Solidarity never

In Diamond Heights a nonprofit landlord causes much grumbling

By A.C. Thompson

Griping about your landlord isn't exactly novel in San Francisco, a town where 65 percent of the populace rents, cheap apartments are an endangered species, and property owners can generally extort tenants for huge piles of money.

But Eunice Mix's story is a little different. See, Mix, who lives in a modest wood-paneled apartment in Diamond Heights, rents from the National Farm Workers Service Center, a white-hat nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide "working families" with housing that's "both affordable and of high quality." Founded in the mid-1960s as an offshoot of César Chávez's United Farm Workers union, NFWSC now owns thousands of rental units scattered across California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona.

Mix was enthusiastic when, at the end of 2000, NFWSC purchased her development, a spread of 104 apartments called Vista Del Monte; the complex, which consists largely of taxpayer-subsidized housing for low- and middle-income folks, had fallen into disrepair, and the center promised to make extensive renovations – tearing off rotting roofs, rebuilding garages, rolling on fresh paint both outside and inside, and more. "We said, 'These people are nice. They're real. They're César Chávez's people,'" she recalled.

These days, though, Mix and other residents are bummed on NFWSC for a host of reasons – including, ironically, the company's refusal to recognize Vista Del Monte's Residents' Association, which is essentially a union of renters – and the overhaul of the complex has been marred by a series of costly snafus and a tangle of ongoing litigation. While most of the complaints aren't superhardcore, the pattern of complaints and apparent screwups makes one wonder a little about the organization.

"They're saying Vista Del Monte's Residents' Association is defunct," said Mix, who is chair of the group. "We're still active and organizing. We're still working with the community. We're not defunct."

At NFWSC Sabrina Padama disputes Mix's allegations. Padama, who manages California properties for NFWSC, admits she hasn't met with the tenants "for a long time" but says she's still willing to dialogue with the residents' association.

Earlier this month Mix sent a letter to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, which underwrites and oversees the complex, cataloging her group's beefs with NFWSC. Among the allegations: NFWSC cut off water to the apartments without notice, was "botching apartment renovations," had closed the laundry facilities, and had "stopped all communication" with the residents' association.

For Mix, one of the biggest sore spots is the state of the community room. Residents had used the community room, an airy space with a bunch of windows, to distribute food to poor families, but since November 2004 it's been off-limits, filled with construction supplies – and the food program is on indefinite hiatus.

Fellow tenant Barbara Harris has a pile of snapshots documenting what she claims is shoddy construction work and maintenance at Vista Del Monte. Harris says the new paint is flaking, the roof is leaking by her front door, the bathroom door is too short, and the building intercom doesn't work. Her observations are echoed by other tenants.

The NFWSC says the grievances are overblown. "I don't see how there's any big problems," Padama said. "Any time there's been a complaint, we've followed up with the construction company immediately." The paint problem, she added, has been cleared up.

Still, Harris is thinking about suing – which seems to be a common occurrence around Vista Del Monte. In fact, the whole renovation project, which has spawned at least six lawsuits, is turning into a bonanza for attorneys. First, in 2001, workers repairing the roofs allegedly forgot to throw tarps down before it began pouring rain; at least four units were seriously drenched, forcing tenants to relocate. According to court documents, some units were so badly damaged that tenants spent a year living out of hotel rooms. Two groups of residents sued NFWSC and the construction firm – and eventually settled their cases out of court under undisclosed terms.

The roof debacle was followed up by a bunch of back-and-forth litigation involving the construction company, NFWSC's insurance company, and nearby homeowners.

Padama, when pressed, admitted the lawsuits have "cost the property hundreds of thousands of dollars" so far.

Robert Isaacson, a former staffer with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency who advises the Vista Del Monte tenants, isn't a huge fan of the farm workers at this point. As he put it: "I think their intentions were good with these upgrades, but they haven't been particularly competent."

E-mail A.C. Thompson at acthompson@hushmail .com.