investors bought an apt building in sacramento & tried to get immigrants to pay rent twice

[Demovictory9]

Summary of long article behind paywall: Afghan immigrants with low English skills and new to US living in rundown apt building. Prior owner suddenly asked for rent by the Feb 2nd when usually they had to 5th of the month. They paid not knowing the building was sold. The building was sold on the 3rd. New owners come in demanding Feb rent despite tenants showing them receipts. new owners try to get feb rent paid again for two months, then come up with plan. Pay your rent by the 1st from April to Sept. If a tenant misses that 1st payment, they owe feb rent... so creating a $1000 late payment fee. One new tenant had paid $2900 depositi and first months rents. The new owners turned him away.
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The Bee spoke to six current tenants who said the previous building manager collected February rent in cash and money orders from each of them by Feb. 2 — the day before an LLC affiliated with Oakland-based Redwood Property Investors assumed ownership. The tenants produced receipts confirming the payment, but a Redwood executive said they never received the rent payments from the previous manager.

The new owner has not pursued evictions through Sacramento’s court system. Instead, the real estate investment company repeatedly asked the residents to pay the rent they’d already paid or leave their homes in three days — potentially an informal eviction that happens without court oversight. The tenants’ story reveals the stark power imbalance between low-income renters and landlords in the midst of a California homelessness crisis. With their lack of credit history and limited English skills that stymie their job searches, these tenants were in danger of becoming homeless and weren’t sure how to advocate for themselves.


Over a two-month period, the new owners posted multiple three-day pay-or-quit notices, demanding that the tenants pay another full month’s rent within three days or move out. The most recent notices were sent out April 7, telling tenants that if they did not pay or leave the premises, “your Landlord declares a forfeiture of the agreement under which you hold possession of the Premises and will institute legal proceedings.” That same day, Redwood’s chief financial officer, Cliff Jackson, wrote to The Bee, “Our initial findings reveal that a number of residents were defrauded by prior ownership.”

After both telling The Bee the rent had been paid to previous management and giving the tenants another three-day notice April 7, Redwood asked residents to sign a document, described as an effort to “start off on the right foot.” In the document, management wrote that the February payments were stolen by an employee of the previous owner. Then, they asked tenants to agree to pay rent by the first of the month every month from April to September.

Under the terms of the agreement, if a tenant paid any later than the first of the month, they would owe their February rent money again.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article260136260.html#storylink=cpy

[sl8]

1. Kick.

[abqtommy]

2. The love of money is the root of all evil. This originates in the Bible, Timothy 6:10

https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/238725.html

It's unfortunate that these immigrant renters weren't provided with a copy of
Renter's Rights And Resources printed in their own language. Now we'll see if there will
finally be justice for them.

NOTE: Yay, I finally got it posted with a new link.

[Johnny2X2X]

3. Sick sick people

The worst among us take advantage of those who are vulnerable.

Immigrants are vulnerable. I have wrote here about how when you're poor, everything is more expensive and everything is a scam. That goes doubly for immigrants, many of who don't speak English, and some who are afraid to be reported to ICE even if they're here legally.

I am no longer poor, but I remember everything about struggling. I remember how groceries in poorer neighborhoods are more expensive, how you get less food if you can't afford to buy in bulk. I remember car loans with terrible terms and astronomical interest rates. I remember secured credit cards with insane rates, crappy cellphone stores with higher fees and poorer coverage. Utilities even costing more because you couldn't afford to weatherproof your home. Everything comes at a premium for poor people. I remember landlords who charge crazy deposits and refuse to give refunds, who raise rents yearly, and who do little to repair the homes they own.

In America, when you're poor, or an immigrant, everything is a scam, you end up paying more for every single thing imaginable.