San Francisco family incensed after sudden 90% rent hike

A young family in San Francisco‘s Richmond District is facing heartbreak and potential displacement after receiving a shocking notice of a nearly 90% rent increase.This astronomical rent bump means their monthly payment will go from $3,695 to a whopping $7,000 starting in September 2026.“I could cry right now.

I’ve been doing a lot of crying,” Ashley Waldman told NBC Bay Area of the rent increase.“This is our home, so it’s been really difficult.”Ashley Waldman and her husband Zachary, both aged in their early 30s, moved into their two-bedroom, two-bath, top-floor condo in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and started a family there.

Their 19-month-old son Henry has grown up in that condo and attends nearby subsidized daycare.The family described the home as a safe, comfortable place they hoped to stay in long-term.When they first moved in, the original rent on the home was $3,500, where it stayed until 2025 before being bumped up to a still-digestible monthly amount.Last Friday, the tenants found a notice taped to their door informing them of the massive increase following the building’s recent change in ownership at the end of May.

The new owners claim the single-family property is exempt from certain San Francisco and state tenant protections, allowing for the steep hike.“They’re kicking us out,” Zach Waldman told the San Francisco Standard.“Paying this is not an option.

We can’t afford that.Not even close.”The Waldmans’ situation is emblematic of the brutal economic reality many San Francisco renters face in a city with chronic housing shortages and sky-high market rents.

While San Francisco has rent control laws that typically limit annual increases (currently capped at 1.6% for covered units, according to the San Francisco Rent Control Board), certain properties — especially those that recently changed ownership or fall under specific exemptions — can see much larger jumps.Since the Waldmans moved into their Richmond Distr...