The tenants of the 10-unit building at 23rd and Florida celebrated Saturday with a barbecue and press conference something many have said it impossible – they managed to get their Ellis Act evictions rescinded.
For once, one person attending the barbecue said, she was going to a celebration, not a protest.
The tenants – with the help of the Tenderloin Housing Coalition and others – were able to first approach the owner to work out a purchase of the building. Although that looked promising earlier this year, the owner ended up selling the building to another investor. The new owner has rescinded the eviction notices and says he has no plans to sell the building. If he decides to, the tenants want the first option to buy.
John has a good point here.
Tenants can buy their building, especially if they’ve had yrs of rent controlled savings.
“An owner who does an Ellis really wants just two things – to no longer be a landlord and to get a fair price for his building.”
“John” repeats this lie ad nauseum. It’s amazing how same the speculators, er, landlords want to go out of business time and time again. And the “fair price” bit? Let the figures speak for themselves.
Such a misunderstood and maligned species, the S.F. landlord. (*Sniff!*)
Why do you think everyone’s waiting?
The San Francisco Community Land Trust is one source for info on how to buy your building from your landlord.
+1-415-399-1490
http://www.SFCLT.org
Facebook–https://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Francisco-Community-Land-Trust/84316036478
Problem is that the nonprofit housing developers are starving the CLT for resources, bogarting affordable housing dollars so that they are spent in the least efficient manner possible.
Thus, the need to impose the maximum legal exactions on market rate housing so that such funding dries up and the public sector can compete to preserve rent controlled housing.
We’re talking raising the price to construct or convert.
Just like my comment above…they are pursuing lose-lose policies instead of win-win.
We’re not talking about the provision of funds to build housing here, but the raising for funds for tenants to out-bid other landlords and investors so that they can buy their existing homes.
I believe that many landlords would be open to such offers, rather than Ellis’ing, as long as the tenants can come up with a viable offer that will attract regular funding.
I agree with you. However, I do think that city officials, activists and the non profit housing groups need to seriously get behind this idea for it to take off. Right now all those forces are strictly focused on limiting land owner’s rights, and increasing tenant rights. They are essentially pursuing loose-loose policies that have gotten us to whete we are now. If influential supervisors, along with some non profits pursue this new direction with half the zeal they use to subjugate property owners, they would probably get twice the results in terms of tenants buying their building and securing their futures. That would be a win-win for a change instead of the zero sum game they have been playing here since rent control started in the late 70’s. Let us hope enlightenment eventually reigns in our fabled city by the bay.