Mass Eviction Deadline Nears

Mass Eviction Deadline Nears
By Lynda Carson October 21, 2004

November 3 is the deadline for the 1,200 tenants that faced eviction at the Harbor Island Apartments of Alameda. Those that remain beyond the deadline may face an unlawful detainer law suit or another new batch of notices telling them that they are being evicted.

In a disappointing move by the courts, on October 14, Federal District Court Judge William Alsup, failed to rule on a prelimanary injunction filed by the City of Alameda that would have stoped the mass evictions from taking place, and the eviction process is being allowed to move forward.

Since last July, the Harbor Island tenants appeared at Alameda City Hall for a number of protests against the mass evictions and were successful in putting enough pressure on Alameda City officials that the city was compelled to file a law suit againt the Fifteen Group which owns and operates the Harbor island Apartment complex.

Some tenants are hopeful that the courts will do the right thing to stop the mass evictions, and others are doubtful that the courts will intervene quick enough to make a difference.

Former Harbor Island tenant Deloris Wills-Guyton said, "Judge Alsup still has the preliminary injunction under consideration, but it may be too late before his ruling occurs."

Indeed, the clock is ticking very fast for the remaining 156 families that are still holding out for a favorable ruling from the courts that would stop the mass evictions, and the judge needs to make a ruling before the deadline occurs.

An October 19 Press Release from the Harbor Island Tenants Association said; "For the 156 families still living in Alameda's Harbor Island Apartments, home is looking more and more like an abandoned ghost town. Every other door is boarded shut. Garbage litters the laundry rooms and mold stains the ceilings. Employing a strategy of neglect and evict, the owners, Ian and Mark Sanders of Miami Beach are driving their tenants away by the hundreds.

In July, they issued eviction notices to all of Harbor Islands 386 families; today only 156 are left. Of those, almost 50% receive Section 8 housing vouchers to help pay for the rents that start at $1100/month. Residents here are stuck--few apartments in Alameda accept the vouchers, and families don't want to remove their children from Alameda schools."

Making matters worse, a recent survey released by Sentinel Fair Housing on October 7, shows that racial discrimination is rampant in Alameda, and makes it very difficult for the Harbor Island tenants to relocate in their beloved island community.

"As many of Alamedas renters search for housing in the City following the recent mass evictions at Harbor Island Apartments, housing discrimination appears to add an additional and devastating burden to the African American home seeker," said Mona Breed, Sentinel's Executive Director.

According to Mona Breed, "In a survey of advertised rental housing in the City of Alameda, Sentinel Fair Housing, an Oakland based private fair housing agency, found racial discrimination 44% of the time when African American applicants sought housing in the City."

"The racial discrimination taking place in Alameda does not bode well for the tenants of Harbor Island that want to remain in their diverse community," said Deloris Wills-Guyton.

"We have diversity here in the West End of Alameda, and once it's gone, it's gone! There is no other spot in Alameda with such diversity, and the Sanders brothers forced relocation scheme is not good for the future of this city," Guyton said.

"The Sanders brothers already made me homeless in the past," said Guyton. "I would'nt want it to happen again and am glad to now be out of their reach. There was an electrical fire a few years ago that forced me out then and the Sanders brothers blamed the tenants for the building fire. They let the buildings fall apart, don't care about their properties or their tenants, and have put them all at risk, just to make a profit."

The timing of the evictions is especially tragic for the Harbor Island Section 8 renters with large families. On October 1, 2004, the newest set of Fair Market Rents have gone into effect, and those families with vouchers for 2 or 3 bedroom units will discover that their housing vouchers have significantly decreased in value due to HUD cutbacks taking place in the Section 8 program.

Some of the renters have been lucky enough to relocate since the mass evictions taking place have disrupted their lives, but the relocation costs have ended up costing them hundreds of dollars per month more in rent payments.

"I am one of the lucky ones that managed to find housing without becoming homeless, Lorraine Lilley said. It's in a beautiful location sitting across the street from the beach along the San Francisco Bay, but it's costing me hundreds of dollars more a month than what I payed at the Harbor Island Apartments."

"I had to get my life back, and get my daughter into school in Nashville, Tennessee. I miss my old home of over 20 years, my neighbors and community. I am still helping others to continue the fight against the Sanders brothers. But without a Just Cause anti-eviction ordinance in place in Alameda, there really was nothing I could do to keep those slumlords from dumping my family out upon the streets, and I did what I had to do," Lilley said.

Not everyone is as lucky as Lorraine Lilley was in finding housing, and sanctuary from the mass evictions taking place at the Harbor Island Apartment complex.

"I don't have anyplace else to go," says 58 year old Isolina Cadle, a former Special Education classroom aide.

"I'm disabled with arthritis, my son just graduated from U.C Davis and has only landed part-time temp work. We don't have money for security deposits and moving. We need our home."

As the November 3 deadline moves ever closer, the residents of Harbor Island and their supporters can only hope that Judge William Alsup humanely considers the fate of the mass evictions to be unlawful and imposes the preliminary injunction to stop the evictions from moving forward.

The fate of 156 families rest in the hands of the judge, and one can only hope that the judge is not in the pocket of some wealthy slumlords that would dump hundreds of families out upon the cold streets of Alameda, just to make a profit.

The Harbor Island tenants and their supporters may be reached at the following numbers listed below.

Renewed Hope (Housing Advocates)
Rev. Michael Yoshii 510-522-2688
Tom Matthews, Chair 510-522-2073

Harbor Island Tenants Association
Lorraine Lilley cell: 510-325-5024
Delores Wills cell: 510-282-8574

Harbor Island Apartment Resident
Isolina Cadle, 58, partially disabled Special Ed. Paraprofessional, Alameda Unified School District 510-846-3228 cell; home: 510-521-6885