep in your search, or you're closing," she said.

According to apartment listing platform Zumper, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco recently surpassed $4,000 for the first time. The city is also experiencing some of the fastest annual rent growth in the nation.

Mahmood said his office found dozens of fees that are sometimes charged to renters but are often not disclosed up front.

"What we found was that there's actually 27 different types of fees that can be included in your rent, but were never disclosed, and that can increase the cost of rent by 10 to 30%," Mahmood said.

Examples of those charges can include pest control fees, trash concierge services and amenity fees.

Mahmood said the measure would make San Francisco the first city in California to require this level of rental fee disclosure.

Under the proposal, landlords would be required to list all mandatory and optional fees on the first page of a lease agreement.

"It's going to require that landlords have to, on the first page of your lease agreement, provide every fee that they're going to charge you, or even optional fees, right on the first page," Mahmood said.

The legislation would also require landlords to display an estimated total monthly housing cost alongside the advertised base rent in rental listings, including online advertisements.

Daisy Hernandez, co-founder and CEO of The Apartment Plug, a Bay Area apartment-search platform, said the proposal could help renters make more informed decisions.

"I think it would improve our business, if anything, because then renters are better able to make decisions on the apartments that they want to move forward on," Hernandez said.

For renters like Isaacs, increased transparency could make a difficult housing search a little easier.

"Transparency, especially for rental units, is the gold standard, and that's what we all expect.  That's what we all deserve," she said.

Mahmood's proposal also includes eviction protections. If fees are not properly disclosed, tenants can not be evicted for failing to pay those charges. The legislation would also allow renters to terminate a lease without penalties if undisclosed fees are later imposed.

Mahmood is expected to formally introduce the measure at a board of supervisors meeting next week.