Free SF apartment background check

905 Ashbury St

Buena Vista Park/Ashbury Heights, SF 94117 1269022 4 units · 3 fl · 1906

This building has far more open problems than almost any other in the neighborhood. A handful of unresolved issues. Worth a careful walk-through and pointed questions.

NOVs (7y) vs. neighborhood
Compared to a typical building in Buena Vista Park/Ashbury Heights
At or below average
avg 1.6
1
FewerMore

This building has 1 novs (7y), at or below the Buena Vista Park/Ashbury Heights average of 1.6.

Rent & eviction protection

Is 905 Ashbury 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 1906
2 or more units
4 units
Property type
Multi-Family Residential
Zoning
RH3
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
Units4
Floors3
Year built1906
Total area3,597 sq ft
Property typeMulti-Family Residential
Tax statusHome Owners
Blocklot1269022
Ownership

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

Owner name
Roussel Eric
Mailing address
905 Ashbury St San Francisco CA 94117
Last sale
020405

Landlord portfolio

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

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Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The three-story, 4-unit apartment building at 905 Ashbury Street in the Buena Vista Park neighborhood, owned by Eric Roussel, has a long history of maintenance issues and regulatory violations dating back to its 1906 construction. Most notably, there are serious current concerns about unauthorized modifications and illegal short-term rentals, with a January 2024 complaint alleging the conversion of a bedroom closet into an unauthorized unit with plumbing and the illegal accommodation of 21 guests across five Airbnb listings, in violation of the RH-3 zoning designation. The property has undergone several important safety improvements, including a $120,000 mandatory soft-story retrofit completed in 2023, and various stairway repairs including a 2018 emergency post replacement. The building has experienced multiple maintenance and safety issues over the years, including a 2017 incident involving a staircase fire and defective railing that injured a guest, documented complaints about garbage management in 2018, and various interior repairs required in 2002 related to water damage, security doors, and interior surfaces. Prior unauthorized modifications were proposed in 2008 to convert living spaces into a garage, and there have been historical concerns about illegal basement units, group housing violations, and inadequate fire safety measures. The property has maintained active responses to citations and complaints, with most historical violations having been abated, though recent concerns about unauthorized unit additions and short-term rentals remain under review.

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

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Risk rating

How 905 Ashbury 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
6th percentile

Out of 351 buildings in this neighborhood, 330 are predicted to be safer.

RiskiestSafest
Predicted 12-month outcome
32%
No DBI
violation
68%
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.

DBI tenant complaints (past 7 years)

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

Director's hearing rate, owner's portfolio

Per-building rate of director's hearings across the owner's portfolio.

12-Month severity forecast
No violation 33.0%
Moderate concern 37.9%
Severe concern 29.1%
Estimated probability of receiving a DBI Notice of Violation in the next 12 months at each severity level. Model: full_hgb_balanced.
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The story over time

905 Ashbury St event timeline

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

2026
Building Permit Apr 03
Revision 201709158471- document and admin permit to allow correction of archictectural plans. no work to be done.
$1 · Filed

See all 4 events

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

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Every record we have

Full data for 905 Ashbury 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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