An Ellis Act boycott list

02.06.13 - 11:54 am | Tim Redmond |

(34)

Jeremy Mykaels, eviction fighter.

GUARDIAN PHOTO BY KEENEY + LAW

Jeremy Mykaels, who is featured in our story this week on Ellis Act evictions, is fighting back with his reseach and web-developer skills: He's put together a site, ellishurtsseniors.org, that details not only his story and the overall plight of tenants but lists every Ellis Act eviction involving seniors or disabled people, the address, the name and contact info. for the landlord -- and a call for potential TIC buyers to avoid those properties.

I hope this gets circulately widely -- and that people buying property consider the human costs of eviction.

Comments

TIC buyers are usually not put off by an eviction since, at some

time or other, there has probably been an eviction in every building in SF.

What does deter TIC buyers, however, is the inability to ever convert to condo. So if a building has been Ellis'ed, and it must be disclosed, then the buyer will take into account that when deciding whether and how much to offer.

So, at one extreme, you have an Elli'sed TIC. At the other extreme, a TIC that is eligible for condo and, better yet, has already been in the lottery for a while.

But ultimately it all gets reflected in the price. Demand is high and, for every buyer who is put off by an eviction, another will be happy to offer, just to get the place a little cheaper.

And of course most TIC's are bought by existing tenants and wwere not created by evictions. TIC's are not a problem per se.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 12:19 pm

This list will continue to

This list will continue to grow as long we expect private property owners to be responsible for providing long term housing to seniors. The city needs to develop a needs-based rent voucher system.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 12:55 pm

Tim, if there were a blacklist of homes based on whether their

mortgage payments were made from someone who worked for a publication that derived most of it's earnings from hooker and porn ad's, would you understand perfectly if your open house was picketed and your potential buyers deterred?

Or is it somehow miraculously different if the money comes from exploiting women rather than by making the real estate market more efficient and boosting social mobility?

Posted by Guest on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 1:11 pm

Thanks Tim

Time to go shopping!

Posted by Chromefields on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 1:14 pm

Yeah, the conclusion would have to be that the best RE bargains

in SF are Ellis'ed TIC's because of all the people who are so dumb that they blindly do what Tim says, and don't buy a home just in case at some time somebody might have had to move house from there.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 1:28 pm

Too bad Jerry didn't put the same effort into his education and

his career, such that he might actually be able to afford to live in the world's favoritie city?

Posted by Guest on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 1:15 pm

Did you read the story?

Jeremy is an educated person with a long successful career, most recently in web design. He's also living with AIDS and is unable to work. Don't be an asshole and make snide, uninformed comments about someone with a disability.

Posted by tim on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 4:10 pm

Strangely he looks pretty hale and hearty in that pic

Certainly not like the PWAs I remember from the late 1980 and early 90s - that's for sure.

Posted by Lucretia Snapples on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 4:50 pm

Looks can be deceiving

Lucretia - While I may look hale and hearty to you, my latest labs would prove you wrong. In 2001 I was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS after coming down with pneumocystis pneumonia with a practically non-existent immune system. I was allergic to the drug used to treat the pneumonia and had to take an additional steroid drug which started my weight gain and I have struggled with my weight ever since. The side-effects of my life-saving HIV meds have been chiefly chronic fatigue, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and extensive peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage) in my feet with related restless leg and arm syndrome, which have limited my ability to exercise like I should or even walk long distances now without a cane. I am basically in pain to a lesser or greater degree throughout the day but most especially at night due to the neuropathy. Yes, I smiled for the camera - even when faced with the many challenges I have right now I try to remain an optimistic person. It's not easy for me, but I am fighting my eviction and my health problems as best as I can. I'm sorry if I don't LOOK sick enough for you.

Posted by Jeremy on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 9:51 am

I am very sorry to hear about

I am very sorry to hear about your struggles.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 10:15 am

It's my understanding that those will disabilities, illnesses or

who are old get a much longer grace period with Ellis evictions - a full year and, by negotiation, more. Plus a payoff.

While I feel sure we all feel compassion for anyone who is sick, it should not be the responsibility of a landlord or any single person to bear the brunt of supporting that person. Rather society as a whole should provide shelter and care, at least insofar as that is the will of the voters who of course must prove taxes to fund such services.

The problem as things are is that it places an unfair and heavy burden on an individual landlord, and those who cannot or should not bear that burden should be allowed an exit. That exit is an Ellis eviction, which was approved at the highest level of State governance.

Posted by anon on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 10:03 am

Tax whiners punt to the

Tax whiners punt to the public sector they've decimated to justify their attacks on seniors and the disabled.

One more year? A few thousand dollars? What are the hopes that they'll expire within 12 months or be put out of sight, out of mind?

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 10:50 am

A year is a decent notice period given that the national average

for an eviction notice is 30 days, with no cause needed and no payoff.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:05 am

Troll hijack: go live in a

Troll hijack: go live in a "national average" city, oh yeah, property values are lower there BECAUSE THEY ARE BORING AND AVERAGE so there are fewer money making opportunities in RE. Only localities that have preserved their character have high RE prices because they've preserved their character.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:21 am

Ah, that SF exceptionalism again.

We have to have special laws in SF because the city is so special that people should be allowed to live here regardless of whether they can afford it.

But why?

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:45 am

The City is so special

The City is so special BECAUSE we had special laws. As a result of these laws, San Francisco is special. The topography did not hurt, but if there were not special laws, the topography would be totally buried under craptacular condo and office towers.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 12:14 pm

No, the illusion of "specialness" cam first.

Why would else would we write laws designed to preserve the city as if it were colonial williamsburg?

SF is only special in the eyes of those too weak and inadequate to think they could survive anywhere else. Or else never want to grow up. Why protect them?

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 12:36 pm

Troll Hijack: There has been

Troll Hijack: There has been plenty of new construction in SF since downzoning, nothing to see here, no amusement park, no colonial williamsburg, no NIMBY haven, move on.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 12:50 pm

Every one of you is vulnerable

It doesn't matter if you're rich or poor. Any human being could get in an accident which leaves you permanently disable, or contract a disease. Or you may undergo some catastrophe that affects your finances and ability to go on living in your longtime home in your beloved SF. You may have money for the moment, but life is about change and your circumstances could change too. So whether or not you have money, you are no more special or deserving than anyone else. Someday you could find the rug pulled out from under you and then you'll have to ask yourself why anyone should care about YOU. Nobody cares for someone who has little or no empathy for his/her fellow man. That type of person is a sociopath. We have built a society that cares for the vulnerable among us because anyone of us could find ourselves in that position, given a spate of bad luck. And because it is the right thing to do. The trolls don't see it this way, because most of them ARE sociopaths, like the Guest above (12:36 pm on Feb. 7). A remark like that would have done the NAZI's proud. Shame on you!

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

Have you no shame, Lucrecia,

Have you no shame, Lucrecia, no sense of human dignity?

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 10:46 am

Funny, that what's people said about you, marcos when you said

that you intend to rent out your condo at a market rent rather than proivde an affordable housing opportunity in SF.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:04 am

Troll hijack: Attacking

Troll hijack: Attacking individuals with disabilities for perceived disability or lack thereof is disgusting, adding in ad hominem to hijack the discussion is the hallmark of a sleazy troll.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:23 am

Luccretia made the original commnet; not me.

I was merely pointing out the hypocrisy of you calling someone else unethical, when you plan to rent out your condo for an unaffordable rent.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:43 am

Sorry, yes, you're right. my bad

Oops.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 11:49 am

marcos has a thing for Lucretia

Posted by slip bill in aclu on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 12:41 pm

Lucretia must be a gay man

I suspected as much

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 1:14 pm

marcos is probably a bottom and see as Lucretia as a

dominatrix, since she is always slapping his ass, verbally.

Posted by Guest on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 1:21 pm

No she doesn't apparently.

No she doesn't apparently. She's the type of _______ who would go into a nursing home and start being an asshole there and make fun of the residents with snide-ass remarks. She apparently has no OFF switch for that useless troll routine of hers. A despicable excuse for a human being. And many others on here are just like her/him. I'm sorry Jeremy has to read this trash. I wish him well.

International Troll Society Member #12360969212

Posted by International Troll Society Member #12360969212 on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 2:27 pm

Interesting

so many Chinese and other Asian names. Do the Ellis restrictions on condo conversion deter non Asians more than Asians?

Posted by Guest on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 5:47 pm

Rent Control overwhelmingly benefits the educated white liberals

who move to the SF but cannot really afford it. Non-whites generally favor the kind of housing that is less protected by rent control e.g. SFH's in the avenues which the asians prefer.

Non-whites are also generally less organized and often have LL's of the same race who can achieve thru cultural pressure what a white LL could never have over his white TT's.

Also, backs and hispancis are just as happy in Oakland while whites feel that they "must" live in SF.

Rent control is a race issue. Only white people can really be bothered with it.

Posted by anonymous on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 6:09 pm

Explain to us again how

Explain to us again how sheeps' bladders can be used to predict earthquakes.

Posted by marcos on Feb. 06, 2013 @ 6:58 pm

So, no comprehension of the important points made huh?

Why doesn't surprise me from our resident property-woning hypocrit?

Posted by anon on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 9:58 am

The Aristocracy of Money

The French Revolution had failed to solve the problem. The new enemy was not the old nobility but the new aristocracy of money.

Posted by Moses Hess on Feb. 07, 2013 @ 1:37 pm