October 10, 2023
Today, the San Francisco City Attorney announced it is filing a lawsuit against three related LLCs linked to Laurel Realty. For years, tenants in three Chinatown SROs have been organizing against attempts by the network of owners to flip the units and displace long-term residents. Tenants worked with Chinatown Community Development Center to address ongoing neglect, reductions in services, and harassment by the new owners.
When the pandemic shut downs began in early 2020, tenants were already practiced in working together and organized to ensure safer conditions in their shared bathrooms and kitchens, eventually leading to the arrest of one of the owners for failing to comply with the COVID safety standards. While tenants and CCDC worked with Code Enforcement and the City Attorney, tenants continued to organize. Through a rent strike and other tactics, tenants won concessions outside of issues addressed by the housing code, including a stop to harassment via late fees and sham 3-day notices to quit.
After years of organizing, most of the tenants are still in their homes and conditions have improved. The fight is not over, but their struggle is a message to tenants across the city: when we fight, we win!