Landlord Threatens Restraining Order Against Senior Tenant – For Paying Rent

by Paul Hogarth, Beyond Chron (reposted)

Wed, Apr 11, 2007 6:42AM

As Jose Morales fights to save his home from the Ellis Act, his landlord has now threatened a restraining order against him if he continues to pay his rent. On April 6th, eviction lawyer James Kraus notified Morales’ attorney, Raquel Fox of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic (T.H.C.), that they were no longer accepting his rent – and accused T.H.C. of attempting to trick the landlord into cashing Morales’ check. Kraus went on to explain that the Ellis Act notice had “recently expired,” although it does not expire until April 18th. Kraus then threatened to seek a restraining order if the 78-year-old Morales continues paying his rent.

Morales is a fixture on the San Francisco political scene. For years he has been involved in the community’s various struggles to save affordable housing, and was recently named “Senior of the Year” by Senior Action Network. Since 1993, Morales has fought one eviction attempt after another – as a successive series of landlords have tried to eject him from his rent-controlled flat in the Mission District, a place that he has called home for 42 years.

Now under threat of an Ellis eviction, Morales has done what every tenant lawyer would advise him to do – pay his rent. Last week, however, James Kraus (who works at the Law Office of Andrew Zacks) sent a threatening letter to Morales’ attorney at T.H.C., explaining that they were returning the money because the Ellis Act notice had “recently expired.” Therefore, said Kraus, “Morales does not owe a full month’s rent.”

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