2021 California

I lived in this building for two years and had a very favorable experience. Great location, wonderful neighbors & pet friendly. Bob (landlord) work out a situation where I could move to a different floor and save on rent, which was a nice surprise considering how terrible many building owners can be to their tenants.
I realize some people have had bad experiences here and I cannot speak for them. But my time at 2021 California St was great. That first unit I had there was spacious with some pretty cool amenities (especially in the kitchen, where I had a Wolf stove with a griddle, so cooking became fun).
Renting in SF is challenging. There’s no denying that. But for me, personally, things worked out well with Bob. I hope future tenants have a similar experience. :-)

I lived in this building for seven years. It is in a great location, as others have said. It is very pet friendly, and most of the people who live there are also nice folks (as are most of their dogs). I found it hard to get to know people, because they were constantly moving out.
I found the place and Bob okay for the first few years. After that, not so much. If I could have moved out sooner, I would have (long story). There were two infestations of mice during the time I was there. The second time, my new cat killed thirteen mice in two weeks. At that point, Bob finally started repairing the holes (more than a hundred) in the wall between my apartment and the breezeway where the overflowing trash cans and piles of junk live.
Bob routinely installs appliances that are very, very used. My dishwasher was older than the one my family installed in 1973. When it broke, Bob refused to even look at it. It caused a leak, which he also refused to look at, which eventually resulted in my falling through the rotted floor.
Bob will go to any lengths to save money, including spending hours every week sorting the trash so he can redeem the bottles. He almost never hires anyone. He takes months, even years, to make promised repairs. PG&E did, in fact, turn the power off for three days, because Bob never quite got around to replacing the meters, as required by law. He has numerous inspection violations on record with building, health and fire safety inspectors.
Bob also likes to sue people. When I moved out, he sued me for nearly a years worth of rent, because he uses a rental contract form that makes the yearly lease automatically renewable. It is an illegal contract. I countersued. In the end, he paid me multiple thousands of dollars. When we settled, he had just filed two more identical suits with other recent tenants. He has literally filed dozens of suits a year, and almost never returns security deposits. I was lucky. I found a great lawyer (Jessica Alexandra), and had the time, energy and money to respond to his suit. If you don’t, I would think twice about moving in here.

Just the facts…
Fact 1: Great location in the city — easy walking to Fillmore, Polk St, :Lafayette Park, Whole Foods, etc.
Fact 2: One of the few places in SF where you can have dogs, and multiple dogs.
Fact 3: The power was shut off in the building by PG&E due to a violation.
Fact 4: The building has been infested with rodents (rats & mice) repeatedly over the years.
Fact 5: The landlord is quite well known at the San Francisco Rent board.
Fact 6: The landlord & owner have been quite busy with litigation involving his tenants — check out the Superior Court of California SF County’s website. Look up his name and the owner’s name in the Search by Name query. Decide for yourself if you want to deal with this potential risk.
These facts pretty much speak for themselves — especially #5 and #6.
Good luck!

Although this place doesn’t have many reviews, I thought I would do my fair share to contribute to the community awareness in order to help spare other potential tenants from the hassle and pain of living under a roof maintained by the landlord; we will call him «Bobby». I am a former tenant who finally decided to step up to the plate and share my experiences. The building itself isnt half bad. It has a roof, a floor, and many walls. Beyond that mice seem to be a real problem. Poor maintenance and neglect also seem to be a real problem. But never fear, «Bobby» will take care of things… probably not in your lifetime though. Keep in mind that when dealing with the landlord or mgmt staff, you will probably be treated as if you have an IQ of 25, are blind, and also be prepared for un-​announced visits into your apartment. Aside from those small problems, which really aren’t that small at all, the building could be a keeper. Its a real shame that poor staffing, strange personalities, and an inherent tendency to be flat out lazy causes this property to be one that is really not worth your time. Heres lookin’ at you. Take your best shot :)

this is the WORST BUILDING IN THE CITY with the WORST SLUMLORD!!! I’m surprised there wasn’t already a review, but I know a year ago, if I had seen a review like this I would be a lot happier today. The building is horrible, we had a mice problem and this landlord takes about 20 – 25 days to do the repairs by himself. He’s quite rude also. He’ll try and sucker you into signing a 3 year lease with the incentive being that he’ll apply part of your deposit every month for the last two years (so you essentially get 200 bucks off a month for 24 months) But you would be nutty to stay here for the full 3 years. He also asks for 2 months’ rent for the deposit so you’re either putting down 4400 or 5600, but most people move out by breaking their lease b/​c they just can’t take it, and then of course he keeps the deposit and he essentially has 2 months to fill the apartment before he starts losing money by it being vacant. The reason I lived here is b/​c I have two dogs and couldn’t find any other place to accept them, but just live farther away in a better building. don’t live here, whatever you do. you’ll end up regretting it or dreading having to deal with him when you need something to be repaired.