Housing Solutions: Renters vs. Veritas. Veritas is accused of trying to force out rent-controlled residents. The big landlord says charges are false, and a company spokesman accuses attorneys for tenants of pushing a ‘false narrative.’
Tenants across San Francisco will gain new collective bargaining powers to affect conditions in their buildings, thanks to a move by lawmakers Tuesday.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved protections for tenants to form associations, akin to labor unions, that can negotiate with landlords over a wide range of concerns, including issues like construction schedules and even helping tenants pay off debts taken on to cover rents, often called “shadow debt.”
Groundbreaking tenant protections just got closer to becoming a reality in San Francisco.
City supervisors Monday gave the initial thumbs-up to legislation to protect the formation of tenant associations that, like unions, could collectively bargain with landlords. The three-person Rules Committee voted unanimously to approve the protections, which now move to the full Board of Supervisors.
We pored over voluminous public records and created a custom data set to determine the number of complaints and building-code violations that massive landlord Veritas incurred in 39 buildings named in a tenant lawsuit.
An analysis of public records for more than three dozen buildings involved in a tenant lawsuit against Veritas Investments Inc. shows the number of reported problems and citations rose sharply after the giant landlord acquired the properties. These buildings also received a record number of violation notices.
Noah Arroyo, assistant editor for the San Francisco Public Press, was a guest this morning on “Your Call” on KALW 91.7 FM. He spoke with host Rose Aguilar about his reporting on a tenant lawsuit against Veritas, one of San Francisco’s biggest landlords. Listen to the conversation here. The segment featuring Noah begins about 37 […]
I n reporting on the tenant lawsuit against Veritas Investments Inc., the Public Press engaged company spokesman Ron Heckmann at length. Here are excerpts of some of our questions and his responses.
More than 100 tenants in 39 rent-controlled apartment buildings have sued the owner, Veritas Investment Inc., for behavior they allege is designed to push them out in favor of new, higher-paying residents. The $3 billion company denies the charges, alleging the lawsuit is a money grab.
Veritas Investments owns nearly 200 buildings in the city. It’s been a target for tenant advocates, who accuse the company of building a business model that relies on pushing tenants out of rent-controlled units so they can be re-rented for much more. Veritas disputes the accusations that is “hostile or negligent” toward tenants.
