Some residents of the San Francisco Potrero Annex public housing complex were offered $5,000 in Airbnb credit, with the amount decreasing each day it went unaccepted, to move out of their homes. Tenant advocates represent several people described as "unleased residents" who allege they were defrauded into believing they had legitimate tenancies after paying rent to someone they thought worked for property management. A January 2023 fire at the complex killed one person. Over the past year some residents were evicted while others remain in litigation. The San Francisco City Attorney's office could not verify claims of a management employee collecting rent illegally. Language barriers and immigration-related fears may be preventing people from coming forward.
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Tenant advocates say some residents of the San Francisco Potrero Annex public housing complex have been offered $5,000 in Airbnb credit, with the amount decreasing each day it's not accepted, to move out of their homes. "As somebody who has represented tenants for a long time, I've never seen an offer of that nature," said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation at the Eviction Defense Collaborative.
Prochovnick's group is representing several "unleased residents," people they say were defrauded into believing they had legitimate tenancies after paying rent to someone they believed worked for property management. "They were enticed to move into this property, believing it was a legitimate tenancy, believing that an agent of the housing authority was renting units to them and collecting rent for them," she said. "Anybody who knows Airbnb, we're talking about, if they're lucky, they could get 10 nights in a unit."
Prochovnick said language access and immigration-related fears may be keeping people from coming forward. "We're talking about a population that may not be English speaker," explained Prochovnick. "Some might be undocumented immigrants terrified to come forward. We're talking about a very vulnerable population, folks who have too large of a hole in our safety net. Shelter is a basic human necessity."
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