The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project Releases The Sleazy 16 - Displacing Tenants for Tourists

With over 5000 listings on AirBNB, and thousands more on VRBO, Flipkey, HomeAway, etc., and a burgeoning vacation rental industry growing in response to the next Boomtown Blowout, short term rentals are clearly a factor in the displacement of long term tenants in San Francisco. Why rent to a rent-controlled tenant when you can charge 10 times as much to a tourist?! Illegal conversions of rental housing stock are a driving factor in the exponential rent increases for San Francisco residents.

This list captures a few of the abusers of the touted "Sharing Economy" - professional "hosts" of multiple full-time tourist rentals, evictors re-purposing their properties for profit, "Hackerspace" entrepreneurs offering the latest in overpriced bunkbed living.

Egregious offenders range from Bonnie Spindler, one of our Dirty Dozen notorious Ellis Act and OMI evictors who also rents to short-term guests, to Vic Wang, who rents out digerati dorms to the newly arrived. Also included are Darren and Valerie Lee, who Ellised multiple tenants including someone with disabilities, only to convert the units to short term rentals. There is also Jeffrey Edward Litke whose former Sierra Hotel at 20th and Mission remains on file with the City as an SRO. He left the blighted building empty for years, and it is now a Techie Live/Work dorm called 20Mission.


The SLEAZY 16

Short Term Rental Abusers - Displacing Tenants for Tourists

1. DAVID BELLINGS - An attorney, real estate agent and broker who specializes in condo conversions and “luxury transactions”. With over 20 properties of his own in San Francisco. he offers units for vacation rental.
2. EMILY BERKERT - Emily is one of the many “hosts” who offer “their” many
“homes” to guests. Like other vacation rental agents, she has developed a profitable business serving other “Sharers” as well as offering units at her own property for vacation rental.
3. BJ AND MALCOLM COLTON - Owner of BJ Droubi in Noe Valley, BJ lists 8 vacation units in San Francisco and Sonoma
4. SEAN CONWAY - Co-founder and CEO of AirEnvy, a concierge service that
manages vacation-rentals, with 18 listings on AirBNB.
5. PETER ISKANDAR - He Ellised a Greenwich Street Ellised property now being advertised as a short term rental.
6. PAMELA KELLEY - A real estate agent who runs a vacation rental business. Offering at least six vacation rentals, she was written up in the New York Times in 2011 describing her lucrative business model.
7. DARREN AND VALERIE LEE - They are being sued by the City Attorney for converting Ellised units into luxury vacation rentals, even after they assured the Planning Department that they had stopped.
8. DANIEL LEFFLER - He forced the long term tenants of his Shotwell Street property to move, and offers the units full time on AirBNB. He recently stopped listing daily rentals and moved to monthly offerings, charging around $8000/month per unit.
9. JEFFRY EDWARD LITKE - Litke’s property – the former Sierra Hotel at 20th and Mission - is still on file with the City as an SRO. He left the blighted building empty for
years. It is now a Techie Live/Work dorm called 20Mission.
10. CHARLES AND SHARON MANNING - The Mannings permanently reside in
Nashville, TN, where they enact austerity cuts on students at University of
West Virginia. They have 6 homes in SF that they rent out on VRBO.
11. FERGUS O’SULLIVAN - O’Sullivan is a notorious slumlord, Ellis Act evictor, and
contractor. He also rents out short term rentals on FOS and AirBNB.
12. NINA GENESON OITS - An “expert" in TIC financing, Nina Otis owns multiple
properties. After clearing tenants out of 451 Tehama, she offered all 4 units on VRBO.
13. BONNIE SPINDLER - Bonnie has been a pioneer in creating the vacation rental
market, just as she and her employer, Zephyr Real Estate have been pioneers in developing speculation in San Francisco real estate by using OMI and Ellis Act evictions to flip units.
14. VIC WANG - Vic’s digerati dorms are heavily dependent on AirBNB. He has 28
listings in SF, and more throughout Silicone Valley.
15. LOIS WONG - Wong owns 5 buildings in San Francisco and has 33 listings on AirBNB.
16. THE YUROVSKY FAMILY - They advertise 6 formerly rent controlled units on VRBO and AirBNB.

* Note - These are listed in alphabetical order and do not reflect the degree of their sleaziness.