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940 Union St

Russian Hill, SF 94133 0099005 7 units · 3 fl · 1922

This building has significantly more problems than most nearby buildings. A handful of unresolved issues. Worth a careful walk-through and pointed questions.

NOVs (7y) vs. neighborhood
Compared to a typical building in Russian Hill
At or below average
avg 1.9
0
FewerMore

This building has 0 novs (7y), at or below the Russian Hill average of 1.9.

Rent & eviction protection

Is 940 Union St rent-controlled?

San Francisco's Rent Ordinance caps rent increases and provides eviction protection for most residential units built before 1979 with 2+ units. Here's how this building scores.

Built before 1979
Built 1922
2 or more units
7 units
Property type
Multi-Family Residential
Zoning
RM2
Likely rent-controlled. Building age and unit count suggest this property falls under San Francisco's Rent Ordinance.

Based on SF Assessor records. Not legal advice — confirm with the SF Rent Board.

Building characteristics
Units7
Floors3
Year built1922
Total area6,510 sq ft
Property typeMulti-Family Residential
Tax statusNone
Blocklot0099005
Ownership

Registered owner per SF Assessor-Recorder (secured roll).

Owner name
Torell Erven L&Barbara Trus
Mailing address
940 Union St #b San Francisco CA 94133
Last sale
000000

Landlord portfolio

Other SF properties this owner holds, with risk grades for each.

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Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The three-story, seven-unit apartment building at 940 Union Street in Russian Hill, owned by Torell Erven and Barbara Trus, has undergone several significant improvements and faced various maintenance challenges since its construction in 1922. Most notably, the building completed a mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit in 2015 (Tier 3), demonstrating compliance with current safety requirements. Substantial renovations were carried out in 2009, including a major basement apartment remodel, installation of new fire sprinklers on the ground floor, and associated electrical and plumbing upgrades totaling approximately $860,000. The building has a documented history of lead paint concerns, particularly in 2012 when multiple complaints were filed regarding peeling paint on the upper wood portion of the building, with associated safety notifications issued.

Recent activities include a potential ongoing maintenance project as of August 2023, when work was observed involving the removal of old corrugated plastic barriers from the roof, though the nature and impact of this work remains unclear. The property has maintained basic safety requirements over the years, including kitchen and bathroom remodels, reroofing work completed in 1993, and regular maintenance of building systems. The building's violation history shows past concerns in 2005 regarding emergency exits and smoke detectors, though these issues were promptly addressed within one day. Various routine inspections and maintenance requests have been documented through 311 calls, primarily relating to exterior maintenance and building systems rather than serious safety concerns. A short-term vacation rental complaint was also recorded in the planning records, though it has since been marked as closed and abated.

AI-generated · may contain errors · check the source data tables below

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Risk rating

How 940 Union St's risk score is calculated

We trained a model on 7 years of SF DBI inspection data — notice of violation filings, complaint history, and owner track records. It estimates the probability that DBI inspectors will issue a Notice of Violation at this address in the next 12 months. Lower % = safer.

What the score means for you

Grade A–B — Low risk

DBI rarely finds violations here. Strong maintenance history and a clean complaint record.

Grade C — Moderate risk

Some past violations or complaints on record. Worth asking the landlord about any open issues before signing.

Grade D–F — High risk

Elevated violation and complaint history. DBI has found issues here before and is statistically likely to again.

Neighborhood percentile
17th percentile

Out of 1133 buildings in this neighborhood, 940 are predicted to be safer.

RiskiestSafest
Predicted 12-month outcome
34%
No DBI
violation
66%
DBI violation
likely
Model explanation

What's driving this score

The three data points that most influenced this building's risk rating — ranked by the weight the model placed on each one.

Number of units

The number of units affects how the model reads complaint and violation totals — more units means more potential sources.

Building size

Total floor area — a proxy for building scale and the number of systems (plumbing, electrical, HVAC) that can fail.

DBI tenant complaints (past 7 years)

Formal complaints tenants filed with DBI about this building over 7 years.

12-Month severity forecast
No violation 30.2%
Moderate concern 36.2%
Severe concern 33.6%
Estimated probability of receiving a DBI Notice of Violation in the next 12 months at each severity level. Model: full_hgb_balanced.
Apartment reviews

940 Union St apartment reviews

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The story over time

940 Union St event timeline

Violations, complaints, fire incidents, permits, and buyouts — most recent records in order.

2023
DBI Complaint Aug 28
Date last observed: 27-aug-23; time last observed: 11:30 a.m.; identity of person performing the work: unknown, but looks likely to n; exact location: roof; building type: residence/dwelling other building; ; additional information: they have begun taking down dirty old corrugated plastic barriers and hauling them away. i don't know what they may have planned to take their place. i don't know them as i am new to the neighborhood and paying inflated rent for a 1 bedroom with a view. next door are condos with new owners in a similar situation. i am concerned it may be something more elaborate that will interfere with everyone's view of the bay from our side of the street. there is already a lot of rooftop extension and expansion etc. competing with our view of the bay.;
Building Inspection Division

See all 2 events

Full history back to 2019 — violations, complaints, permits, buyouts, and fire incidents.

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Every record we have

Full data for 940 Union St apartments

13 SF public datasets for this parcel — permits, violations, complaints, fire records, 311 calls, planning records, and buyouts.

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Cancel anytime · Data sourced from SF Open Data, DBI, SFFD, SF Rent Board & Planning

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