After a hallway fire in a San Francisco building, landlord Mosser Companies told residents the repairs could take nearly a year and offered them money to vacate their homes.
Tenants in many of the affected units instead returned the checks, organized together, and later joined a rent strike that helped reduce the repair estimate to roughly two weeks.
What happened?
As The San Francisco Standard reported, the dispute centered on 907 Valencia Street. Resident Tomasa Hernández told the publication that although her family made it through the February 2025 fire with little damage to their belongings, Mosser Companies later notified them that they would need to move out during repairs expected to last 10 months.
The relocation plan drew criticism for more than one reason. In addition to giving the tenants little warning to find suitable temporary accommodation they could afford, Hernández's family of four and their neighbors were reportedly offered $4,031 to leave while the work took place. However, under city law, they should have been owed $24,184. The building owner had also sent the notices before obtaining the permits required to do so.
Instead of moving out, 23 tenants living across 14 units organized with the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco and created a tenant union. Talks dragged on for months, and 11 households began a rent strike in March. By June, Mosser said a new contractor could finish the fire-related work in about 15 days.
Why does it matter?
The standoff is playing out in a city where renters are already under heavy strain. The Standard reported that San Francisco is on pace for its highest eviction totals in more than a decade in 2026. The median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $4,000 a month.
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That risk is especially serious for people in rent-controlled apartments, because a "temporary" relocation can still end in permanent displacement. Finding a similar home for a comparable monthly price would be almost impossible, and moving elsewhere would also take children away from local schools and parents from nearby jobs.
Hayle Meyerhoff, an organizer at the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, told the outlet that repair schedules often run far longer than initially promised, leaving tenants unable to afford coming back.
"The fact that it went from 10 months to 15 days is a massive victory," Meyerhoff said.
Housing policies can also affect how much money renters are able to keep in day-to-day life. Across the country, some landlords and housing managers have been accused of blocking residents from money-saving practices like gardening and hanging clotheslines to dry laundry. These small steps can help reduce grocery and energy costs when budgets are already under strain.
What's being done?
A major part of the tenants' strategy at 907 Valencia was collective bargaining through a recognized tenant union. A 2022 local ordinance requires landlords to recognize tenant unions and negotiate with them in good faith, giving renters more leverage when disputes arise over repairs, relocations, or habitability.
The residents also teamed up with tenant-rights organizers and anti-eviction lawyers, sought written assurances that they would be allowed to return, and built neighborhood support through banners and local outreach.
"I was worried," Hernández said. "I didn't know where we'd go."
Now, the tenants union is here to stay.
"Hasta que salganos," Hernández said, laughing, per The Standard. "Not until they kick us out."
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