SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Tenant advocates say some residents of the San Francisco Potrero Annex public housing complex have been offered $5,000 in Airbnb credit, with the amount decreasing each day it’s not accepted, to move out of their homes.
“As somebody who has represented tenants for a long time, I’ve never seen an offer of that nature,” said Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation at the Eviction Defense Collaborative.
Prochovnick’s group is representing several “unleased residents,” people they say were defrauded into believing they had legitimate tenancies after paying rent to someone they believed worked for property management.
“They were enticed to move into this property, believing it was a legitimate tenancy, believing that an agent of the housing authority was renting units to them and collecting rent for them,” she said. “Anybody who knows Airbnb, we’re talking about, if they’re lucky, they could get 10 nights in a unit.”
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The situation drew wider attention after a January 2023 fire at the complex that killed one person. Over the last year, some residents have been evicted while others remain in litigation.
The San Francisco City Attorney’s office told ABC7 News it could not verify the residents’ claims of a property management employee collecting rent illegally in an investigation requested by the Housing Authority last year.
Prochovnick said language access and immigration-related fears may be keeping people from coming forward.
“We’re talking about a population that may not be English speaker,” explained Prochovnick. “Some might be undocumented immigrants terrified to come forward. We’re talking about a very vulnerable population, folks who have too large of a hole in our safety net. Shelter is a basic human necessity.”
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The ongoing battle has further delayed a long-planned redevelopment known as HOPE SF.
The Mayor’s office of Housing and Community Development says demolition of the annex will begin only after every unit is vacant. Leased residents are being offered temporary relocation assistance and the opportunity to move into the new development once it’s complete.
Attorneys for the unleased residents say their clients deserve the same options.
“If they’re not going to be relocated within housing authority properties, at the very least, they should be able to find replacement affordable housing,” Prochovnick said.
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