I am writing this due to promting after signing a petition regarding the Ellis Act. I was the victim of the Ellis Act twice while living in San Francisco.
The first "eviction" occurred in 2008. The sale of the building happened at the top of the market. The three story flat had been on the market for a long time. The new owners then went about picking off the elderly tenant while the other two flat tenants stuck together. We would only correspond via written (documentable) communication so the new owner-investor waited for a while until they could get all of their legal information in order. Our sticking together gave us an extra year before the new owner-investor forced us out. Unfortunately, that was just before the bubble burst and San Fran was experiencing a bubble of rental prices. I know that sounds odd, but it did plateau for a little while as the stock market and employment levels fell off the cliff.
Both flat's tenants were able to find rentals in San Fran but at a much higher rate. I moved from a three bedroom flat into a studio apartment at a rate that meant I would not be there for long. I had a month to month agreement and moved once I lost my services-for-wages position. Fortunately, I was able to move in with an acquaintance who had just had the current apartmentmate move out of the second bedroom. This apartment was rented at a reasonable rate only because the renter had been there for two decades. We shared the place for over two years before the elderly owner died and her son put it on the market before her body was even cold. It took four months to sell and then we had the obligatory four month period to find alternative housing. That was early 2011. Just as now, the banks were dribbling their backlog of foreclosed homes onto to the market at a rate that would push-up the prices way beyond what the property was worth. That forced more people into the rental market which pushed up the rents. The bubble had inflated again. None of the new owners were aware of the deferred maintenance and other upgrades that would be needed to make the dollars they would spend to get into the place make it seem like a home and not an old two-over-garage flat. It sold as a Tenancy-In-Common. The other flat had purchased the unit they occupied. Both purchasers will regret the situation eventually. I and my apartmentmate were forced across the water to the East Bay for relatively more affordable housing. Of course, the banker situation described previously and the unearned wages paid to web-tech workers is continuing to skew the rents upward thoughout the Bay Area.
The depression has not ended. Real unemployment is around 30% -- not that stenographically reported by the corporate media which states the unemployment of people who are curently collecting unemployment insurance. I think they are currently reporting it around 7%. Many millions have gone beyond the insurance. The economy has gotten worse. Only the stock market has increased but the press never states that only 10% of the population controls (owns) 90% of the wealth. So, it's only that 10% that would really see any benefit of all the financial finagalling that The (privately owned and operated) Federal Reserve and it's lacky, the (real) Federal Dept of Treasury have pushed during the past six years. Yes six years! The recession started in November of 2007, fell into a depression at the end of 2008, hit bottom in early 2009 and has remainded there ever since.
People need to wake up. Change will only come from below. Get involved with Tenants Together. If there is a tenants union in your city, get involved with that. If there is none, start one. Advocate. Purchase a copy of the incredible San Francisco Tenant's Union Handbook, understand the dynamics of class, and get active. Renters need to stand together! Remember, renters pay for the entire building (mortgage, property taxes, management overhead, business taxes, building insurance, common utilities, maintenance) plus the extra that goes towards the owner-investor's profit. Stand up for yourself! The owner-investor is merely the "accountant" - the parasite who shuffles the money to pay the bills and fill their bank account.