San Francisco-based Veritas Investments, one of the largest managers of apartment homes in San Francisco, announced today it is voluntarily extending to Dec. 31, 2021 a moratorium on evictions to assist residents facing financial hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. State and local moratoriums are currently set to expire June 30, 2021.

“Veritas is committed to keeping residents safely housed during this unprecedented crisis,” said Jeff Jerden, Veritas’ COO. “No resident in any Veritas-managed property will be evicted because they owe back-rent due to COVID-19 if they meet the definition of financial hardship laid out in the state’s SB 91 legislation. We’ve heard from our residents and the upcoming end to the state’s eviction moratorium coupled with the slow release of rent-relief funds is of great concern to them. Through face-to-face discussions, as well as thorough and repeated outreach with our Veritas residents, we’ve urged everyone to apply.”

Veritas had announced in March 2020 that it was instituting the nation’s first eviction moratorium, prior to legislation by the City of San Francisco that later brought all landlords and property managers under similar guidance.

With the since-instituted local and state moratoria set to expire this June 30, Veritas has been urging residents to be proactive in applying for rent relief that they are entitled to, even as local and state officials have recognized a disconnect in getting financial relief to recipients.

As reported by the Associated Press, “California has been slow to distribute funds,” having received $490 million in rental aid requests through May 31, with only $32 million paid out. Just over 2% of people in California who have applied for rent relief during the pandemic have received it, whereas the state has accrued $5.2 billion from federal aid packages to assist those whose COVID-19 related economic hardships prevented them from paying rent. “It should be enough to get the job done,” Jason Elliott, senior counselor to Gov. Gavin Newsom, told AP. “The move would fulfill a promise to landlords to help them to break even, while giving renters relief,” according to AP.

Veritas has already provided millions of dollars in rent-relief support for its residents to date, working with those that ask for assistance as well as contacting them directly.

“We will also continue to support San Francisco residents through the wide variety of programs that Veritas currently participates in or has initiated itself, including its Open Doors Program that provides temporary, furnished apartments at no cost to victims of domestic violence, wildfire survivors and cancer patients; the Home Bridge Program that helps families find relief during times of crisis, emergency or unforeseen circumstances through partnerships with Ronald McDonald House Charities and UCSF; and through our partnerships with Project Open Hand, HealthRight 360, Self-Help for the Elderly, and other programs,” added Jerden.

Star time! Three GreenTree staff were honored with awards from the San Francisco Apartment Association this month for “rising above the chaos,” as COO Jeff Jerden put it, “continuing to provide our residents with the exemplary service they deserve.” Congratulations on being named 2020 SFAA Stars:

Wanda Brown, Resident Manager for 2128 Van Ness, has built a remarkable sense of community there. In addition to maintaining an immaculate building, Wanda warmly welcomes every guest with festive seasonal décor and hosts regular resident appreciation events. And when a resident unfortunately tested positive for COVID-19, Wanda personally delivered medicine and homecooked meals to their front door daily, for the 14-day self-quarantine period. Another resident wrote about Wanda: “She has brought us together as neighbors and fostered an environment of friendship and caring. When someone isn’t well, Wanda delivers food and medicine to them. Wanda goes the extra mile to help us feel like a community – and it really has brought the building together as a caring community.”

Greg Goglin, Senior Manager of Building Operations, has gone above and beyond despite the pandemic. During this challenging year, Greg quadrupled the size of GreenTree’s in-house Maintenance Team, with an emphasis on putting the needs of our residents first. Each skilled technician is dedicated to responding to every work order within one business day. When the pandemic hit, Greg went right to work to keep residents safe. He launched one of the largest maintenance projects of 2020, installing hand sanitizer stations and face covering signage in every building throughout the portfolio. In addition to keeping our residents safe while maintaining their homes in good working order, Greg has also worked tirelessly to keep his own team and the rest of GreenTree safe as well.

Esteban Tenjo, Associate Property Manager, is focused, organized and solutions-oriented. His motto is a simple yet revolutionary one, in a world where customer service is dwindling: treat every resident the way you want your mother to be treated. When the easier, tech-based methods of communication don’t seem to effectively resolve an issue, Esteban prefers to meet with the resident face-to-face, at their home (in PPE from a safe distance, of course!). Esteban understands the power of empathy. His secret sauce? Active listening and honesty.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, August 14, 2020 – Veritas, San Francisco’s premier operator of rent-controlled housing, today announced several groundbreaking initiatives to help meet the housing needs of San Franciscans impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.

“We understand the extreme hardship and stress that San Franciscans are facing, especially given the end of federal unemployment benefits” said Yat-Pang Au, Founder and CEO of Veritas. “Since the beginning of this crisis, when we issued a voluntary moratorium on evictions and rent increases, we have been working hard with our residents and retail tenants to keep them housed and stable.”

Focused on keeping Veritas residents in their homes, the new program consists of four principal tenets:

Keeping Residents and Retailers Housed

Even before the City and County of San Francisco proclaimed an eviction moratorium, Veritas offered their residents a voluntary eviction moratorium based on financial hardship caused by COVID-19. Veritas is now extending that moratorium through the end of 2020, while San Francisco’s moratorium is scheduled to expire on August 31. This eviction moratorium applies to 100 percent of Veritas units, as well as being extended to all their retail tenants.

Rent Increase Freeze

Veritas was the first San Francisco building owner and manager to temporarily pause rent increases at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Veritas is now voluntarily committing to extend that rent increase freeze for all of its units through the end of 2020.

Passthrough Freeze

Because Veritas-owned buildings are often more than 100 years old, they can require extensive capital improvement work; much of it required by law, such as fire alarm upgrades and seismic retrofit. These improvements have resulted in buildings that are much safer and more comfortable to live in, but for select buildings that received a rent increase in the form of a passthrough, there is additional stress on the affected residents.

To bring greater peace of mind, Veritas is committing not to file any new pass through petitions during 2020, and also withdrawing all pending petitions currently awaiting decision from the San Francisco Rent Board, forgoing the related passthrough income in perpetuity.

Residential Support Measures

Veritas will be deploying a series of support measures, including continuing rent deferrals, on a case-by-case basis according to the respective situation of our residents most impacted by COVID-19. We will continue to reach out to all our residents who are experiencing hardship to remind them that our Resident Services Team is there to offer assistance.

“These carefully crafted programs reflect our commitment to our residents and the greater San Francisco community,” said Au. “We believe these are the broadest relief efforts by any major building owner and property manager in the nation, and we hope this inspires the industry to join us in offering similar levels of assistance.”

First Honoree Nearly Doubles His Homeless Outreach Thanks to Veritas

Veritas’ innovative community service award, “Live With Character,” has opened nominations for another grant honoring San Francisco volunteerism. Submit nominations here of individuals who step out of their comfort zone to make a difference to benefit the San Francisco Bay Area. Q2 nominations close on June 1 and the winner will receive a $1,500 award to further their goodwill efforts.

What did Peter, the first quarter recipient of our Live With Character award, do with his grant? Peter, a Veritas apartment resident, has been giving blankets to the homeless while he walks to and from work. He reports having handed out over 200 blankets, giving out a handful at a time. This Live With Character funding was used to purchase more blankets and a cart to nearly double his outreach.

“Thank you for this service to the community. Your generous support …is working for good helping those in our community,” he wrote.

“For my blanket giveaway, I ordered a heavy-duty fold-up cart with a liner so I can give out about a dozen in one outing when a safe opportunity arises, such as shadowing a San Francisco-Marin food pantry pop-up.

“Your funds make this possible and I wish to thank-you again for choosing me to be the recipient, it has already done much good for those who are most in need.”

Further demonstrating his sharing nature, Peter also gave a portion of his award to other philanthropic group, Episcopal Community Services, which served 13,000 homeless and low-income people last year. “They tripled my donation for that day [via matching grant] to $1500!” he reports.

Each quarter, the Live With Character campaign will feature a Veritas resident (or an individual nominated by a resident) who is making an impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The winners will receive $1,500 in funding, to be donated to a cause of their choice or used to directly fund their efforts to make a difference. Their stories will be featured on our website and social channels. At the end of the year, one of the four winners will be selected by a five-person panel to win a $5,000 prize.