San Francisco Renters Face Eviction After Landlord Foreclosed
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – Tenant and housing advocates gathered outside a San Francisco Mission District bank on Thursday with three single mothers who are facing eviction.
Groups including Just Cause, the Coalition on Homelessness and the Housing Rights Committee, crammed onto the sidewalk outside the U.S. Bank at the corner of 16th and Mission streets. They demanded the renters be allowed to stay in their rental units after their landlord was foreclosed upon.
KCBS' Anna Duckworth Reports:
Alma Sierra is one of the mothers fighting to stay in the three-unit Excelsior District apartment building. Through a translator, she spoke of the strain of the impending eviction for her and her nine-year-old son.
"I have a son that goes to school right now right across the street and the idea that he would have to find another school is just very, very difficult for me," she said. "We don't want to be evicted. We want them to continue to live in our housing."
Lucia Kimble of Just Cause said that U.S. Bank needs to act as a landlord by collecting rent and making repairs to the building.
"These families represent families all over. Tenants here in San Francisco and all over the country," she said. "These are the hidden victims of the foreclosure crisis."
Wells Fargo actually manages services for the property. A company spokesman said that he's looking into the case and that tenants without valid leases can remain in their homes for 90 days with an option of an offer of financial relocation assistance.
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