In
the children's story "Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman, a bird egg
has fallen from its nest and hatched. The baby bird, separated from the
nest, cannot locate his mother bird. The confused critter goes on a
wandering adventure to find her. He asks cows, planes, dogs, steam
shovels and other inanimate objects and different species the question:
“Are you my mother?” In the end he is happily reunited with his
maternal parent in a wonderful moment of recognition.
During
the second week of September, my rent check was cashed, but by then it
was not clear who the landlord was. Was it Wachovia Bank, who gave Page
Mill Properties a large loan? Hmmm. No, as far as I knew Wachovia no
longer existed. Was it Wells Fargo, who inherited the Wachovia loan
during the confusing recent nationwide banking shuffle? Or might it be
something scary, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster or the
Chupacabra? After all, at this point, those of us who had endured Page
Mill Properties’ incredibly high rent hikes, lack of communication,
harassment, ignored maintenance requests, rude employees and constant
legal smack downs against us and our city were a bit shell shocked. On
second thought, maybe one of those mythical creatures would be an
improvement over the disappearing company!
Since
Page Mill Properties defaulted on its huge $50 million loan repayment
to Wells Fargo in August, none of us (Page Mill tenants) knew who
currently owned the portfolio, who to call for a maintenance emergency,
or even who to contact for routine requests and questions. It was a
holiday weekend, to boot, so there were flurries of phone calls,
emergency meetings, emails and head scratching among city and county
agencies, officials, tenants and tenant advocates. Meanwhile, one of
the Page Mill Property bigwigs was reputedly on vacation in Spain. The
police and fire departments were called to some of the properties due
to both vandalism and Page Mill Properties’ shoddy maintenance that
left tenants vulnerable to injury and danger. The news is reporting
that the fire department has uncovered numerous serious code violations
at some of the properties, and there is talk of all 1800-plus units
undergoing a fire inspection. What a nerve-wracking mess!
Not
only was this confusing and upsetting, it was also illegal, according
to California Administrative Law. Civil code section 1961-1962.7 states
that any building of 1 or more units has to keep tenants informed about
the designated manager:
1961. This chapter shall apply to every dwelling structure
containing one or more units offered to the public for rent or for
lease for residential purposes.
1962. (a) Any owner of a dwelling structure specified in Section
1961 or a party signing a rental agreement or lease on behalf of the
owner shall do all of the following:
1) Disclose therein the name, telephone number, and usual street
address at which personal service may be effected of each person who is:
(A) Authorized to manage the premises.
(B) An owner of the premises or a person who is authorized to act
for and on behalf of the owner for the purpose of service of process
and for the purpose of receiving and receipting for all notices and
demands.”Gaye
Mitcham, a seven year East Palo Alto resident and a disabled
grandmother of three, who was angered by Page Mill Properties’
defection, stated strongly, “It was irresponsible, immature, and not
proper behavior for a landlord. I have never had that happen before
& I’ve lived in a few apartments in my time. They showed no care or
compassion for what the tenants might need.”
Vance,
a long-time East Palo Alto resident and Page Mill Properties tenant
told me emphatically, “It was like a five year old child running away
from something he didn’t want to do anymore. It was very childish!”
That
is how this situation was very unlike Eastman’s “Are You My Mother?”.
In the book, the offspring is looking for its parent, who has
authority. But in our real life story, those with authority acted like
young offspring and ran away. It took the court appointing a receiver,
who in turn hired a property management firm, to get things back on
track. But are they really back on track? While Page Mill Properties is
in reported negotiations with Wells Fargo, communication between the
new property managers and tenants is spotty. I never received a notice
that a new property manager was in place, nor did I receive a call back
about a leaking sprinkler. Tenants I have spoken with are not receiving
call backs on messages left with this new property management company,
who rehired a number of the laid off Page Mill Properties employees.
While
the answer to the question “Are you my landlord?” is being officially
determined, we need to make sure that the current regime does not get
away with the mistakes of the old. Especially since some of the
personnel are the same. This means that we have to hold the current
property management company responsible for treating us with respect,
returning phone calls and responding to maintenance requests. They
absolutely do not get to act like five year olds, running away from
something they do not want to do, such as their jobs.
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