CitiApartments seems unable to get a handle on its debt, and is facing round after round of foreclosures, losing dozens of properties at a time to the banks.  Tenants who have fought back against eviction attempts, harassment, and insufficient maintenance have been key in showing Citi and other landlords that tenant harassment is NOT a viable business model in this city!

*   DEBT  *  FORECLOSURES  *  BAD BUSINESS PLAN  *

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Click here for information about our new Anti-Tenant Harassment Measure, Prop M!

CitiApartments Tenants:

B E W A R E    OF    B U Y O U T S !

Who is Your Landlord?

One of San Francisco’s biggest landlords, CitiApartments/ Skyline Realty is buying up new buildings all over the city!  They are notorious for driving out long term tenants in order to raise rents.

Their tactics include: harassing tenants, failing to do required repairs, fake eviction notices, illegal evictions, offering tenants small amounts of money to move out, and other unprincipled practices.

Have You Been Offered a Buyout?

CitiApartments wants as many long-term tenants out as possible, and they will often offer small amounts of money to tenants to entice them to leave.  These offers are far less than the difference in rent tenants will pay when they move into another market-rate apartment in the city.  Buyouts are illegal evictions.

Request in writing any offer CitiApartments makes you.  Do not agree to anything in person or on the phone.   If you have questions about whether an offer is fair, visit one of the tenant counseling organizations listed below.  You do NOT have to accept any buyout offer.  You do NOT have to move!

What Can You Do to Protect Yourself and Your Home?

Many tenants have successfully defended their homes by working together. Tenants have educated each other, won building-wide law suits, and improvements for their buildings.

If you are experiencing trouble with your new landlord, seek help from a counseling organization:

-  SF Tenants Union, 558 Capp Street, counseling hours online at www.sftu.org or 415-282-6622

-  St. Peters Housing Committee, 474 Valencia St., Rm. 156, 415-487-9203

-  Housing Rights Committee, 427 So. Van Ness Ave., 415-487-9203

[Map courtesy of google | Google Earth image © 2009 Google | Data © 2009 Terrametrics, Sanborn, Cybercity]

(A) 620 JONES ST. (aka GAYLORD HOTEL)
This building banned tenants from using common areas, putting an end to Friday-night happy hours, communal Sunday breakfasts, monthly pasta nights—and a close-knit community that had taken years to create. Citi turned a number of buildings near Union Square into de facto hotels. At the Gaylord, the average monthly rent quadrupled from $990 to $3,972 when the units were converted to short-term corporate suites.

(A) 620 JONES ST.
One tenant, who paid her rent while away for three months, returned to find she had been locked out of her place, her belongings had been moved to the basement, and her immigration documents had been taken.

520 BUCHANAN ST.
Citi demanded proof that a houseguest was staying no longer than two weeks, though the guest had already left, then posted a notice on the tenant’s door declaring her in violation of her lease.

355 FULTON ST.
After Citi took over, a tenant found two men in her lobby, wearing bulletproof vests and armed with guns and billy clubs, who demanded to see her ID before letting her enter her apartment.

(B) 1126 BUSH ST.
When one tenant refused Citi’s buyout offer, a Citi employee showed up at the door, armed and wearing combat fatigues, and demanded proof of residency and immi­gration status.

(B) 1126 BUSH ST.
A disabled tenant’s in-home caregiver—who lived in the apartment under an agreement with the previous owners—was refused a key because he was not on the lease.

(B) 1126 BUSH ST.
Citi employees entered an apartment without permission, sometimes while the tenant was sleeping. Once, as the tenant got out of her bed to confront the intruder, the door slammed closed and locked before she reached it. On other occasions, the tenant came home to find that her desk and financial papers had been rifled through.

78 BUCHANAN ST.
This building was cited by city authorities as a public nuisance because of constant construction, frequent disruption of water and electric service, and repairs done without permits.

(C) 737 PINE ST.
Twelve years after a tenant broke up with his live-in girlfriend, retaining their apartment, Citi tracked her down in another city and asked her to confirm that her ex was in the apartment illegally. (She refused.)

(D) 755–757 GREEN ST.
After the sale of these buildings to Citi, tenants returned home to find new locks on the doors and men in the lobby who demanded to see their IDs before distributing keys.

(E) 1221 JONES ST.
This building underwent repairs without permits and has been cited as a public nuisance.

(F) 1470 CALIFORNIA ST.
A 15-year tenant was evicted for “unlawful subletting” because he allowed his younger cousin to live with him.

3270 MISSION ST.
Citi requested a meet­ing with one tenant, during which two agents threatened him with eviction because his domestic partner was not on the lease. When the tenant’s rent check was returned, along with a declaration that Citi intended to evict, the man and his family took a buyout.

(G) 635 ELLIS ST.
Citi allegedly refused to repair a sewage backup in one apartment because, the company claimed, the tenant had routinely paid his rent three days late.

990 FULTON AVE.
During a period of extensive renovation, Citi left notices with a tenant saying they would enter his unit, but did not specify a date or time. After the tenant requested that notices include those details, a Citi agent asked what he thought of all the construction and whether he was now willing to accept a buyout and move.