I've lived in the same apartment for 14 years and CitiApartments and one of their L.L.C. partners Trophy Properties, purchased and began managing the building ten years ago. The former owner of the building was wonderful, that all changed when CitiApartments took over and I have had to endure a horrific struggle to keep my apartment.

Immediately after purchasing the building Citi/Trophy refused to 'accept' my in-place HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS) lease administered by the S.F. Housing Authority. The Citi Property Manger told me that I 'had to vacate as they don't accept those kind of leases.' Their position was absurd as all leases in place are transferred to the new owner of residential buildings, it's the law, and it's not a choice. Three months later after Housing Authority held my lease in abatement and stopped their portion of rent payments and I threatened legal action, Citi was forced to comply with the law. The former resident manager told me that he'd been shown a 'hit list' of tenants who were 'targeted' only because they were paying below market rents and my name was on that list.

It's difficult to summarize ten years of CitiApartments harassment and threats in a short article. They started by having a constant stream of construction projects and utility cut-offs primarily to refurbish apartments. They even tried to force a 'capital renovation' of my well-maintained and perfectly fine apartment. Luckily, the Housing Authority inspects my unit annually and I've passed inspection on all points for 11 years, so the attempt to 'remodel' my apartment were obviously harassment. We fought that and won. The former resident manager called me and told me that under no circumstances should I ever let CitiApartments remodel my apartment, that they'd find a way to keep me from returning.

The real painful part of my CitiProblems is that I'm an excellent tenant and they can't force me out so that they can re-rent my apartment at a higher rate by any legal means. This means that they have to resort to harassment, intimidation, dishonest tactics and meritless and unlawful threats to try to wear me down and finally exhaust me. They have on several occasions sent me threatening letters for unlawful rent increases, meritless capital pass throughs and duplicate rent increases. I responded promptly in every case with proper documentation and they would just send the same delinquency notices with a different date threatening legal action and therefore, eviction. I had to have an attorney respond with a cease and desist letter, which I would not have been able to afford except that I can get free, unlimited and quality legal assistance from the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. No matter how many concise, fully documented certified letters I sent to CitiApartments disputing their meritless claims, they didn't cease until I went to a lawyer. Luckily, I've kept very good records and contact logs, and I recommend that all tenants in Citi buildings do the same and keep records in a safe off-site location like I do.

In 2002, they also started harassing me with move-out offers. The representatives start out being friendly and even tell me what a good tenant I am (thanks!), then try to trick me into confessing that I've violated terms of my lease (which of course I haven't), and then ask me if I'd like to come to their offices to discuss a move-out offer. I've always told them 'no, stop contacting me with these offers.' Once the representative hears that I'm absolutely not interested they become aggressive and hostile. Mr. Marsh told me that I 'need to move out of the state.' Alfred Ramirez told me that I'd 'overstayed my time in the building.' Diana told me that I 'should really just move out,' but that she wasn't harassing me by saying it. Clarence told me that I 'need to go away, you're not being cooperative.' A letter in May 2008 advised me that to reward their 'good tenants' they are giving me '90 days to find an apartment that may better fit their needs.' I had an attorney send yet another cease and desist letter on my behalf. I'm not violating any terms of my lease, my rent is paid in full and on time, and I'm an excellent tenant, they are trying to harass me out so that they can re-rent my apartment home of 15 years at a higher rate and that's not grounds for eviction. A couple of years ago, Citi started making aggressive move-out offers to tenants in the building that they'd rented to themselves, apparently once their own rent-controlled tenants are no longer valuable to them, those tenants are targeted too.

Luckily, I'm strong-willed, persistent, proactive, and have the S.F. Housing Authority, Catholic Charities and the AIDS Legal Panel backing me and dedicated to defending my legal rights to secure, safe and permanent housing. I hope my story of standing strong during adversity helps inspire other CitiApartments tenants to do the same -- you can win! I've joined the CitiStop Coalition and have been active in organizing so that other tenants don't have to endure what I've been through.