Tenants of a rent-controlled Oakland apartments sue landlord, alleging harassment

By John Ramos

An East Bay property investor is being sued by multiple tenants who allege they have been subjected to illegal harassment to get them to leave their rent-controlled apartments.

They say text messages were meant to intimidate some residents to leave by questioning their immigration status.

The lawsuit was filed in Oakland on Wednesday against Darrick Chavis. On his website, he is listed as a real estate agent, and he described his business on an episode of the television courtroom show, “Hot Bench,” involving another legal dispute.

“I’m a contractor and an investor,” said Chavis.  “And I own several apartments throughout the Bay Area.”

One of those properties is a small apartment building on Princeton Street in Oakland. At a protest at the Oakland Courthouse, a tenants’ rights group said Chavis bought the property on Princeton in May and that he immediately began pressuring residents to move out.

“Right away, he called my husband and I, saying that we had 30 days to leave,” said tenant Veronica Hernandez, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “He offered us $5,000 to move and then he sent me a text message with a question that no landlord should ever ask, ‘Are you legal?'”

The tenant’s complaint displays texts allegedly sent to and from Chavis’ private cell phone questioning Hernandez’s immigration status:

“Are you legal my staff was asking?”

“Why the question??”

“In case we don’t reach an agreement.”

“So if I not legal you call immigration(?)”

“Let me know when we can discuss a buyout please and thank you.”

Another text quoted in the complaint went to tenant Ana Maria Zaragoza Arroyo. The complaint says that after she refused Chavis’s request for a “cash for keys” deal, he texted, “Ok no problem hope your (sic) legal you’ll hear from my attorneys soon and yes we’re checking.”

“We’ve been hearing reports about this type of immigration — these threats — all throughout the state. And we’re here to let landlords all over California know this is illegal. You will not get away with this,” said Adam Morton, an attorney for the California Center for Movement Legal Services.

Chavis has not been criminally charged in the matter. But the attorneys say they hope authorities will begin investigating such things and not leave it up to nonprofit legal groups to do it.

“You can’t threaten tenants that if you don’t move out, I’m going to call the police, call immigration, you’re not allowed to do that. That is absolutely illegal, both in Oakland and under the State of California law,” said Leah Simon-Weisberg, Movement Legal Services’ executive director.

The complaint also alleges that residents are purposely being subjected to disruptive construction work at the properties. Since mid-June, a huge pile of construction trash has been dumped in the parking lot of the building on Princeton.

“We’re here because this is a fight for our homes,” said Ana Maria Zaragoza Arroyo. “It’s not right to have someone come into a home that you’ve built for over 40 years and say, now you need to leave in 30 days.”

We made multiple attempts on Monday to contact Darrick Chavis for comment, through text, phone and email, but got no response. The attorneys say they intend to keep litigating cases against Chavis until he either changes what they say are his tactics, or he no longer owns the properties.

“We have strong laws, and we fight for them here in Oakland,” said Simon-Weisberg. “And we’re going to enforce them. So, if you want to break the law, don’t do it here, because there are going to be consequences.”