Imagine the following story: A 51-year-old single mother, living on a fixed income, bound to a wheelchair and suffering from type-one diabetes and multiple sclerosis, is told in October that her monthly rent at Casa De Sonoma on First Street West will be raised $100. Three weeks later, she is told she is being tossed out from the premises. Her landlord gives her 90 days to vacate the apartment she has rented for eight years, and by the way, she must pay the full rent during those three months or she will be given a three-day notice to leave.
The stuff of a Charles Dickens novel, this story is Kim Orellana’s reality … and unlike most of Dickens’ stories, there is probably no wealthy benefactor at the end of the day to come to her rescue.
“I was never told why. I was never able to speak to the owners of the complex. One day a notice was taped to my door telling me my rent was going up, and then a few weeks later another notice was taped to my door telling me to get out,” said Orellana. “This sort of stress is very hard for my body. It messes up my whole world.”
A 1981 graduate of Sonoma Valley High School, Orellana lives with her 18-year-old daughter Alicia and is a recipient of Section 8 government financial assistance due to her disabilities. She has lived in Sonoma since she was 12 and prior to her disabilities, she was a daycare teacher. She also served as a docent for the Sonoma Mission. Her apartment is decorated with poster art from various Sonoma events over the years.
“I love this town and have spent most of my life here. I want to stay but I have no idea where we’ll be able to move. Rents are so high now and I can’t earn a living anymore,” said Orellana.
In early October, Casa De Sonoma was sold to a firm known as Sonoma Villas LLC. Ryan Mortgage Company is the agent for the partnership and according to previous owner Gerald Marino, the principle owner of the apartment complex.
“We sold in October to Jim Ryan and his company. But we had no idea they were planning on evicting anyone,” said Marino. “We were told they were going to fix up the place.”
According to San Francisco Investment broker Patrick Ripple, the apartment complex was in desperate need of repair and upgrade. Ripple, who knows both Marino and Ryan, said he had sympathy for the owners of the complex.
“For owners today, the liabilities are tremendous,” said Ripple. “There was a basic habitability issue with the apartments. Some of the units were terrible and had not been fixed in years. In one unit, the people who lived there smoked so heavily that the walls were yellow. When you opened the door of the unit, you could smell the place from the street.”
Brad Welch, a real estate investor and co-owner with Ryan of the Casa De Sonoma apartments, insisted that the repairs to the complex could not be completed with the tenants living there.
“This is never an easy thing to do, but this was the only way to effectively address the deferred maintenance of the apartments,” said Welch.
Sonoma Management Company was hired by the new owners to manage Casa De Sonoma. Kimberly Buchanan of Sonoma Management was authorized by the new owners to post both the rent increases and the notices to vacate.
“A decision was made that do to the deferred maintenance of the property, we would not be able to remodel the apartments with the tenants living there,” said Buchanan. “There was so much work that needed to be done, both inside the units as well as outside. We had to patch stucco, paint the exteriors and the interiors, and bring the swimming pool up to code.”
Repairs currently going on include new carpet, new appliances, new showers and bathrooms, in addition to fresh paint. Buchanan said no improvements or maintenance had been done to the complex in more the 30 years.
But one of those tenants, Dave Beason, said that he loved living in the apartment complex. He was joined by several other residents, who all said the apartments were quiet and convenient to the downtown Plaza.
“I’ve been here 10 years and I would have died here if I could have,” said Beason. “It’s heinous what they are doing. I’ve got to be out by Jan. 12. I’ve never once met the new owners and all any of us have gotten were notices taped to our doors telling us to get out.”
Sharon and Gary Youngberg have lived at the complex for over seven years. They were able to find a new place to live 45-minutes away in Vacaville, but are worried about getting their $1,500 deposit back.
“We doubt they will give us our money back. Jerry Marino was not the greatest landlord, but he was a saint compared with these people,” said Sharon Youngberg. “And the fact they would do this at Christmas. Why the rush? Nobody has tried to contact us. All we got were these notices taped to our doors.”
Welch went so far as to claim the tenants were not actually being evicted, but simply “asked to leave” while the apartments are being repaired. But the notifications taped to the doors of everyone living at Casa De Sonoma were titled “Notice To Terminate Tenancy” and included the opening sentence “notice is hereby given that the tenancy under which you occupy the premises … is terminated.”
Both Welch and Buchanan said the tenants would be free to apply for apartments in the remodeled complex, but they would not be allowed to stay in their current apartments and there would be no guarantees or special help for the tenants in renting one of the remodeled units.
“Nobody is happy about this. I sometimes feel like the grim-reaper,” said Buchanan. “But it’s a matter of the owners’ investment. If the old tenants can qualify for one of the apartments after they are repaired and placed on the market at current rates, they are free to apply and we will consider them.”
Buchanan said she had spoken to Kim Orellana and other tenants, and had offered to help them find new places to live.
“We have tremendous resources here,” said Buchanan of Sonoma Management. “But nobody has taken us up on our offer.”
Not one of the tenants could recall any offers of help from Sonoma Management or the new owners of the property to relocate. Kim Orellana said she had never been contacted by Buchanan or any of the owners with offers of help or information about relocation.
Jim Brians, who has lived at Casa De Sonoma for 20 years, called the timing of the removal “odd.”
“It’s their property and they can do what they want, but I think to do this at Christmas is upsetting,” said Brians.
Brians described himself as a fourth-generation Sonoma resident, and noted his apartment at Casa De Sonoma was where he lived when his partner died.
“I’m upset. I have a lot of memories,” said Brians. “But this is life. This is reality. You can’t blame anyone. You just have to move on.”
“Pull quote.
2 lines”
– Name line
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: