Free SF apartment background check

5000 California St

Lake Street, SF 94118 1372018 15 units · 3 fl · 1926

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 Lake Street
At or below average
avg 0.6
0
FewerMore

This building has 0 novs (7y), at or below the Lake Street average of 0.6.

Rent & eviction protection

Is 5000 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 1926
2 or more units
15 units
Property type
Multi-Family Residential
Zoning
RM3
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
Units15
Floors3
Year built1926
Total area14,574 sq ft
Property typeMulti-Family Residential
Tax statusNone
Blocklot1372018
Ownership

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

Owner name
Gruber Legacy Lp
Mailing address
Gruber David 1233 4Th Ave San Francisco CA 94122
Last sale
050207

Landlord portfolio

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

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Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The 15-unit, 3-story multi-family residential building at 5000 California Street, owned by Gruber Legacy LP, was constructed in 1926 and has undergone numerous significant improvements over the years. Most recently, in September 2024, Unit 202 received a kitchen remodel including new cabinets, granite countertops, and electrical upgrades. In 2023, the building implemented important safety improvements with a fire alarm system upgrade to comply with SF Fire Code AB-308, including the installation of new low-frequency sounders and a power booster panel. The building's maintenance history shows regular updating of individual units, with several apartments receiving modern kitchen renovations between 2008-2019, including Units 101, 205, 302, and 301, all featuring new appliances, cabinets, and electrical systems.

The property has undergone critical safety improvements, including a voluntary partial seismic upgrade in 2006 with the installation of new plywood shearwalls, holdowns, and steel moment frames. A notable fire safety issue was addressed in 2003 when multiple violations were recorded regarding fire proofing, handrails, fire escape maintenance, and security requirements, but all these violations were promptly abated by October 20, 2003. The building has experienced minimal fire-related incidents, with only a few false alarms recorded and one instance of carbon monoxide detector activation with no actual CO present. Recent 311 calls from late 2024 primarily concerned street cleaning and debris removal, indicating typical urban maintenance issues rather than any building-specific problems. The property's consistent pattern of unit upgrades and timely resolution of violations suggests active management and maintenance of the building's infrastructure and safety systems.

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

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Risk rating

How 5000 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
3th percentile

Out of 660 buildings in this neighborhood, 640 are predicted to be safer.

RiskiestSafest
Predicted 12-month outcome
35%
No DBI
violation
65%
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.

Building age

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

12-Month severity forecast
No violation 31.6%
Moderate concern 55.1%
Severe concern 13.3%
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

5000 California St event timeline

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

2026
Plumbing Permit Apr 07
Work category: 1p; remove the existing laars hot water boiler and replace it with a new laars mtv2-200 hot water boiler.
Issued

See all 18 events

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

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Every record we have

Full data for 5000 California 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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