San Francisco City Attorney sues Bernal Heights 4-residential-building landlord and its manager for illegally converted units and fire hazards

(SAN FRANCISCO) A company which owns four residential buildings in the Bernal Heights neighborhood and its Chinese American manager were sued by the San Francisco City Attorney's Office for illegally converting double of the units and fire safety violations.

City Attorney David Chiu announced the lawsuit on June 2. “These properties create serious fire hazards. After dozens of illegal conversions, the landlord has made significant profit from the same tenants he put in harm’s way. We are taking action to ensure the safety issues are corrected and the landlord is held accountable,” Chiu said in the press release.

According to the lawsuit filed by the City Attorney’s Office on May 30 at San Francisco Superior Court, 320 Alemany LLC and its manager Jack Tseng were named as the defendants. They were sued for violations of the state housing law, the San Francisco fire, building, plumbing, housing, electrical, planning, and health codes, and the state unfair competition law.

320 Alemany LLC owns four residential buildings at 316-328 Alemany Blvd. in Bernal Heights since 2003. Jack Tseng was listed as the company's solo manager who resides in San Mateo County.

The lawsuit stated that the city conducted a multi-agency task force inspection at those four buildings following complaints about illegal units. The inspection revealed that 13 approved residential units at four buildings had been illegally transformed into 32 residential units.

A large number of the units in four buildings were found lacking sufficient egress in the event of a fire. "Life safety concerns were so high that the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (DBI) ordered that two units be vacated under an emergency order and residents stop using a bedroom in units where the fire escape landing did not reach the bedroom window, thus preventing fire egress," the lawsuit document stated.

Among all 32 units, as of November 2022, 26 of the units were occupied. The tenants of the units included families and minor children.

According to the lawsuit, there are currently 26 outstanding citations issued against the defendants by four city agencies.

320 Alemany LLC's manager Tseng was alleged in the lawsuit that he was directly involved in, and primarily responsible for, the operations, management, and maintenance of four buildings, including all decisions about illegal conversion.

The city agencies which joined the task force for inspection at four buildings included the Fire Department, Department of Building Inspection, Planning Department and Department of Public Health.

Several of the units contain bedrooms with no emergency exits. Chiu said the situation raised concerns that first responders could not rescue tenants in the event of a fire.

"The fire hazards are so severe that the Department of Building Inspection issued emergency orders requiring two of the units to be vacated immediately," said Chiu. "Additional violations include inaccessible emergency exits, a fire escape not reaching bedroom windows, extensive unpermitted work, and pest infestations."

Chiu said the City Attorney’s lawsuit is seeking penalties, fees, and declaratory and injunctive relief to cure the violations at the property.