A Mission homeowner is seeking third Ellis Act eviction in five years

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This article was translated with the help of DeepL.

Michael Campesino did the 25th Street eviction the way he always does.

In November 2019, he purchased an older six-unit apartment building in the Mission District from the company. 2920-30 25th Street building is perfect for all Ellis Act tenant evictions: relatively inexpensive, rent regulated, and well suited for conversion into a for-profit, sale, co-living unit. Campesino has threatened to do the same at two other properties over the past five years.

After he bought the building, tenants said he met with them over coffee and cookies in January 2020 and broke the news: He wanted to buy their share. The residents — most of whom have lived in the building since the 1980s and three of them are senior citizens — declined. OK This has happened many times.

Rednecks will do it the hard way.

The tenants allege in the lawsuit that Campesino used his management position to try to manage the building in a manner that resembled “revenge” and “elder abuse” in order to force the tenants to leave. The evictions did not happen immediately. Campesino said Covid-19 has impacted that timeline, with San Francisco law requiring a one-year delay in Ellis Act evictions affecting seniors. Meanwhile, tenants claim they have put up with mold and rodents. When January 2021 rolls around, Campesino has filed an Ellis Act eviction lawsuit with the Rent Board against everyone.

However, the tenants responded with their own lawsuit in April 2022. Tenants on 25th Street have seen each other’s families grow over the years, so it was only natural to band together and sue Campesino.

The lawsuit alleges neglect, harassment and inhospitable conditions for the so-called “habitual deportee” Campesino. Campesino denied everything, but a deal was reached in June.

“These are complex issues that have been painted in black and white to incite vitriol and use them as leverage,” Campecino said in a statement to Mission Local.

Currently, the tenant is fighting the eviction in court, but a trial date has yet to be set, according to the tenant’s attorney. Furthermore, they confirmed that despite the agreement, maintenance issues persist.

“The whole situation is very stressful,” Daniela Estrada, 55, who has lived in the building for 34 years, said in Spanish.

Three “Ellizados” buildings

In his statement, Campesino said he has been transparent about his intentions to take advantage of the Ellis Act and convert the buildings to co-occupancy.

Due to a 2019 city law, nonprofits were given priority to buy 25th Street, but that didn’t happen. So he kept it.

He offered the tenant a plan to buy, a deal he thought was fair. While the supply of each unit varies, most are priced in the six-figure range, he said. (Fox and residents say each unit sells for $40,000.) Alternatives include letting tenants buy back their units at a discount, or buying part of the unit and co-owning it with Campesino, splitting the profits if the property resells.

He has denied mismanagement, saying doing so would interfere with his turnaround plans. “We knew from day one that we would be sued by the tenant’s attorney; therefore, we acted in a professional manner,” Campesino said.

While Ellis Act eviction lawsuits are tough to win, Tenderloin Housing Clinic attorney Raquel Fox, who represents 25th Street tenants, is optimistic.

Because Campesino has a record of enforcing or threatening evictions under the Ellis Act, Fox believes tenants can prove that Campesino invoked state law without “clear intent,” which she said is a requirement. The Ellis Act was created for landlords who wanted to get out of the rental market, not as a way to sell buildings.

There was a pattern of buying buildings and then using the Ellis Act to evict tenants, and many tenants had to leave. The 25th Street building was at least the second Mission property that Campesino bought and later used the Ellis Act to evict tenants.

One of these is 1151-1161 Alabama Street, where tenants were successfully evicted after Campesino filed for eviction under the Ellis Act in 2019. At 927-35 Alabama Street, tenants refused to buy and resisted threats of eviction from farm workers under the 2020 Ellis Act. Eventually, all but one tenant moved out. It was unclear whether all parties had reached an agreement. One woman stayed. Fox represented her.

Farmer also evicted a tenant at the Natoma Street property he purchased in 2018 for non-payment of rent; the tenant objected and presented rent receipts as evidence, according to the lawsuit. The case was subsequently resolved.

“We think it’s extortion,” Fox said, “and there’s a pattern here. … The reality is it’s a way to make money”.

Campesino doesn’t think so. “Congratulations to the tenant’s lawyer, because whatever happens, there is no longer any benefit. Instead, it has gone to the bank and the lawyer.”

If successful, tenants will keep their homes.

“In the beginning, when he bought the building, he was very good. He said he would take care of us.” One morning, Mario Linares sat with his neighbors and spoke in Spanish Said. “And then, later on, there’s the problem.”

problem still exists

The maintenance issues that the tenants settled in a lawsuit settled in June continued, and the tight-knit group of tenants remained vigilant.

On a recent July morning, sunlight streamed in through the windows of Daniela Estrada’s apartment, illuminating the semicircle of 25th Street tenants and lawyers crammed into the living room couches and chairs.

After decades of living together, the Latino residents have grown closer. They complete each other’s sentences and stories, help care or babysit older members of the group, and get acquainted with all the guests and family from neighbors. This has come in handy of late, as they regularly keep each other informed of Campesino’s alleged mismanagement. They unanimously confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the previous landlord.

Sitting in one of the chairs, Isabel Celaya, wearing a striped shirt and looking tired, recounted what had happened to her. The 71-year-old widow claimed her old heater was broken and despite repeated calls from Campesino, it was never fixed. As a result, he developed pneumonia, Zelaya said. A year later, Campesino replaced the heater. Campesino said the allegations were false.

He added that in 2021, after Campesino cut the power without warning, Celaya fell down the stairs and injured his back. Because of these troubles, Campesino lowered his rent to $175 a month, but that didn’t ease his anxiety.

“I was depressed and sick,” Celaya said, tears streaming down her face. The thought of finding a new home you can afford can be stressful. “Where am I going to move?”

Every tenant in Estrada’s apartment faced similar problems, all allegedly caused by Campesino’s management. The situation exacerbated his mental health, Estrada said, and he was on medication for depression.

More recently, tenants have complained that gas and electricity are often temporarily shut off without notice, as Campesino workers renovate vacant units for at least three weeks without water every Wednesday. They said the windows didn’t close properly, there was rat droppings in the laundry room, and the heater was blowing dust.

The heater caused problems for the Linares woman, who contracted Covid-19 last year. Linares hesitated to turn on the heat for fear the dust would worsen his asthma and breathing difficulties, even though he was often cold. Tensions with Campesino also irritated him. He died of COVID-19 and pneumonia last February at the age of 71. “It was very, very unpleasant,” Linares said.

Campesino said tenants’ descriptions of the outage were “grossly exaggerated,” saying the outage was brief and his team aimed to fix the problem within a week. No problems with the heater have been reported to you.

These conditions exacerbate the health problems of already sick relatives. Rosa Huerta, 56, explained in quick Spanish how her husband was recovering from a tumor removal and liver transplant. “This situation just stresses us out more,” he said.

lie, lie, bullying, bullying

The suit alleges that managers attempted to change the building’s locks and demand access to tenant units without sufficient advance notice, a tactic that Campesino has previously been accused of using. (He said the staff were friendly, give advance notice).

Clashes with people claiming to be migrant workers who came to the property without warning angered and intimidated tenants. Workers “knocked” on the door and one of the workers allegedly stole the property, they said.

Residents’ relationship with Campesino has been difficult, to say the least. For his part, Linares flatly refused to speak to his handlers. “He was always trying to offend us, threaten us and tell us he was going to throw us out on the street,” Linares said. “It’s always lies, lies, bullying, bullying.”

Maria Carmen Gomez, 80, was the last of the group to speak. She does it slowly, and when she loses focus, neighbors kindly help her find it. She has lived in her own apartment since 1988. “Of course I was nervous,” she said in Spanish. “I heard they’ve evicted all the tenants on Alabama Street.”

The tenant’s lawsuit says that before the April 6, 2022 filing date, Campesino allegedly rushed to fix conditions “in a race against the April 7, 2022 deadline.” However, “on information and belief, all plaintiffs assert (Campesino) did not intend to eliminate all unsuitable conditions.”

The suit says unskilled workers underperformed the repairs. Fox claimed workers dealt with the mold by nailing wood over the damaged surface. Campesino denied that and said his work was permitted and complied with city ordinances.

Until the case progresses — Fox believes two of them can go to court — the tenants will continue to live like this. However, neither of them wanted to move. First, Huerta’s job is here. “Most of us, like Doña María or Nina Isabel, are of a certain age,” Linares said. It is difficult to find alternative housing.

“We’re definitely trying to stay here,” Estrada said. “This is our home.”