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Monday, August 26, 2019

'Horrifying and outrageous': Holocaust survivor fights Alameda eviction

Musiy Rishin is running out of options.

The elderly Alameda resident's pending eviction from his home of 17 years was brought to the nation's attention earlier this week when the Guardian reported that his landlords, Margaret and Spencer Tam, wanted to replace him with tenants who can afford higher rent.

On Aug. 14, 2018, Tam notified Rishin and his now-deceased son that their rent at the Dunes Apartments on Shoreline Drive would be increased by nearly $700. Prior to that, their Section 8 vouchers – which subsidize rent for low-income tenants – were allowing them to pay $2,520. But before they had a chance to respond, the Guardian reports, another letter was sent by the Tams two weeks later: Rishin and his son were being evicted, and had 90 days to find a new place.

"The fact that Margaret Tam should be able to eke out more profit ... It's horrifying and outrageous," said Sarah McCracken, a tenants' rights lawyer at Centro Legal de la Raza in Oakland. She is representing Rishin as the case moves through the courts. "I mean, he's an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor. It's an example of the larger housing crisis at hand."

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greed is a terrible thing, may the landlord burn in hell when she croaks, hopefully from cancer. If anyone deserves it she certainly does.

Anonymous said...

I worked at a very large apartment leasing company in SBY and we had people's stuff dragged out of their house and put out in the street every few months and everybody had a sob story. We didn't take section 8 so they were all working to pay rent.
This guy is on SS + section 8 + I'm sure food stamps and utilities assistance. He is claiming discrimination. He claims he "narrowly escaped", as it's shown in the article, the Holocaust. So he probably never saw the inside of a concentration camp, but he's been getting his way and getting free stuff for 78 years with his "I'm a Holocaust surviver" bit. Of course the news would jump all over that.
So tell me if you buy a property that takes section 8 are you taking those people on as permanent lessees with rent lock? It sounds to me like this area has gone up significantly in value so what relief do you give the property owners who will be declaring bankruptcy because they are charging 1980s rent rates and sitting on a gold mine that they could never sell and starts bleeding them dry with property tax?

Anonymous said...

1:22 I'm sure those slumlords have made more than enough money in previous years to survive comfortably for the rest of their lives, without raising rents sky high. That what's wrong with businesses today, they want "all" the money right now, not caring who they hurt getting it.

Anonymous said...

Why does him being a Holocaust survivor come into play? Does being that grant a privilege in America? Did America commit or hinder the Holocaust?