An elderly Chinese American couple in San Francisco and their 48-year old disabled daughter voluntarily left their home late Tuesday night while volunteers packed up their belongings and moved it into storage, reports SF Gate
The Lee family is temporarily staying in a hotel while they continue their search for below market cost housing. The couple has been living in their Chinatown apartment for 34 years, but the landlord is evicting them under the Ellis Act which allows the removal of tenants if the landlord is getting out of the rental market.
Many of the volunteers helping with the move were among those who protested the eviction and successfully delayed it while Mayor Ed Lee searched for a solution.
It’s a solution that never came.
Attorney Jeff Woo who is representing landlord Matthew Miller said his client “had great sympathy for the Lees … and we wish them well.” He said they looked for an alternative to an eviction, but there was none to be found.
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San Francisco Board of Supervisor president David Chiu plans to introduce legislation that would give tenants being evicted such as the Lees priority for affordable housing.
Evictions under the Ellis Act have shot up 81 percent in the last year.
You can read more about what is being done for the Lees in SF Gate.
