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SAN FRANCISCO – One in four tenants evicted from their San Francisco apartments over the past two years was a senior citizen, a study found. 

As a result of the state’s Ellis Act, a wave of evictions sweeping the city has taken a disproportionate toll on seniors —many of whom have lived in their buildings for years and paid lower rents than the average market rate, the San Francisco Tenants Union said. 

The law allows landlords to sell their buildings and drop out of the rental market. 

The union has said seniors were most likely to be evicted as a result of rising rents in the city during the current housing crisis. The group sent questionnaires to 1,253 tenants served with eviction notices over the past two years. Nearly 400 were reached. 

About 27 percent of those evicted were age 60 or over. However, 1990 census results show seniors account for only 16 percent of the city’s renters. 

Last June, 83-year-old Teruko Kanba was given one year to find another place to live under the Ellis Act. Her time is almost up. 

Kanba has lived in her Baker Street home for nearly half a century.  

Besides memories, she has furniture and keepsakes in the flat she once shared with her parents. And she admits she’s not likely to find another place as cheap as her current $500 rent in San Francisco. 

“I’m going to have to either put some of it in storage or get rid of it,” she said. “It’s really difficult for me to even think about it, but the reality is, I’ll have to move.” 

The union has campaigned for tighter controls on the sale of rental housing as “tenancies in common.” The study may add ammunition to the union’s fight. 

“Tenancies in common” allow a group of people to buy a building as a collective.