San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar plans to introduce legislation Tuesday that would narrow the circumstances in which landlords can evict tenants for allegedly creating a nuisance. The proposal would amend the city code to require an offense to be severe, or both recurring and continuing, before it could qualify as a nuisance. Under current rules, an offense may qualify if it is severe, recurring or continuing. The measure identifies examples such as prohibited subletting, serious property damage, allowing others to damage a unit or using it for an illegal purpose. The proposal would also remove landlords from a provision defining a nuisance as substantial interference with the comfort, safety or enjoyment of people in a building. The revised language would describe conduct that is disorderly enough to disrupt other occupants’ peace and quiet. It would also prohibit a nuisance eviction over property damage if the landlord has already accepted payment for the damage. Melgar said the existing definition is too vague and can be abused. She said the proposal was prompted in part by nuisance eviction notices sent to six seniors at 1120 Jackson St. in Chinatown, reportedly over claims that their apartments contained too many belongings. “When I read about Sue Yeng I cried in the office,” Melgar said. She announced the legislation Monday at a press conference outside 907 Valencia St. in the Mission District, alongside its co-sponsor, District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder. Tenants at the building have organized a rent strike over conditions following a fire. Nuisance eviction notices in San Francisco rose to 423 in fiscal year 2025-26, a 31% increase from 323 the year before and 47% above the 288 recorded in 2023-24. The city recorded 1,495 eviction notices overall last year, 62% more than the 921 filed in 2024, according to city data. Those totals do not include all nonpayment evictions, which landlords are not required to report. Molly Goldberg, director of the Anti-Displacement Coalition, said landlords may look for grounds to remove long-term tenants and re-rent units at higher prices. She cited examples from an earlier tech boom in which tenants were accused of lease violations for drying clothes on a cable or using a backyard they were not permitted to use. “That’s a combination of harassment often and looking for excuses to circumvent rent control and just cause eviction protections,” Goldberg said. A one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco averaged $3,915 in rent, according to Apartment List data cited in connection with the proposal. Melgar has described the current rental surge as tied to the artificial-intelligence boom. The proposal would not eliminate nuisance evictions; it would change which conduct can be used to justify them. Fielder has also co-sponsored a separate measure that would bar evictions for rent debt below one month’s rent.