For a print-friendly version, click here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dean Preston
December 23, 2014 415.495.8100 x1001
info@tenantstogether.org
Calling Sacramento Manor the Grinch that is stealing Christmas from seniors, community members will gather at Sacramento Manor to demand an end to the eviction of 83 year-old Dorothy Morris. Organizers will also demand that Sacramento Manor refrain from discriminating against Section 8 tenants. Dorothy Morris and representatives from community organizations will speak; elected representatives have been invited as well.
Press Conference & Rally
11:00 am
Tuesday, December 23
Sacramento Manor
7300 24th St., Sacramento, CA 95822
Dorothy Morris is an 83 year old, African-American tenant at the Sacramento Manor, a senior living community in Sacramento, California. Sacramento Manor's slogan is "where seniors thrive." Morris has been a model tenant, yet the landlord is evicting her. The company alleges no misconduct by Morris. Instead, according the Sacramento Bee, "Sacramento Manor manager Jessica Dawn Gering testified . . . that the landlord evicted Morris as part of its effort to rid itself of federally-subsidized Section 8 tenants."
Morris had no lawyer and represented herself at trial. In a highly unusual move, Superior Court Judge Christopher Krueger issued a directed verdict against Morris, not even allowing her to put on a defense or have a jury decide her case. Morris is scheduled for eviction on January 2, 2015.
California law does not expressly ban Section 8 discrimination, emboldening landlords to blatantly discriminate against low-income tenants who rely on a Section 8 voucher to subsidize their rent.
Hundreds of Californians have already contacted the landlord demanding an end to this eviction. "We want to send a clear message to this landlord that evicting a senior like this is totally unacceptable," said Aimee Inglis, Member Services Coordinator of Tenants Together. TT believes that all California tenants should be protected from eviction without cause.
Eviction is particularly hard on senior and disabled tenants. According to Jodi Reid, Executive Director of California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), "Evictions are devastating for seniors. We urge Sacramento Manor to stop this eviction immediately." Pam Warren, a Sacramento member of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), condemned the eviction and pointed to the broader problem: "Low-income tenants should not be punished for relying on Section 8 to subsidize their rent."
"Just like the Grinch, Sacramento Manor still has the opportunity to do the right thing here: grow a heart and stop this senseless eviction on the eve of Christmas," urged Guillermo Elenes of Tenants Together.
***