Photo by Rink

Trans March Organizer Faces Eviction

The flyer stated: “Do you know what your neighbor does for a living? She is a real estate speculator who buys buildings full of families, children, seniors, and ordinary San Francisco renters. She then evicts them by abusing the Ellis Act. Then she sells the building, hoping to make a large profit with a quick turnaround.”

According to Dean Preston, attorney at Tenderloin Housing Clinic, the people residing at 1530 McAllister in District 5 are being Ellis Acted. Tenants range in age from 14 days old to almost 90 years old. There are young families, African American seniors, transgender, and disabled tenants living there. The seniors have lived in the building for decades. “Elba Borgen and Laura Rogers are realtors with Frank Howard Allen Realtors. They are also the new owners of a seven-unit building at 1530 McAllister Street,” said Preston. “These two real estate speculators are seeking to evict all the tenants from 1530 McAllister under the Ellis Act. This is the fifth building that Borgen has Ellised!”

In response to this, the tenants, the neighbors and friends of the tenants, and several dozen activists gathered on July 27 in front of F.H. Allen Realtors on Fulton Street for a protest rally. They held signs stating: “Save seniors from immoral evictions;” “Stop Ellis evictions;” and “We love our neighbors. Let them stay.”

Raquel Fox is a staff attorney at the Tenderloin Housing Clinic representing the tenants with intentions of challenging the evictions. She told Bay Times, “We believe these evictions are defective and in bad faith and in violation of state law and the rent ordinance.” She said an 89-year old woman, Frances Gaston, was not physically or mentally able to come to the rally. “She’s depressed at what’s taking place. She has lived in her home there for 35 years and has nowhere to turn,” she said.

Another senior tenant, Mr. Bridle Robinson, has been there over 25 years. “What’s taking place is inhumane and reprehensible,” she said. She said the realtors are harassing the tenants, intimidating them to move out, and demanding their keys. “The Ellis Act needs to be repealed,” Fox said. “It was supposed to be used by landlords who are in the business and want to retire, but what we’re getting is an abuse of the act. And what’s worse, they try to get people who are senior and disabled to move even before their one-year notice period, so they can flip the property even quicker.”

The building also includes Sean, who has lived there for five years. He is the organizer of the annual Trans March. If he is evicted from the building, he doesn’t know if he’ll have the money to stay in the city—where he volunteers 20-30 hours a week, both as organizer of the Trans March, and at a community non-profit.

The rally began with chanting: “San Francisco beware, evictions are everywhere!” “Realtors say go away. We say no way!” and “Realtor, realtor, bad bad bad! Realtor, realtor stole my pad!” Longtime activist Tommi Avicolli-Mecca played guitar and sang his composition, “Everybody Needs Tenants Rights,” encouraging demonstrators to sing along at the chorus. Later he led the crowd in the old civil rights song, “We Shall Not Be Moved.”

“We are here to decry the greed that has gone wild and is now happening in my district and others,” said Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. “The very heart of San Francisco is being punctured by real estate speculators who are preying on the vulnerable classes.” He called the range of diversity of the evicted ones “the microcosm of our great city.” He said the Ellis Act is “bad, misguided, wrong, and possibly illegal.” He said, “We can’t stand idly by and let this happen. There is a crisis in San Francisco, and it’s about the future of what this city will become.”

He urged, “Stand tall and recalcitrant and obstinate in defiance of what the law tells you to do. Unless we’re that bold, they’re going to get their way.” He said this should not be a flash in the pan demonstration, and that activists must continue to build up steam and export similar protests anywhere in the city where the Ellis Act is being abused.

James Montgomery, holding a three-week old infant, said his new landlords at first wanted his family out in a matter of weeks but luckily gave them an extension until April. “I really hope this is the beginning of the end of injustices like this.” He added, “We need to keep the diversity in our neighborhood and in the city, which is going to become untouchable for any middle class in the future.” Susan Prentice said she had been a tenant for 22 years when she was Ellised six years ago by Borgen. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else. I mean, who would evict a 90-year old woman. How much money do you need?!” She said she is now paying three times the rent, “which is the whole idea.” 

Longtime tenant advocate Ted Gullicksen said, “These speculators are not talking about home ownership; they are talking about making lots and lots of money for profit.” He said, “These people are the scum of the earth and they should be ashamed.” He then led the crowd in turning towards the realty building, pointing, and shouting, “Shame, shame!” over and over.   

Joe O’Donoghue is a neighbor and president of the Residential Builders Association. “We’re asking realtors to fire people who are licensed and evict people. We need to go to the board of realtors and not let them license these people to work in their office.” He said, “These crucifiers need to be stopped now—otherwise tomorrow you could be on their hit list.”

“We’re going to intensify the pressure and continue to risk whatever we have to do to get our message across,” Mirkarimi said, closing the rally. “We need to grow and escalate and draw that line in the sand.”

Senior Action Network is returning to picket BofA Thursday, 12 noon, Powell and Market to protest the Ellis Act and the bank’s financing of TICs.