Responses to "a letter to a heartless landlord"
Wednesday Oct 8 1997
<email address withheld by request>
I did not see your previous post on Craig's list so I am not sure what
your current situation is. I presume that you are the victim of an OMI
- that is an Owner Move In.
As someone who is presently fighting an illegal eviction rap, I would
definitely tell you to fight fight fight.
There are a number of ways you can do this:
Through the press: San Francisco Weekly is currently preparing a large
feature expose on the Housing Situation in San Francisco. As you know,
it is a crisis of epic proportions. The Reporter who is doing that is Lisa Davis
Give her a call and tell her your story: Her direct line is (415) 536-8153.
Have your story be one of the ones she is going to include about the
casualties of Owner Move In.
The Independent have done a number of stories about housing.
Laura Peterson is a good reporter. She is preparing to do a story
at the present time on the current situation.
Jason BeauBien - KQED (Radio) has been known to do stories.
He is no doubt preparing to do a story regarding the housing crisis
in the bay area. Have your story be the one on owner move ins.
KPFA in Berkely have been known to do stories on housing crisis.
In particular the morning show has dones some pieces recently.
Call them up and have your story be the one on Owner Move In.
Attend the Rent Board Meeting - I think the next one is on November 6th.
They are focusing on changes in material contracts between landlords.
They are at 25 Van Ness. I think the meeting is at approximately 6:00 p.m.
You will no doubt find that the Rent Board is not that helpful. However,
there is one guy that works there that is really cool, very helpful and
very very supportive. He is Roger - only speak to him. Don't bother with
anyone else. They will lead you round the Mulberry Bush. Roger can give you
a list of good attorneys in the Bay Area. If you need personal referrals, I can
give you the name of one or two that I have found really helpful.
As you say in your posting the Tenants Union is very good at organizing.
Attend the Housing Committee Hearings at City Hall. I have had a lot of response
from Leyland Yee. He is concerned, helpful and instructive. It is worthwhile
to call him. His telephone number is 554-7752. He will respond to you.
The Housing Committee meets again next Tuesday - I believe it is the 15th
at approximately 2:00 p.m. at 401 Van Ness. At this committee, they are
then debating the conversion ordinance/ammendment - one which has been
proposed by Sue Bierman. At present the conversion ordinance allows or
does nothing of substance to alter the fact that landlords presently can
run through a loophole by renting to corporations rather than individuals
and completely bypassing rent control. You can go and talk about your case
at this meeting even if it doesn't fall strictly within this ordinance -
the advantage of this is that these meetings are sometimes attended by
reporters - like KCBS - and so forth. If your landlord's name is mentioned
in public and in the newspapers they are more likely to back down, to take you
seriously and not push you out the door. Public embarassment is a great tool.
I know this fight is very disheartening and believe me, I know all too well
the consequences of trying to fight against someone who seems to have
infinite resources. I hope this information will be of help to you. As I said, I am
unsure of your circumstances and the reasons why eviction is threatened
in your case. Please let me know if any of these tactics are successful.
regards
email kevin@whisperdesign.com
home www.whisperdesign.com