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453 31St Ave

Central Richmond, SF 94121 1463050 10 units · 2 fl · 1960

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 Central Richmond
At or below average
avg 0.5
0
FewerMore

This building has 0 novs (7y), at or below the Central Richmond average of 0.5.

Rent & eviction protection

Is 453 31St Ave 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 1960
2 or more units
10 units
Property type
Multi-Family Residential
Zoning
RH2
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
Units10
Floors2
Year built1960
Total area7,950 sq ft
Property typeMulti-Family Residential
Tax statusNone
Blocklot1463050
Ownership

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

Owner name
Lam Living Trust
Mailing address
Michael K Y Lam 745 Darien Way San Francisco CA 94127
Last sale
051506

Landlord portfolio

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

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Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The two-story multi-family residential building at 453 31st Avenue in the Central Richmond neighborhood, owned by the Lam Living Trust, was built in 1960 and contains 10 units. The property has undergone several significant safety improvements over the past two decades, most notably completing a mandatory soft-story seismic retrofit in 2015 (Tier 3) at a cost of $100,000, and a $46,800 reroofing project in 2019. The building's exterior stair safety has been a recurring focus, with multiple repairs and enhancements documented between 1995 and 2015, including new rails installation, dry rot repairs, and work on the rear exterior stair. Security improvements were implemented in 2006 with the installation of a security roll-up door and panic hardware.

The building faced multiple safety violations in July 2003, including issues with fire safety systems and electrical wiring, though all were abated by August 25, 2003. There have been routine housing inspections, including an active case from October 2003. More recent fire safety concerns were investigated in March 2019 (regarding extinguishers) and February 2013 (regarding alarm systems), both of which were found to have no merit. The property has experienced occasional maintenance issues in the surrounding area, as evidenced by multiple 311 calls, primarily regarding parking violations in the vicinity between 2018 and 2024, along with some street defect and sidewalk maintenance matters in 2017. Recent inspections show no active safety violations or complaints on record, suggesting the building is currently maintaining compliance with safety requirements.

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

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Risk rating

How 453 31St Ave'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 2250 buildings in this neighborhood, 2182 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.

Building size

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

Number of units

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

Owner's portfolio size

Number of SF parcels this owner is registered on — larger portfolios have distinct risk patterns.

12-Month severity forecast
No violation 38.2%
Moderate concern 43.4%
Severe concern 18.5%
Estimated probability of receiving a DBI Notice of Violation in the next 12 months at each severity level. Model: full_hgb_balanced.
Apartment reviews

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The story over time

453 31St Ave event timeline

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

2025
311 Request Nov 15
Garbage and debris
human waste or urine
Fire ComplaintSep 04
Alarm Systems

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 453 31St Ave 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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