The eviction of an 80-year-old woman from her Mission District apartment was stopped on Friday just five days before the sheriff’s department was due to remove her from her home of 44 years.
Her landlord was attempting to evict her based on perpetual hoarding that sometimes made it impossible to enter the apartment.
Lawyers for Maria Pagan got a call from representatives of Joseph Galu Realty, the landlord of her three-story, 11-unit building at 3172 24th St., a little more than an hour after a demonstration brought out some 100 people to 24th Street to protest the eviction.
Pagan, who advocates said suffers from depression and anxiety, will be allowed to stay in her unit at her rent-controlled rate, said her attorney, Patrick Hill with Legal Assistance to the Elderly.
“They had received 30 calls and they graciously accepted to put her back in her place, and preserve her 40-year plus tenancy,” said Hill. “Everybody has come together, so this is a great moment.”
Frank Kim, an attorney with Eviction Assistance who represented the landlords, was mum on details of the settlement reached but confirmed that Pagan would not be evicted.
“She’ll be allowed to stay under certain conditions,” he said, without elaborating.
On Friday, a crowd filled the sidewalk outside the offices of Joseph Galu Realty at 3243 24th St., which were shuttered throughout the demonstration. Speakers called on the landlords to halt the eviction of the senior, saying
“The neighbors we need the most are our elders,” said Deepa Varma, the director of the San Francisco Tenants Union. Varma said evictions are particularly taxing for elders on fixed incomes, who must often rely on social workers or tenants organizations to help them navigate the legal process. “This is something that the landlord could drop right now.”
Pagan received a 3-day notice of violation on December 10, 2015, for nuisance. Pagan hoards her stuff, and had filled her apartment with so many belongings that it was difficult for her to enter, according to Hill.
Her eviction was postponed after a settlement in February gave her 10 days to clean her apartment, but when she failed to clear out her belongings, the landlord proceeded with her eviction.
She didn’t organize her unit, Hill said, because she was reluctant to get help.
“She’s quite elderly and didn’t have any assistance,” he said. “She felt ashamed, she was reluctant to ask social workers, reluctant to show anybody what the inside of her apartment looked like.”
Pagan eventually received assistance from social workers and Hill’s colleagues to clean, but not in time to stop the ongoing eviction proceedings.
Sheriff’s deputies were scheduled to come by the morning of Wednesday, May 18, but a calling campaign by tenants rights organization Causa Justa and the demonstration on Friday seem to have pressured the landlords into a deal, Hill said.
Joseph Galu Realty could not be reached for comment.
Maria Zamudio, an organizer with Causa Justa, said she was particularly concerned by Pagan-Sanchez’s age. A number of high-profile evictions of seniors have captured Bay Area headlines in recent months, and Zamudio said evictions are dangerous for elders.
“We’re really concerned about Doña Maria’s health,” she said. “If she doesn’t have a place to live, she’ll have to spend a lot of time bouncing between friends’ places, and some of it on the street.”
Pagan said she has been living in her apartment for 44 years and pays a monthly rent of $469. She said her troubles began when the old landlord died two years ago and his sons began to manage the building.
“After that, they started to bother me a lot,” she said. The sons would pressure her to move out or ask her why she didn’t find a new place, she said, adding that she has trouble sleeping of late and saying the sons were “trying to kill” her by evicting her.
“How much longer am I going to be in my unit?” she said. “They can have my unit when I leave, but until then I need to be treated with respect.”
Sounds like a fire hazard and a danger to the surrounding community, including long-term residents.
If she is a hoarded she is a danger to the community. Either the unit should be cleared immediately or she must move. Think how many people may lose their housing or lives of this goes on.
“My unit” …… not if you name in not on the deed. Rent control just creates the greediest people.
Hey Bob, hate to break it to you. It’s HER unit and OUR Mission. Viva what? Viva who? VIVA LA RAZA….please do not vote Trump. Bernie is the man of and for the people.