From the street, the four buildings at 316-328 Alemany Blvd. appear to be a typical collection of San Francisco row houses.
But a lawsuit filed in May 2023 by City Attorney David Chiu accused the property’s owners of illegally converting 13 authorized residential units into 32. Several had inaccessible emergency exits — putting tenants at risk of harm in the event of a fire — and inspectors found extensive unpermitted work and cockroach and rodent infestations inside.
This month, city officials won a $1.2 million judgment against the ownership entity, 320 Alemany LLC, and its manager, Jack Tseng, for the violations.
That court victory is part of $2.5 million in penalties won by the city in July in three separate judgments against property owners accused of exploiting tenants who lived in units rife with code violations and inadequate safety measures.
Nathalie Emmanuel, who identified herself as a long-term tenant of the property on Alemany Boulevard, said she has seen the owner attempt to address some of the basic cleanliness and habitability issues laid out in the lawsuit.
Tseng and his attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Filed building and planning permits at the property show limited efforts by the owner to address violations related to the fire escape system. Another tenant said they have seen work done to expand the fire escape platforms to bring them up to code.
Tseng has appealed the enforcement effort on the illegal residential unit additions; the case will be heard Aug. 14 by the city’s Board of Appeals.
Four apartments into 22
City officials also won a $1.04 million judgment against Naim and Sana Jamali, owners of a 22-unit building at 333 Randolph St. in Ingleside Heights, over code and legal violations, including renting illegal and unsafe units to immigrant tenants.
An inspection revealed that the 22-unit building was legally permitted for only four. This was achieved by illegally converting the basement and other areas into residential space without adequate safeguards, such as fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and proper electrical wiring.
Court documents show that the landlords collected more than $1 million since May 2018 through the rental of illegal and substandard units.
The landlords allegedly targeted immigrants with limited English proficiency and entered into commercial leases for basement areas that were permitted for storage or commercial use but had been illegally converted into dwelling units.
Several tenants had sued the property owners over habitability issues. City inspectors found numerous issues, including cockroach and rodent infestations and overflowing garbage bins.
The Jamalis’ attorney, Philip Segal, called the case and judgment “a complete travesty of justice” and claimed his clients were hampered from addressing the violations due to delays by San Francisco Planning.
Segal said basement storage units were rented under commercial leases, and tenants violated the terms of the lease agreements by living in them.
However, the city claimed in its suit that the property owners “entered into commercial leases with many tenants knowing full well that these tenants were residing at the property.” Furthermore, the city’s complaint states, the commercial leases provided to tenants were “consistent with residential tenancy.”
“The city’s side is that my clients are these horrible slumlords, and that’s just not true at all,” Segal said, adding that the Jamalis plan to appeal the case.
Permits filed with the city show that the building owners have aimed to address issues raised by city officials, including rodents coming up through the floor drain in the basement and kitchen and bathroom facilities being installed without permits.
Cockroach infestations
In the third case, city officials won a $550,000 settlement against Nasir Patel and the other owners of Marathon Hotel and Apartments in the Tenderloin.
The single-room occupancy hotel at 710 Ellis St. was the subject of myriad code violations, including cockroach infestations, excessive rodent droppings, missing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and missing doorknobs on shared shower rooms.
“It’s all getting resolved, and things are getting abated. To my knowledge, that’s what’s happening,” said Walter J. Lin, an attorney for the property owners. “There’s a plan to get everything back in shape.”
However, one tenant said residents are still contending with numerous habitability issues.
According to the court order, a handful of the notices of violation from city officials have been addressed, while some remain outstanding. Failure to address the outstanding violations may lead to additional penalties for the property owner.
“The unsafe conditions created by these landlords were tragedies waiting to happen,” Chiu said in a statement. “All of these landlords profited from illegal conversions with disregard for the safety of their tenants. I am grateful our Code Enforcement Team is holding these property owners accountable and working tirelessly to make our communities safer.”