This Monday come support CitiApartments tenants and CitiSTOP campaign volunteers as we show the Board of Supervisors how CitiApartments mistreats their tenants and raises all our rents!

WHAT: Hearing in front of the Land Use & Economic Development Committee
WHEN: Monday May 12th at 1pm
WHERE: City Hall, Room 263 (on Polk St between McAllister and Grove)

In 2005, the City Attorney’s office filed a lawsuit against CitiApartments for unfair business practices, but today, in 2008, CitiApartments continues to buy dozens of buildings across the city, using aggressive and illegal tactics to evict long-term tenants and raise their profit margins. This is our chance to remind our lawmakers that CitiApartments is still a problem and to ask for their help in making Citi behave like a good landlord.

What is CitiSTOP?

CitiSTOP, the coalition that brought attention to San Francisco’s worst landlord, CitiApartments, in 2006, is organizing again! For almost a year, volunteers have been visiting tenants in newly acquired CitiApartment buildings, providing education about protection from eviction and Citi’s deceptive tactics. Starting in March, we have also begun holding city-wide meeting of CitiApartments tenants to plan our next steps for collective action as well as the campaign to save rent control.

Why is CitiApartments so bad?

CitiApartments/ Skyline Realty uses some pretty dirty tactics to get their long-term tenants out so they can charge higher rents for the newly vacant units. Their tactics have included:

• Verbally harassing and threatening tenants
• Incessant calls urging tenants to accept “Buyout” offers that do not come close to matching the loss tenants see when they are forced to move into new apartments

• One-on-one meetings that involve an attempt to coerce tenants into signing an agreement to vacate their unit
• Illegal construction, often at odd hours, designed to cause tenants discomfort
• Changing locks and not providing tenants with new keys– or only one key per leaseholder.
• Interfering with caregivers who provide assistance to senior and disabled tenants
• Sending large men wearing military fatigues and carrying concealed weapons barging into units and videotaping tenants

• Buying up multiple apartments on one block or one neighborhood and raising the rent so drastically in their newly vacated units that it pushes up ‘market rent’ for the entire neighborhood

CitiApartments is the face of gentrification in the Tenderloin, Western Addition, and, increasingly, the Mission.

If you have any questions email citiSTOP@gmail. com

CitiSTOP! has a new website. Visit us at http://citistop. live.radicaldesi gns.org.

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