A group of Concord residents who have been locked in a battle with a property manager are asking city leaders Monday to consider adopting tenant protection policies.
The tenants are gathering an hour before a Housing and Economic Development Committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council chambers and will be arguing for the need for rent control and just cause for eviction policies in Concord.
Four of the leaders among the tenants are allegedly being evicted from their residences after refusing to pay rent increases and making demands of Steven Pinza, who manages their Concord property through a subsidiary of The Pinza Group.
The nonprofit Tenants Together has been assisting Concord tenants beginning with an effort in March to stop a 30 percent rent increase at an eight-unit housing complex at 1127 Virginia Lane.
Bodhi Family Investment LLC, the property's owner, responded to the tenants organizing a rent strike by suspending the increase. Pinza also ceased to be the property manager there, according to Tenants Together.
But the organization alleges that Pinza threatened residents and attempted to enter apartments even after he stopped being property manager of that housing complex.
Pinza continued with similar behavior, according to the organization, when apartment complexes near 1127 Virginia Lane joined in the protest by refusing to pay their respective pay rent increases and making demands for regular maintenance.
The tenants are also asking for something to be done about alleged bed bug, cockroach and rat infestations at Pinza's properties, according to Tenants Together.
"There aren't many housing options so he thinks he can just not make repairs and raise rents however much he wants," Eduardo Torres, a Tenants Together organizer, said in a statement. "The city must act to protect its residents."
Pinza did not immediately respond to requests for a comment.
The four tenants who are being evicted by Pinza's company have launched a fundraising page to cover legal costs associated with fighting the eviction here.
Their eviction trial date is slated for July 6.
Another gathering will be held before that date, according to Tenants Together.