Moms fight eviction from vacant house
More than 100 people gathered Monday outside a Hayward courthouse to support a group of homeless mothers who have taken up residence in a vacant West Oakland home.
The property owner, a Southern California real estate investment company that says it plans to renovate and resell the property, has issued an eviction notice arguing that the women are trespassing and must leave immediately.
The case highlights the growing tensions about Oakland’s housing and homelessness crisis. Oakland had a 47% increase in homelessness in just two years, and 3,210 homeless people are unsheltered, according to a pointintime count.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Patrick McKinney issued a tentative ruling last week that the women don’t have a “valid claim of right to possession,” but said their attorneys could still make their
arguments.
On Monday, attorneys for the mothers argued that “housing is a human right” and the skyrocketing homeless crisis gives the courts authority to rule in favor of the mothers staying.
Attorneys for Wedgewood Properties, the homeowners, argued that the mothers never had a rental agreement at the home.
McKinney said the court is “limited” in interfering “with two private parties.” He said he would make a ruling at a later date.
Leah SimonWeisberg, who represents the mothers, said it was a good sign that the judge is taking their arguments into consideration rather than issuing a ruling from the bench.
“The court definitely engaged in the argument of whether the moms have a right to possession based on the need that has been created because of the huge housing crisis,” said SimonWeisberg, legal director for the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.
Dominique Walker, 34, moved into the home at 2928 Magnolia St. on Nov. 18 with her 1yearold son and 5yearold daughter. She was joined by several other mothers and children.
“We are glad that the judge did consider our case, and we consider that a win for right now,” said Walker, cofounder of Moms4Housing, a collective of homeless and marginally housed mothers.
The mothers say they work, but with high rents they are unable to find affordable housing in Oakland.
“We’ve worked multiple jobs, we pay taxes into this city, we barely get the time to spend with our kids because we are trying to make sure they have a stable home,” said Misty Cross, one of the mothers who lives in the vacant property. “It’s really hard for us to keep focusing and moving forward with so many blocks in our path.”
The case has received attention from several City Council members who argue that Wedgewood Properties should directly negotiate with the Oakland Community Land Trust, a nonprofit organization that acquires land for affordable housing.
Oakland Community Land Trust has said it is willing to negotiate with Wedgewood to acquire the property. But Wedgewood has refused.
“These squatters broke into Wedgewood’s home,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the property owners. “We are not going to negotiate with them after they have stolen our property, that’s not how honest negotiations works.”
Singer said that Wedgewood — which bought the property in July for $501,078 — has plans to share the profits from reselling the home with Shelter 37, a Southern California nonprofit organization. Those profits would go toward helping atrisk youths.
Gary Geiser, Wedgewood’s CEO, is a board member at Shelter 37. At a real estate forum in 2015, Geiser said the company buys about 250 foreclosed and nearly foreclosed homes a month and flips them.
But Councilwoman Nikki Fortunato Bas said Shelter 37 doesn’t “have a history in Oakland” or a “track record in Oakland” and urged the company to work with the Oakland Community Land Trust instead.
“This is truly a battle between a Goliath corporation that has been profiting off the foreclosure crisis,” Bas said. “What these moms are doing today is incredibly courageous because they are on the front lines of setting a new narrative about morality, justice and humanity to address the homeless crisis that we are all facing.”