Free SF apartment background check

2536-2540 California St

Pacific Heights, SF 94115 0634008 3 units · 3 fl · 1901

This building has a higher-than-average number of open problems nearby. Few open issues; problems get fixed quickly. A reasonable bet for a smooth tenancy.

NOVs (7y) vs. neighborhood

Compared to a typical building in Pacific Heights

At or below average

avg 1.4

1

FewerMore

This building has 1 novs (7y), at or below the Pacific Heights average of 1.4.

12-Month Maintenance Forecast

31%

(risk — lower is better)

Generally fine

Estimated probability of a DBI violation or complaint in the next 12 months.

7-YEAR TREND Violations + complaints / yr

'20

'21

'22

'23

'24

'25

'26

'27*

*Next year, projected from recent activity and predicted risk.

7-Year Historical Counts

1

NOVs (7y)

4

DBI Complaints (7y)

5

311 Calls (7y)

0

Fire Incidents

0

2nd NOVs

0

Dir. Hearings

0

City Atty

5

Permits (7y)

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Rent & eviction protection

Is 2536-2540 California 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 1901

2 or more units

3 units

Property type

Multi-Family Residential

Zoning

FILLMR

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

Units	3
Floors	3
Year built	1901
Total area	3,800 sq ft
Property type	Multi-Family Residential
Tax status	None
Blocklot	0634008

Ownership

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

Owner name

Real Property Holding Llc

Mailing address

Jackson Cliff 360 Grand Ave #340 Oakland CA 94610

Last sale

052218

Landlord portfolio

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

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Multiple entrances & addresses

Included addresses

All street addresses sharing this blocklot that are covered by this report.

2538 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115

2536 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115

2540 California St, San Francisco, CA 94115

Augrented Insights

Initial analysis

The property at 2536-2540 California Street in Pacific Heights is a 3-story multi-family residential building with three units, built in 1901 and currently owned by Real Property Holding LLC. The building has undergone significant changes in recent years, with major construction activity recorded in August 2021, including plans for a new 3-story mixed-use building with residential units and commercial space. Most notably, there has been a recent emergency situation involving a sagging two-story front bay window (reported February 2024) which exhibited dry-rot issues and had missing windows that exposed the interior to weather elements. This situation was temporarily shored up by the San Francisco Fire Department, and subsequently, a building complaint regarding the sagging bay window was filed and resolved.

The building's recent history shows several attempts to address use and occupancy discrepancies, with an administrative permit issued in October 2018 to clarify the legal use as a 3-story commercial office building. More recent building complaints include issues with a sagging front bay window due to dry-rot (February 2024) and current concerns about building security (March 2024). The property has also experienced various maintenance and infrastructure challenges, as evidenced by multiple 311 calls between 2012 and 2024, including reports of garbage and debris, sidewalk issues, and maintenance concerns such as a missing side sewer vent cover. The planning records indicate multiple proposals for replacement and new construction on the property, including plans for 4 residential units and one ground floor commercial space, though some proposals were withdrawn or marked as under review.

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

Risk rating

How 2536-2540 California 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

55th percentile

Out of 963 buildings in this neighborhood, 433 are predicted to be safer.

RiskiestSafest

Predicted 12-month outcome

69%

No DBI
violation

31%

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.

DBI tenant complaints (past 7 years)

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

Building age

Older buildings tend to have more maintenance challenges; SF's pre-1906 earthquake housing stock carries distinct risk.

DBI complaints, owner's portfolio

Complaints across all of this owner's buildings over 7 years.

12-Month severity forecast

No violation 55.9%

Moderate concern 39.6%

Severe concern 4.5%

Estimated probability of receiving a DBI Notice of Violation in the next 12 months at each severity level. Model: full_hgb_balanced.

Apartment reviews

2536-2540 California St apartment reviews

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On the map

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The story over time

2536-2540 California St event timeline

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

2026

DBI Complaint Apr 07

Vacant building

Code Enforcement Section

Planning RecordMar 26

Existing approved application 2020-010990VAR Variance (VAR) 2536 California St The project proposes to demolish the existing one-story commercial building and to construct two (2) new four-story, two-unit residential buildings, one building at each street frontage of the subject through lot. Full lot coverage is proposed at the first (ground) floor to provide a three-car garage on Perine Place to be accessible to both buildings. We would like to explore potential design changes to this current approval, the unit count and sqft referenced below are guiedlines, we hope to have more detail at an eventual meeting.

See all 12 events

Full history back to 2020 — violations, complaints, permits, buyouts, and fire incidents.

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Every record we have

Full data for 2536-2540 California St apartments

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

What this is

Permits issued by the SF Department of Building Inspection for new construction, alterations, and repairs. Includes estimated cost and current permit status.

Permit #	Description	Cost	Filed	Status
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What this is

Plumbing permit applications filed with the SF Department of Building Inspection. Covers plumbing installation, repair, and replacement work.

Permit #	Description	Filed	Status
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What this is

Electrical permit applications filed with the SF Department of Building Inspection. Covers electrical wiring, panel upgrades, and related work.

Permit #	Description	Filed	Status
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What this is

Notices of Violation issued by the SF Department of Building Inspection for code violations. Unresolved notices can escalate to legal action.

Date Filed	Complaint #	Description	Item	Category	Status
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What this is

Complaints filed with the SF Department of Building Inspection about code violations. Tracks the complaint lifecycle from filing through abatement or referral.

Complaint #	Date Filed	Date Abated	Division	Status	Description
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What this is

Planning Department project entitlements — discretionary review, conditional use, variances, and environmental review for this parcel.

Address	Opened	Closed	Status	Description	Applicant
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What this is

Planning Department administrative and compliance records that are not full project entitlements — pre-application meetings, code violations, and referrals.

Address	Opened	Closed	Status	Description	Applicant
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What this is

SFFD fire incidents geo-joined to this parcel. Covers structure fires, alarms, and emergency responses with injury and fatality counts.

Date	Situation	Civilian Injuries	Civilian Fatalities
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What this is

Fire code violations issued by the SFFD. Tracks corrective actions required and resolution status for fire safety code enforcement.

Violation Date	Description	Corrective Action	Status	Close Date
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What this is

Fire code complaints received by the SF Fire Department geo-joined to this parcel. Includes complaint type, disposition, and outcome.

Received	Description	Disposition Date	Disposition
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What this is

SF 311 service requests geo-joined to this parcel. Includes maintenance complaints, street/sidewalk issues, and quality-of-life requests.

Opened	Type	Agency	Category	Details	Status
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What this is

Buildings subject to SF's mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit program. Unreinforced multi-story wood-frame buildings must meet compliance tiers.

Tier	Status
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What this is

Tenant buyout (Ellis Act pre-cursor) agreements recorded with the SF Rent Board. Tracks amounts paid to tenants to vacate rent-controlled units.

Disclosure Date	Buyout Date	Amount	Tenants
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Cancel anytime · Data sourced from SF Open Data, DBI, SFFD, SF Rent Board & Planning