Responses to "a letter to a heartless landlord"
Saturday Oct 11 1997
<zanne@cea.edu>
I'm furious about what's happening to this city I love! Manhattanization!
The poor having their housing demolished. Owner move-in evictions.
Rent gouging. Bidding on a lease at an apartment auction! Those of us
without cush jobs have to evacuate the city entirely. Many of us living
near or below the poverty line cannot offer $1000/month, or even $500.
I have two friends (one a school teacher, the other a house cleaner) who are
currently going through the evil owner-move-in eviction. I helped them
sell many of their belongings at a yard sale last sunday. They know that
wherever they move now, they'll never again have the amount of space
they've had in their current home of many years, a five room flat with a
beautiful garden in the Castro.
They received a thirty days notice to get out and began the tailspin into despair
that comes with battling hundreds of other desperate, disheartened folks
for moldy, dark, crappy little apartments at outrageous prices in shitty,
dangerous neighborhoods. One friend will go stay at her parents', the other
is forced to leave the city and crash with a friend in Oakland.
My friends have heard about a situation in which an owner-move-in-evicted tenant
kept an eye on the new owner who was supposed to be living in the apartment and
moved back out within a years time. The evicted tenants then sued and won $125,000
from the criminal landlord. So it's worth keeping an eye on this crooks. Find out
what these "children of the owner" look like, what cars they drive (beamers, perhaps?),
licence plate numbers, etc...
It might be helpful if you posted a list of addresses and phone numbers for
all those contacts you made regarding your situation (Board of Supes, etc.)
to facilitate everyone doing the same. It's difficult to do the research when
you're stressing out from the impending doom of homelessness.
How long will this go on until we have enough angry, outraged people to start
some kind of movement to protect the rights of tenants?
Zanne
Couch-surfing and without a home myself.
email kevin@whisperdesign.com
home www.whisperdesign.com