Alameda Renters Face Eviction, New Home Search in Tight Market

After receiving eviction notices from the new owners of their apartment complex, dozens of renters are looking for new homes. 

The Alamedan reports the owners of Marina View Towers sent the notices to 84 families – they said – to perform seismic retrofits. Carmel Apartments, a subsidiary of San Francisco-based Carmel Partners, purchased the Towers in May.

Renters said they were notified July 1 to move by Aug. 31. However, many are concerned that this request comes in the middle of peak moving season and a market, in which rentals are becoming increasingly costly.

According to renters in the story, they received no reimbursement for moving costs. However, City Manager John Russo told the City Council on Tuesday that Carmel told city staff relocation assistant was being provided and that all but 25 of the complex’s tenants had left. 

As of July 18, renters occupying 20 units already left, but only 38 out of 84 of them relayed their moving dates to Marina View’s manager, according to the calendar posted in her office, reports The Alamedan.

Some Marina View tenants ultimately relocated to Oakland, San Leandro, even as far away as Stockton, according Jaime, a 39-year-old tenant who would only give his first name. He, his wife and two children are scheduled to move out in mid-August.

“We were one of the lucky ones,” he said, as his family has found somewhere to move. 

Alameda has no city ordinances or policies on its books regarding compensation for displaced tenants.