A San Francisco tenant has filed a comprehensive lawsuit against his landlord and associated property management companies, alleging multiple violations of local rent control laws. On August 16, 2024, Bradley Gudzinas lodged the complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, targeting 455 Hyde I3, LP, GreenTree Property Management (also known as Veritas Investments), Yardi Systems, Inc., Nixon Peabody LLP, and Dean Preston.
The plaintiff, Bradley Gudzinas, who resides at 455 Hyde Street in San Francisco under a rental agreement dated November 2, 2023, claims that his landlord began unlawfully charging him additional utility fees through a "Ratio Utility Billing System" (RUBS) starting December 2023. These charges for water, sewer, and trash collection were added on top of his base rent of $2,175 per month. According to the San Francisco Rent Ordinance—specifically Chapter 37 of the San Francisco Administrative Code—such utility fees are considered part of the rent and should not exceed the legal rent ceiling for controlled units.
Despite these regulations and confirmation from the San Francisco Rent Board that utility costs are part of tenants' base rent under the ordinance, Gudzinas alleges that his landlord continued to impose these illegal charges. The complaint states: "Landlord's imposition of additional RUBS utility charges on top of Plaintiff's base rent therefore violates the Rent Ordinance." Furthermore, when Gudzinas disputed these fees, he was allegedly threatened with eviction by Nixon Peabody LLP on behalf of his landlord.
Gudzinas also implicates Dean Preston in his lawsuit. Preston is an elected member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 5 and is known for advocating tenants' rights. The plaintiff asserts that despite raising concerns about these unlawful charges to Preston multiple times since early 2021, Preston failed to take any meaningful action to investigate or halt these practices. This inaction allegedly allowed ongoing violations to continue unchecked.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of various infractions including violation of the San Francisco Rent Ordinance; unfair business practices; negligent misrepresentation; intentional misrepresentation and concealment; breach of contract; breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; retaliation; intentional infliction of emotional distress; public and private nuisance; and negligence. The complaint details how these actions have caused economic harm and emotional distress to Gudzinas.
Gudzinas seeks several forms of relief from the court: compensatory damages including restitution for all unlawful RUBS fees collected (exceeding $417), damages for emotional distress caused by defendants' conduct, punitive damages up to twice the compensatory amount based on malice or fraud by defendants; statutory damages including civil penalties up to $500 per month per violation under the Rent Ordinance; treble damages for willful violations; a civil penalty under California Civil Code §1942.5 for retaliatory conduct; injunctive relief prohibiting separate utility charges on rent-controlled units; an order requiring defendants to refund all unlawfully collected fees; funding a $50 million Tenant Empowerment Fund aimed at supporting tenants in identifying and challenging landlord violations; increased monitoring by the San Francisco Rent Board at defendants' expense; pre-judgment interest at a legal rate; reasonable attorneys' fees and costs incurred in this action.
The case is being handled by Judge James Foronda under Case ID CEC-24-617291.