With Long-Term Black Residents Facing Eviction, Sup. Preston Demands Pause to Negotiate Resolution

SAN FRANCISCO — For 54 years, Richard Henegan has called King-Garvey apartments, a 211-unit affordable housing cooperative in the Western Addition, his home. On Wednesday, July 27, a Sheriff’s Deputy was scheduled to evict him, following an aggressive eviction case pursued by property manager Kalco Properties.

District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston intervened, first to successfully get the Sheriff to postpone the eviction for at least two weeks. Now, Preston is demanding Kalco Properties pause Mr. Henegan’s and any other King-Garvey resident’s pending eviction until Preston can meet with Kalco and HUD leadership to mediate an outcome that does not involve displacement.

“Evictions are an act of violence, and there is no good reason for long-term, African-American residents at King-Garvey to be removed from their home,” said Preston. “We absolutely need to figure out fair and equitable solutions here and anything that results in displacement my office will fight tooth and nail.”

King-Garvey is a 211-unit housing cooperative located at Eddy and Steiner Streets, opened in the 1960s as an opportunity for low-income individuals to build equity and stake ownership in their community. As a co-operative, King-Garvey is collectively owned by residents, many of whom receive federal assistance, with management groups overseeing day-to-day operations. This type of affordable housing model is intended to offer long-term housing stability, especially for Black residents in the Fillmore community that was devastated by redevelopment, because ownership allows the residents to build equity and pass down the unit to family members over generations.

Earlier today, Preston sent a letter to Kalco property management and HUD leadership to demand an immediate pause to eviction. The letter went on to demand “any legal eviction proceedings immediately cease until my office can meet with Kalco, HUD and resident representatives to explore outcomes. This request includes directing the Sheriff not to e xecute any pending writs of possession.”

Preston’s office is aware of at least five pending evictions at King-Garvey, all of which are based on claims of non-compliance with HUD regulations following the death of a loved one. The eviction proceedings claim that residents did not get proper approval to take over the lease upon the passing of their family members. The cases do not allege any misconduct by the residents, just what appears to be confusion over paperwork.

Preston, an eviction defense lawyer and tenant rights advocate before taking office, has led citywide efforts to stop evictions and displacement during the pandemic. Recently, he also championed funding to provide independent organizers to residents of cooperative housing to avoid exactly these types of situations. In the city’s budget approved earlier this week, Preston secured a $500,000 allocation for independent outreach, technical support, capacity building for limited-equity and HUD subsidized co-op boards and residents.

“These situations are entirely avoidable,” said Preston. “But right now co-op residents are often on their own to navigate difficult and confusing paperwork to make sure they can stay in their home. That’s why we fought for and won critical funding for independent organizers to help co-op residents, and I’m calling on the city to get these funds deployed immediately.”

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