Here is the story of our latest fight, in John’s words:

How I faced down a vindictive landlord
by John Vogt

Loren Ruud was my landlord. The apartment had bedbugs in it. I tried to get rid of them, I bombed it three times, but I couldn’t get rid of them. It was an old apartment. The place wasn’t up to code.

It was terrible. I had to call a crisis hotline. I also had to call the housing authority, because the apartment had bedbugs, it had an unsecured door, and it had dry rot in the kitchen. And as soon as Ruud found out that I had called the city, he came up to my place on Thanksgiving with no notice, and threatened to evict me. He put a ten-day notice on my door.

The housing inspectors rescinded the ten-day notice, since Ruud was trying to retaliate against me. They decided that I should vacate by December 20th and the landlord should pay me $1,000. I vacated December 17th. I left the place clean and tidy.

Then Ruud decided to come after me for $1800 in “damages to the apartment”.

I called my friend Nohl, and he told me what he knew about Seattle Solidarity. He had gotten one of their flyers at the Martin Luther King Jr day march. I called Seasol, left a long message, and sent an email, and then I met with Kaleen, Lee and Ryan at Bedlam Coffee.

We delivered a demand letter to Ruud, saying: rescind the charges of $1800, don’t send it to collections, and “leave John alone.” We waited two weeks, and there was no response to the letter. Then we decided to poster the place. The posters said “Beware: do not rent from 9632 Aurora Ave N – environmental sickness, bedbugs, dry rot…”

The strategy was to let the people in the area know about the conditions in those apartments, and that the landlord steals deposits and rents out substandard housing.

On a Thursday, one week after postering in Loren Ruud’s neighborhood, where he lives, he called me and said “please stop what you’re doing. If you and Seattle Solidarity stop your actions against me, I will not send the $1800 to collections.” And we agreed. And that was it.

The corporations don’t want to pay out anything to workers, and the landlords don’t want to pay to maintain apartments, so they’re trying to pass all the costs onto their tenants. There’s a great need for Seattle Solidarity. In me, they now have a good volunteer.

About the author: I live in White Center, WA. I’m originally from Chicago. When I can, I drive trucks for a living and work in the wholesale industry. I was in Teamsters Local 174 for seven years.

Tephra, an active Seattle Solidarity member, lived at the Capitola Apartments for six months before deciding to move on to a better living situation. Like many before her, she found the building terribly managed, with the landlord leaving basic tenant requests un-addressed for months at a time. When Tephra decided to leave the Capitola, she gave 30 days notice and deep-cleaned the apartment, leaving it in better condition than she found it. After a walkthrough in which the manager agreed the place was in excellent condition, Tephra rightfully expected to receive her refundable deposit.

When two weeks passed without any communication from her landlord, Tephra became concerned and tried several times to contact The Capitola management. She got no answers, and no one returned her calls. Finally she realized the company had no intention of returning her deposit. With bills piling up, she couldn’t afford to let them steal it.

On October 21st, 13 people joined Tephra for a visit to the Capitola’s management company, Coast Capital. They walked into the Chase Bank building on Mercer Island, filling the small front room of Coast Capital’s office, and Tephra presented a demand for the return of her deposit. A Coast Capital manager came out and argued–both in the office and later via a voicemail–that we were going after the wrong company, that our information was wrong, and that we should really be talking to a different business whose phone number he would try to help us find.

We weren’t willing to go for the runaround. After waiting two more weeks for the deposit, Tephra and other Seattle Solidarity Network supporters started posting flyers around the Capitola building (which was trying to fill vacancies), pointing out some of the problems future tenants would face if they chose to move into the building.

Almost immediately, the Capitola’s owner started frantically calling Tephra, saying he wanted to resolve the dispute. Tephra began trying to get in touch with him and trying to arrange to get her check, and we put further actions on hold. Then, three more weeks passed with nothing but phone tag and delay. Running out of patience, we put the word out and mobilized to confront management again. Just before we did so, the deposit check arrived in Tephra’s mailbox, sent by none other than Coast Capital on Mercer Island. They’d had it all along!

Thanks to everyone who supported Tephra in this fight.

In early November, Kiesha and her family were served with an unjust eviction notice for nothing more than a paperwork technicality. Kiesha’s husband was listed on some forms as a tenant but had been unable to sign the lease as he was in Iraq. After returning he was greeted by unwarranted harassment by the management staff and finally threatened with eviction. As good tenants who had no complaints against them and always paid their rent on time, Kiesha’s husband and daughter were suddenly faced with eviction a mere week before Kiesha was to leave for Afghanistan. With no family or support network in the area, homelessness became a very real possibility. They decided to confront their landlord and contacted us for support.

We mobilized our network and easily found a surplus of supporters who were outraged by this landlord’s behavior. Kiesha made one last effort of many to speak to her landlord. She let the managers know that Seattle Solidarity Network and our many allies and supporters were committed to a direct action campaign until justice was met and Kiesha’s home was secure. After it was made clear that the community would not stand for this injustice and that their business would suffer, the landlord caved. A mutual termination agreement was drawn up which will allow Kiesha’s family to stay in their home until their desired move date in early 2010. Again, a strong network of supporters committed to direct action wins the fight. Thanks to all for the quick mobilization on this action!

On Wednesday, September 23 2009, this fight ended. After multiple refusals, three days from our 14-day deadline, T.I.G. restaurant/bar in Pioneer Square gave in and paid Young the $500 in unpaid dishwashing wages that he’d been owed for months. Even a court order back in April hadn’t been enough to make the boss pay, but direct action, with the promise of more, did the trick. Thanks to all who came out for the Sept 12th action.