The owner of a 39-unit apartment building in Sausalito is evicting literally everyone in order to renovate the place and jack up the rents, even giving a 93-year-old woman notice that she has to be out in two months.
There is some noticeable difference between what's presented on the website of the Sausalito apartment complex Portofino Riviera, and the reality of what the place actually looks like. The website shows a group of gorgeous homes along Sausalito’s famed coastline. But the video report below from KTVU shows the building as far more ragged, with the “Por” missing from the Portofino Riviera sign, and the detail that one tenant had to be moved out because their unit was “flooded by malfunctioning gutters.”
So it may sound like nice news that the landlord is renovating the whole place. But it’s much less nice that they’ve posted notice to evict the tenants of all 93 units of the building. Per KTVU, last week each unit had an eviction notice taped to its door, demanding the tenants be out by October 31.
One of these tenants is 93 years old, and wearing a neck brace from a severe injury and suffering from hypertension. "I don't know where to get the rent from, where to go, what to do, how to handle it," that tenant Ursula Goldstone told KTVU.
And that rent is heading for a significant increase. KTVU notes that the complex is now offering these same units for “$2,600 for a studio and $3,700 for a one-bedroom,” despite that no renovations have taken place.
The tenant who experienced the flooding in their apartment was relocated to a smaller apartment (though at the same rent), and is now looking at the prospect of having to move twice within a year. “Hopefully, we can stay in the same school,” that tenant Elaina Gunn told the station. “You know, the protections here are not what they are in the city" of San Francisco.
KTVU notes that “Some residents have hired legal representation,” and it’s unclear whether they’ve all retained the same attorney, or whether different tenants have hired multiple attorneys. Either way, that legal representation’s first move is likely a delay on the evictions, so it may just be the beginning of this saga.
Related: 81-Year-Old Woman Being Evicted From Upper Haight Condo Hits Back With Lawsuit. [SFist]
Image: Google Street View