Oakland Landlord Fights 'Mega-Evictor' Label, Blames City
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- An Oakland landlord who is being blamed for being part of the city's housing crisis is fighting back against the "mega-evictor" slapped on him by a advocacy group.
William Rosetti owns over of 1,000 rental units and has filed more than 3,000 eviction notices.
Erin McElroy and her Anti-Eviction Mapping Group have launched an attack against Rosetti, deeming him "the mega-evictor."
"It's pretty amazing that someone can issue that many eviction notices in such a short amount of time," said McElroy.
McElroy said Rosetti and his companies have issued more eviction notices since 2008 than anyone else in the data her nonprofit collected from the housing board.
But Rosetti, who was also part of Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's Housing Implementation Cabinet, said the numbers are misleading and inflated - and said he's unfairly getting a bad rap.
"I would never characterize myself or any of my people as mega-evictors. The report on mega-evictions is distorted insofar as it says that three-day notices are evictions. And they are required by law and required to be sent to the rent board," Rosetti said.
McElroy's data included what Rosetti said are mostly three-day notices to pay rent or quit the property, something legally issued when a tenant doesn't pay. Only a very small percentage of those ever turned into evictions, he said, and only then after giving tenants a chance.
Rosetti said the problem with housing isn't him or his company, but rather it lies at the feet of Oakland.
"You have to have the city work," he said. "Oakland is a great place, it now has a very diverse group of people living here. We need to find a way to allow those people to continue living here. They make that choice."
Ironically, that sentiment is echoed by the woman accusing him, showing that two sides of the coin aren't always so far apart.
"As rents are going up, as the minimum wage is not going up, as evictions are going up, all of these things together, something needs to be done," said McElroy. "And it's up to the city government to actually do something dramatic."
Mayor Schaaf said the Housing Implementation Cabinet is designed to tackle these very issues.
