The Rent Board Housing Inventory

You can report into the Housing Inventory using the Rent Board Portal. You will need to create an account.

All information submitted is done under penalty of perjury. 

If you are a property owner, you must provide your name and confirm the unit is owner-occupied.

Non-owner occupied units are occupied by someone other than the owner. This may include tenants, lodgers, employees, family members, and guests.

If you are a property owner, you must provide your:

• Name and business contact information, or contact information for your property manager/agent 
• Business registration number for the unit, if any 
• Approximate square footage of unit in 250 square foot increments (If you are unsure you may use your best approximate answer. You will not be penalized for an inaccurate answer as long as you have reported to the best of your knowledge. You can search your property on the San Francisco Property Information Map if you need to know the square footage of your building.)
• Number of bedrooms 
• Number of bathrooms 
• The date current occupancy began (If you are unsure you may use your best approximate answer. You will not be penalized for an inaccurate answer as long as you have reported to the best of your knowledge.)
• The amount of base rent paid by the occupant in $250.00 increments, and whether the base rent includes payments of any utilities by the landlord 

If you are a property owner, you must provide your:

• Name and business contact information, or contact information for your property manager/agent 
• Business registration number for the unit, if any 
• Approximate square footage of unit in 250 square foot increments (If you are unsure you may use your best approximate answer. You will not be penalized for an inaccurate answer as long as you have reported to the best of your knowledge. You can search your property on the San Francisco Property Information Map if you need to know the square footage of your building.)
• Number of bedrooms 
• Number of bathrooms 
• The date current vacancy began (If you are unsure you may use your best approximate answer. You will not be penalized for an inaccurate answer as long as you have reported to the best of your knowledge.)
• The start and end dates of any other vacancies or occupancies that have occurred during the previous 12 months (If you are unsure you may use your best approximate answer. You will not be penalized for an inaccurate answer as long as you have reported to the best of your knowledge.)

For properties with five or more residential units, unit information may be reported in bulk using the Housing Inventory Excel template (more instruction is available from the Portal). 

Note that the Excel template is not recommended for users unfamiliar with Microsoft Excel or for properties containing a small number of units.

Instead, we recommend using the Portal’s “Individual Unit” submission form to report information about your units individually. Please refer to this User Guide for assistance with completing the Excel template.

If you are a property owner, once you have reported into the Housing Inventory, a rent increase license will be automatically generated for non-owner occupied units. A landlord must have a current rent increase license on file with the Rent Board before any annual or banked rent increase can go into effect. The rent increase license does not need to be included with your rent increase notice.

You will still need to comply with all other local and state rent increase laws. Learn about Rent Increases.

If you are a tenant, you can search the Rent Board Portal to see if your landlord is up to date with their rent increase license. 

The Rent Board Portal is where you can pay your Rent Board Fee and report into the Housing Inventory. You will need to set up an account and use the pin number on your Annual Notice to add property to your account. If you need to reset your pin number you can call 311 (415-701-2311 from outside San Francisco).

A user guide is available on the Rent Board Portal if you need help setting up your account.

Once your account is set up, you can edit the contact, update the primary mailing address (address where notices are delivered) and enter a phone number and/or email.

Limited information is available on the Rent Board Portal without an account. Both property owners and tenants can create an account to access more information.

To notify the Rent Board of a change in ownership, please email rentboard.inventory@sfgov.org with the subject heading: "Rent Board Fee: Change of Ownership."

Please include the property address, APN, and any documentation that demonstrates the change in ownership.

You may send an email to rentboard.inventory@sfgov.org with the property information for assistance.

All TIC co-owners are jointly held responsible for the annual Rent Board fee assessed to the property, regardless of their ownership share. 

The primary contact for the TIC property should notify other TIC co-owners of the fee and inventory reporting requirement.

Each TIC owner can create a separate account and submit exemption or inventory information online in the Portal.

If you cannot access the Rent Board Portal, you may be able to submit paper filings. Please note that processing of a paper application may be slower than an application filed through the Rent Board Portal. Paper filings can be emailed to rentboard.inventory@sfgov.org or dropped off at the Rent Board office between 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

• Paper filings for the Housing Inventory

Tenants can create an account in the Rent Board Portal.

Tenants can submit Housing Inventory information and look up whether or not a unit has a Rent Increase License.