SF Fines Victims for Vandalism, Not Vandals

San Francisco has perfected the art of punishing the wrong people. Case in point: the city’s graffiti enforcement policy, which hits property owners with fines starting at $362 if they don’t clean up vandalism within 30 days. The vandals who caused the damage? They pay nothing.

Archived tweet

The official policy of @sfgov is that fines for vandalism are paid by the victims, not the vandals. https://t.co/vmbZ8Itp0b https://t.co/vgbkWmUV4m [Quoting @solve_sf]: I often see graffiti reports from this spot. 220 Florida St. Next to the @sfspca, @USPS , and @SportsBasement. Video starts from May 2025 and goes back to 2009. https://t.co/JTGusET7Xr

Kane 謝凱堯 @kane January 11, 2026

The city’s policy is straightforward in its absurdity: property owners must remove graffiti within 30 days or face escalating fines. If they still don’t comply, the city will clean it up and bill the owner. At no point in this process does the person who actually committed the crime face any financial penalty.

Archived tweet

I often see graffiti reports from this spot. 220 Florida St. Next to the @sfspca, @USPS , and @SportsBasement. Video starts from May 2025 and goes back to 2009. https://t.co/JTGusET7Xr

Solve SF @solve_sf January 08, 2026

The Solve SF app documented one location—220 Florida Street, next to the SPCA, the post office, and Sports Basement—that has been repeatedly tagged going back to 2009. That’s 16+ years of the same spot getting vandalized over and over, with property owners presumably eating the cleanup costs each time while the city collects fines from those who don’t act fast enough.

This is the same city government that has been criticized for operating policies that seem designed to protect offenders while punishing those who follow the rules. Drug dealers get sanctuary protections. Juvenile offenders get “restorative justice.” And now property owners get fined for being victims of crime.

The logic is backwards, but it’s entirely consistent with how San Francisco operates. If you’re a victim, you pay. If you’re a perpetrator, the system shrugs.

Want to report graffiti in your neighborhood? Use the SF311 app—though don’t expect the vandals to ever face consequences. That bill’s going to the property owner.

Follow @garrytan for more.