Harbor Island Apartments Evicts Its Tenants
31 July 2004 -
Fifteen Asset Management, LLC, a Miami-based building management agency,
runs the Harbor Island apartment complex in West Alameda for its owners.
The Harbor Island apartment complex lies near the old Air Base in
Alameda. The boxy, yellow buildings, neglected grass, and asphalt paths
in Harbor Island give the place the look of urban project housing. 
The complex
certainly doesn't resemble Alameda's Gold Coast, a lovely area a mile or
so away, filled with tree-lined streets and grand victorians. Harbor
Island is anything like the newer, tidy Bay Farm apartments on the south
island. And Harbor Island Apartment's aren't a bit like the pricey new
Bayport housing development rising on the site of the old Naval Air
Station just across Atlantic Boulevard. 
The fence around
the Harbor Island complex encloses a world that reduces property values.
The apartments are located outside the apartheid wall surrounding Bayport,
a wall designed to shield upscale owners from traffic noise and a view of
Harbor Island's obvious poverty.
"You got $800,000 houses across the street," one renter explained. "Who wants to look over here, every other night the police is here, the ambulance, the fire trucks? They pay too much money to look at 'ghetto.'"
Get Out!
Tuesday through Thursday, July 20th to July 22nd, 2004, Fifteen Asset Management, LLC told tenants in the 640 unit complex to get out.
About half the residents are supported by Section 8 rental subsidy
vouchers. Federal Law requires they be given ninety day notice. Other
tenants are told to leave in sixty days, the minimum notification period
for eviction (Civil Code Section 1946.1(b)). Click on the example
eviction letter to see a larger, readable version. 
The impact: 400 households, hundreds of people including 320 school children, will be thrown out. If the children leave the Island's school system, the chief financial officer for the Alameda School District estimates the district will lose more than $1.5 million.
The agency mailed this blunt, legal notification to renters and posted sig in the hallways. The one pager ends with a paragraph, "The basis for this termination of tenancy is for economic reasons. The owners intend to undertake a substantial renovation of the building. In the event legal action is necessary to enforce this action, you have the right to appear in court and present a defense." A defense! As if the recipient had already been charged with a crime for living in an apartment and refusing to disappear on command. The eviction letter doesn't end with a Sincerely yours, or a Thank you. No mention is made of assistance or arrangements for shifting tenants from building to building as renovations are done. Not even a Good luck.
Renovations
The City Planning Department doesn't have a building permit application on file for Harbor Island. Jerry Cormack, the City's planning review manager told the city's major newspaper, the Alameda Journal, that management officials said something to him last Thursday about fixing the place up. Tenants don't believe it. They think the management company just wants them gone so it can gentrify the place and pocket some big money. Some tenants think that the buildings will be torn down and expensive homes will be built in their place. Those tenants told The Alameda Report they think the management was only calling the proposed changes renovation to avoid compensating tenants when their homes are pulled down. The Alameda Journal reported that Fifteen Asset Management wouldn't return phone calls to answer questions about just what kind of fixing up would be done.
Renovations certainly are needed. In the early part of February this year the city of Alameda deleted Harbor Island Apartments from the Section 8 Rental Assistance program. Why? Susan Fuller reported in the Alameda Journal that "Units are without smoke alarms, Cover plates are missing from electric sockets. Fire extinguishers aren't recharged. Raw sewage seeps into the buildings." The city cited the owners, but never enforced the citations. The place was in such bad shape that the city wouldn't agree to help Section 8 tenants live there, but wouldn't force the owners to repair it, except by denying any more rent subsidies.
Some in city government aren't too excited yet. Renovation "could be positive," said Michael Pucci, the Housing Authority Executive director. He'd like to "reduce the high concentration of Section 8 tenants." (Alameda Journal, Evictions, page 1, 30 July 2004). Police may be happy about the removal of tenants. Calls to the police from Harbor Island Apartments are about 3 times as high as the rest of the city. Authorities may appreciate a class of people who can afford higher rents. According to residents, city authorities treat tenants as if the they were responsible for the housing problems.
Tenants Fight Back
On Saturday, July 31, tenants rallied near the pool in the center of Harbor Island. Many were fresh from a recent battle that saved hundreds of renters aided by Section 8 funds from living on the streets. (Read coverage in The Alameda Report Local Topics.)
The pool area stands out like an unexpected oasis in the complex. But the cold, overcast, and windy weather didn't encourage anyone to go for a swim. A group beset by fear and uncertainty gathered around a picnic table. Many are poor workers, some elderly, some handicapped.
As Margie Pacheco, a woman in a wheelchair said, "My God, I've got to put a rebuilt engine in my old van. This couldn't have come at a worse time. It'll cost me thousands. How can I afford to move?"
Vicki Smith from Renewed Hope and other volunteers distributed a survey
sheet, asking everyone to fill it out. The sheet is to be mailed to
Sentinel Fair Housing at 510 16th Street, Oakland, CA 94612. That
organization will try to summarize how many people are affected and what
situations they face. (Click on the small image of the survey to see a
larger, readable version.)
The Sentinel sheet includes an outline of news and advice. Here's is an excerpt from the outline on the sheet:
- WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND WHAT TO DO
- - If you decide to move, get a letter of recommendation from the management
- - Demand the return of your security deposit so you CAN move. (The owner has 21 days after you have move to return it, but many previous tenants have complained about not getting it returned.)
- - If you are staying to fight the evictions, the owners will have to take ALL of you to Court. This can take up to 2 more months.
- - You will need help to file your court papers after they give you a Summons, Numbers for legal services are listed below the Agenda.
- - If the notice is asking you to leave before the end of your lease, then the notice is not valid. Don't move. Legal services can answer your questions about this.
- - If you have serious repair problems in your unit, you can fight the eviction.
- WHAT THE LEGAL COMMUNITY CAN TRY TO DO AND YOUR PART IN THAT.
- - Right now the legal community is considering a number of options, but they need your help. They need to know information about who is being asked to leave.
- - There are volunteers with sign in sheets for each building. Or, you can fill out the information on the back of your agenda and mail it to: Sentinel Fair Housing, 510 16th Street, Oakland, 94612
- - The information you give may help in actions to try to stop these evictions. Any information you give will be confidential. Only Sentinel staff will have access to your information and will not use your name without your permission.
- WHAT CAN TENANTS CAN DO TO ORGANIZE AGAINST THIS MASS EVICTION?
- - Strengthen the Tenant Association and Stay Informed. We encourage you to share your name, address and phone number with the tenant association by checking the square on the sign up sheet or the back of your agenda.
- LOOKING FOR NEW HOUSING
- - If you are looking new housing and you suspect that you are. being discouraged because of your race, national origin, the presence of children or your disability then you may a victim of discrimination. Call Sentinel Fair Housing at 510-836-2687 if you believe that this is happening.
- - If you decide to move, get a letter of recommendation from the management
Legal Help
The Sentinel Fair Housing letter listed organization that offer legal help and information to tenants.
- Sentinel Fair Housing : 510-836-2687
- Bay Area Legal Aid : 663-4744
- East Bay Community Law Center : 548-4040
- Eviction Defense Center : 452-4541
- Campaign for Renters' Rights : 301-8489 (Jeremy)
- Renewed Hope Advocates : 522-2073
Organizing the fight
Volunteers asked the crowd to move to the auditorium of
Chipman Middle School, just across the street. Several hundred people
walked there. Chairs were hauled out from the stage and a circle formed
around a microphone stand in the middle of the basketball court. Speakers
encouraged tenants to hang on, to stay put, and fight.
Vice Mayor Tony Daysog gave a speech promising to support the tenants in
their struggle. He mentioned that the apartment complex owners would need
Planning Board approval to proceed and that approval could be denied.
After an hour of questions, answers, and morale boosting speeches, to cheers and applause, the crowd vowed to attend the City Council meeting on Tuesday, August 2nd at 7:30 at City Hall and demand that authorities stop the mass eviction.
Shortly, The Alameda Report will add pictures and recordings of those who rallied the tenants to fight back so you can hear what they said. And The Alameda Report will continue to add coverage of the struggle. This is part of our coverage of land development in Alameda, Who Owns, Who Controls, Who Benefits.
