East Palo Alto's biggest landlord has sent termination notices to a prominent tenant organizer and other residents of four rental properties, leading some to question whether the company is targeting outspoken opponents.
Palo Alto-based Page Mill Properties, however, says it selected the four-plexes and single-family homes at 1643 Woodland Ave. as well as 1901, 1909 and 1911 Cooley Ave. because they don't fit in with its other properties, which consist mostly of dense apartment complexes. The company said Wednesday it plans to sell the units to low- to moderate-income residents based on new federal guidelines that have yet to be finalized.
The decision "certainly has business principles but there's also what I would call a good-will gesture," said Adam Alberti, a spokesman for the company. "Nobody was in any way targeted by this action. If you look on a map, it is a geographic targeting - these units are distinct and different from the rest of the properties."
Alberti added that existing tenants who qualify as low- to moderate-income would have the opportunity to purchase their units under a Tenancy in Common agreement. The company plans to give those who don't take advantage of that option about $4,000 in relocation assistance, he said.
Stephen Ford, a temporary housing specialist with the city's rent stabilization program, confirmed that Page Mill filed a number of notices requiring tenants to leave the properties in 120 days but said confidentiality laws barred him from giving out further information.
"You are hereby notified that, effective October 2, 2009, the tenancy by which you hold possession of the premises will be terminated," said a notice mailed Tuesday to tenant organizer Christopher Lund, who lives in a four-plex at 1643 Woodland. Page Mill attorney Andrew Zacks signed the document, which was on city stationery.
Erika Wilhelm, a 31-year-old Hewlett-Packard employee who lives in a three-bedroom rental home at 1909 Cooley Ave., said she also received the notice Wednesday.
Wilhelm said she and her boyfriend, a Stanford Ph.D. student, and two other roommates were still in shock and contemplating what to do.
"We're looking on Craigslist right now - some of the Palo Alto three-bedrooms are like $6,000," Wilhelm said. The group pays $2,550 for its house and enjoys biking to work and school from the convenient location.
Wilhelm questioned whether Page Mill singled out the household after she made several complaints about repairs and her boyfriend was named in court documents involving a class-action lawsuit against the landlord.
"We have never been late," she said. "We always pay."
Eric Coffman, who lives in a one-bedroom cottage at 1911 Cooley with his partner, said he feels certain he was targeted because of his involvement in tenant protests and the lawsuit. "They're targeting a lot of people," said Coffman, 35. "They've purchased way too many properties. They honestly don't know what they're doing."
Coffman said he never paid the rent late in the nearly nine years he has lived in the home.
Lund declined to comment extensively on his plans but said "the notices they sent out speak for themselves.
"Given that there are individuals in some of these units who have been involved in tenants' rights advocacy, I think the selection of these units is interesting," he said.
Page Mill and the city of East Palo Alto are currently involved in about 10 lawsuits over rent hikes and other issues.
Much of the dispute centers on whether Page Mill correctly raised rents to match the legal maximum that appeared on certificates kept by the city. In many instances, those amounts were hundreds of dollars more than what tenants were actually paying when the company bought more than 1,700 units in the city of 32,000.
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