Alameda: Tenants 'Wait-and-See' Over Threatened Evictions

Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Peter Hegarty
East Bay Times

Tenants facing eviction at the Bayview Apartments on Central Avenue are adopting a "wait-and-see" approach after receiving 60-day notices, telling them they must vacate the complex.

The notices were posted on front doors of three apartments July 21. Residents in four units received three-day notices less than a week later, but they have since resolved any issues they had with the property owner, said Rommel Laguardia, one of the tenants who got a 60-day notice.

Residents gathered Sunday for a potluck and mulled over their options, Laguardia said.

Among those on hand were members of the Alameda Renters Coalition, the volunteer group campaigning for rent control in Alameda.

In November 2015, all the residents at the 33-unit complex, which was built in 1959, were told they must leave by January so that upgrades could be carried out. The order came just a month after San Jose-based Sridhar Equities Inc. purchased the property at 470 Central Ave. for $6.1 million, according to Zillow, an online real estate database.

The threatened mass eviction was among the reasons why the City Council passed an ordinance in March to give Alameda renters greater protections.

Laguardia, who has a month-to-month lease, said he has sought legal advice since he received the notice last month and is working with the city's Housing Authority, which administers the city committee that handles disputes between tenants and landlords, as part of deciding what to do.

What makes his situation difficult is that his three children, ages 4, 12 and 15, will soon be beginning school and so their lives will be disrupted if he has to leave Alameda, the 49-year-old Laguardia said Wednesday.

The family, which includes Lagaurdia's wife, pays $1,064 in monthly rent and live in a one-bedroom unit. Laguardia said the family relies on his wife's salary as a nurse because he has been out of work since 2013, when he lost his job as a parking lot attendant in Oakland.

"It's been so stressful for everyone, given this situation," said Laguardia, who has lived at the complex nearly six years. "Rich people do not understand what it's like for us with a low income."

A representative from Sridhar Equities was not immediately available for comment on the latest notices. Currently, nine units at the complex are vacant, according to Laguardia.

He said he will go to court to stay in the apartment if he faces eviction proceedings.

"I will still be here after 60 days," Laguardia said. "But if we end up in court and I lose, I will have to leave. What else can I do if that happens?"

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