By CESAR NUCUM, JR.
DALY CITY – California State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) vowed to look into the problems presented to him by members of the Franciscan Mobile Home Owners for Justice during the meeting Saturday, June 19, at the clubhouse of the city’s Franciscan Mobile Home Park, a community consisting of 500 homes.
This came after the apprised the senator of the various concerns they are facing, foremost of which is what homeowners call the “unfair eviction process” residents have to deal with every time they are late in their payments.
“I really think we have a situation here where individuals are being evicted …. individuals that are one step away from being homeless,” Yee said to FIlAm Star . “I will certainly find out what the state can do.”
Rosendo ‘Sonny’ Quiniquini, one of the more vocal residents of the park, told FAS that most of the delinquent renters are low-income residents who have only been given a three-day notice to pay up or face eviction.
“Normally, you have a longer period than 3 days. Any place you rent, if you cannot pay, you do not get an eviction notice right away,” Sonny bewailed. “A lot of these residents are scared because they don’t know what their rights are. A few have actually left under the threat of eviction because of fear of spending money that they don’t have in the first place if they fight it out.”
Sonny narrated that the issue started after a small group of Asian American residents protested the $50 increase in their monthly rental last year. The protest, which snowballed as more residents joined in, is now the subject of a petition filed before the Rent Review Commission.
The Commission is expected to render a decision early next month.
“If only the Franciscan Mobile Home Park was managed well by Linc Housing Corporation, there would be no need for the increase in our rent,” Sonny pointed out. The firm received $50 million allotted by Daly City through bonds for the maintenance and operation of the park based on the contract, in which it is assured that 20 percent of the population …. the low-income residents …. will benefit from reduced rent.”
As it turned out, Sonny and his group allege, the $50 million was not used for the upkeep and operations of the park because, according to them, Linc paid $18 million to buy part of the property and another $23 million for the lease of the other portion. A lot of the money in the acquisition and leasing process, they said, also went to brokers and lawyers, among others.
As a result, the group said, Linc failed to pay the property tax due Daly City, prompting it to for another financing scheme, approved by the city and the banks, in the amount of $62 million. This led to the additional $50-a-month assessment in rent, the group added.
According to Yee, there are laws against inappropriate spending of public funds, such as the $50 million issued through bonds.
“My general sense of it is that this is probably low-income housing fund money, but I will definitely look into this,” Yee assured residents during the meeting.
But what really worries residents is that their home park may go the same route as six other Linc properties that eventually became commercial developments.
“We got hold of documents from the attorney general’s office showing that Linc has sold their properties before to commercial developers after running these properties down just like what it is doing to Franciscan now,” Sonny rued.
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