A San Francisco property management company and one of its top executives will pay $40,000 — the maximum allowed under state law — for laundering $4,000 in campaign contributions to Mayor Ed Lee and then-Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting during the 2011 mayor's race.

The state Fair Political Practices Commission unanimously voted to impose the fine against Archway Property Services and the company’s managing director, Andrew Hawkins Cohen, a decision Cohen and his company did not contest. The FPPC launched its investigation after The Chronicle reported the alleged money laundering three years ago.

The FPPC found that Hawkins Cohen told the property firm’s president and six of its contractors and employees to make eight $500 contributions to Lee and Ting’s mayoral campaigns, then Archway reimbursed the individuals. By using the seven donors as “undisclosed intermediaries,” the commission wrote in its default decision, Cohen and the firm “were able to make contributions to candidates that were far greater than those allowed under local limits.”

State law additionally bars donating in someone else’s name or being reimbursed for a contribution.

Seven of the contributions went to Lee’s account, according to the FPPC, while one went to Ting, who is now a state assemblyman. Lee’s campaign returned six of its seven contributions in October 2011, according to the FPPC decision. His campaign has said it was unaware of the money laundering and was a victim of fraud.

The Chronicle reported in November 2011 that Hawkins Cohen — previously infamous for his work strong-arming tenants out of rent-controlled apartments owned by one of the city’s most notorious landlords — directed employees in an e-mail to attend a fundraiser and donate to Lee’s campaign.

“I expect each and every one of you to be at this event tonight,” Hawkins Cohen wrote in all capital letters. “Bring your check books and write a check for $500.00 for Ed Lee donation. You will be reimbursed right away for you coming.”

The case was also investigated by San Francisco District Attorney GeorgeGascón, whose office determined there was insufficient evidence to pursue criminal charges but passed its evidence on to the FPPC.

Financial stability: Last year's Chronicle story about a homeless San Francisco family who almost lost a housing opportunity because of a tiny amount of debt and the resulting bad credit hit San Francisco Treasurer José Cisnerosand other city officials hard.

Now, his office is working to make sure other families living on the financial edge don't lose their homes and can climb their way out of poverty.

The Treasurer’s Office of Financial Empowerment was recently awarded a nearly $443,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Treasury that will allow them to look for ways to build credit and reduce the risk of eviction among public housing residents in the city. The program will offer working public housing residents financial counseling, matching savings accounts and electronic payment of rent, all of which will help raise their credit scores.

The Ramirezes, a family of four who almost lost a below-market-rate unit at a luxury housing development South of Market last year until city officials stepped in to raise money and personally co-sign the lease, “are certainly not unique,” said Cisneros.

“It’s what we find with a lot of lower income, the working poor — they live close to the edge. How could you not?” Cisneros said. “They are working hard to juggle everything, keep everything current — it’s so heartbreaking. The Ramirezes were a stark example of a family trying very hard, struggling to stay afloat, and maybe with a little help, they would have had a better credit score.”

The pilot program will allow Cisneros’ office to try to help build good credit and improve financial literacy, by providing residents with reloadable debit cards, letting them pay their rent electronically and working with them on building modest savings accounts.

Those savings accounts are crucial, he said, even if they only hold a tiny amount of money, because the alternative is often high-cost payday loans.

“For all of us, if we can find a way to save a little money, it helps. Then, when a crisis hits — your car breaks down, your water heater breaks, you are way better prepared,” he said. “Instead of having more debt, a calamity on top of a calamity.”

Allowing public housing residents to build credit by paying their rent and other bills electronically will also go a long way to financial empowerment, he said.