Member spotlight: Zack in San Francisco

We're starting a new series profiling our members and how they got involved with Tenants Together and the fight for renters' rights. Members are active across the state, some volunteer in whatever way they can, others organize tenants in their own communities. Zack has been a volunteer on our Tenant Rights Hotline since 2014, counseling fellow tenants on their rights and how to assert them. Want to become a member? Join now.

In 2014, Zack was happy to be our 2000th "Like" on Facebook!

I was moved into a Trinity Plaza in March of 2009, which was a dilapidated building that was going to be torn down within the next year. My apartment ended up having bedbugs, for which building management tried to say was my issue alone. Luckily, I contacted SF Health Services, who informed me of my rights. For moving into the old Trinity Plaza building, I was promised that I would move into a brand new apartment at Trinity Place in 2010, which would be rent controlled according to my Trinity Plaza apartment. I had lived in the Trinity Place apartment without a single negative incident, yet when I started to date someone that I cared about and had the person stay over, Trinity provided me with a Notice to Cure or Quit. Specifically, the lease that I had moved into Trinity Plaza with stated that I could not have a guest stay over for more than 10 days in a calendar year. When I mentioned to Trinity that this person was my significant other, a lawyer for Trinity said, "Trinity does not care if you are in a relationship, if you want to live with your significant other, you need to move out and find an apartment at the market value."

It was very obvious that Trinity was and is looking to push out people that are under rent control from their apartments. I tried to fight this, but the lawyers were relentless, and I did not see a way out. So, I provided Trinity Management with a notice that I was moving out. Upon moving out, Trinity Management inspected the apartment and stated that I owed them in excess of $400, in addition to my security deposit amount, to fix up the apartment, which included painting and cleaning. Initially, Trinity Management would not take into account normal wear and tear to the apartment. Further, I used a professional cleaning service to clean the apartment, including the appliances. After drafting several appeals to their gross misrepresentation of money owed, Trinity Management lowered the amount requested by 60%, which still meant that they kept my security deposit.

Because of the injustice I faced, I decided to volunteer with Tenants Together, as I wanted to be proactive in the fight for Tenants' Rights. Helping people find their voices and direction in their fight for Tenants' Rights gives me great joy, as I am able to help people stand up against slumlords, who are really just concerned with making as much in terms of profits as possible. Housing Justice is needed, as affordable housing is disappearing, especially in San Francisco. Soon, San Francisco will be a city for the wealthy and the poor, where the middle class people will not have a place to live in SF.