SF Evictions Down (Wait. What About the CRISIS?)

With all the voiced concerns/screaming/squawking/insert your preference from the SF Tenant's Union of late regarding a (perceived?) eviction crisis, we're surprised to read the Rent Board's March 20, 2007 Annual Eviction Report.

In the words of Executive Director Delene Wolf:
"The number of notices filed with the Department this year represents an 8.9% decrease over the prior year’s total filings of 1,621, and is about the same as the prior year’s total of 1,446 filings."

Nuisance causes ranked first again (19.3% of all evictions), followed by lease breaches (18.6%), the ever-castigated Ellis Act (16.7%), and OMIs (14.9%).

Natch, the data begs this question: If nuisances are the most "successful" route to eviction, why aren't Chris Daly and Aaron Peskin doing all they can to make tenants exempt from ever causing them? We feel some legislation coming on whereby tenants may achieve angel status to avoid some eviction tactics. Even in absence of this, it's interesting to note that despite Mirkarimi, Daly, and Peskin's Just Cause, Ellis Act, and other maneurerings, ordinance changes seem to have had zero effect.

Read the Annual Eviction Report