Rare Ruling for Tenant's Rights

A Rare Ruling for Attorney Rapier - Injunctive Relief and Damages Awarded for a Wrongful Eviction in Berkeley, CA

EVICTED SINGLE MOTHER FIGHTS BACK AND WITH HELP FROM TENANT’S RIGHTS LAWYER WINS!
Berkeley, CA
May 3, 2010
For Immediate Release:

In a rare ruling, the first ever in over two hundred years in fact, a Superior Court Judge of California ordered a Wrongfully Evicted single mother and her two young daughters back into their Berkeley, California rented cottage. Wilson v Rice, RG07-339660 Superior Court of California, County of Alameda. The sensitive and recently divorced, Re-entry graduate student had returned to college after painfully realizing the high cost of raising two children alone in the expensive San Francisco Bay Area. She found what she thought to be the perfect in-law unit on a busy street in the small college town where she grew up; a few blocks from the historic radio station where she has worked on-air and behind the scenes for over ten years, KPFA.
The owner, an elderly New Orleans transplant and former Berkeley health food store owner, Mrs. Alma Hopkins let the premises to her. They maintained an amicable Landlord-Tenant relationship enjoying music of the former Opera singer and piano instructor plus tasty meals of Creole, California and Vegetarian Cuisine for over four years until Hopkins’ passing. New owners soon thereafter bought the property as investment income and wanted the renters out as soon as possible; a feat which would not prove too easy under Berkeley’s Rent Control Ordinance they would eventually learn.
The City of Berkeley enacted Rent Control during the 1970’s mostly to spell things out for landowners and to protect tenants; many of which are college students. Renters are protected from Wrongful Evictions that fall outside the Berkeley Rent Control Ordinance which mandates that all evictions must be for “Good Cause.” Many professional landowners bypass Berkeley as a source of investment due to this sometimes vexing law while students rest assured that they will not be evicted at a landowner’s whim. There are a few exceptions to this protection however, narrowing the strictures in which landowners may lawfully evict. “Good Cause” exceptions include Non-Payment of Rent, breach of the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment, Illegal Activity and lastly yet most muddled, Owner-Occupation. With foreclosures on the rise tenants should be aware that a change in ownership is not considered “Good Cause” for eviction within the meaning of most Rent Control ordinances.

Law Student and KPFA Radio Producer Gabrielle Wilson committed none of the above affirmative reasons for a lawful eviction consequently the new landowners found her removal a daunting task. Alleged Owner-Occupation would provide the only legal basis in which they could evict the single mother yet conform to the ordinance. Wilson and the girls endured harassment and downright bullying from their new belligerent landlords, an enterprising couple from the suburbs with six or seven rental properties under their belt. A few words exchanged after their initial meeting and an animus relationship ensued. The owners told Wilson the building was illegal; warning her to move out because the cottage would soon be demolished. She hurried to the City’s Administrative Offices and was informed otherwise. The next day she came home with her young daughters after eight hours of work and law lectures to find the children’s toys being hauled away in a fast moving red pick up truck. Her youngest daughter Naomi cried, “Mommy my dolls and rocking horse are gone!” The Landowner’s eviction papers were served upon Ms. Wilson as the family shared a light meal and sweet dessert on a warm August night. Ms. Wilson began calling everyone she knew seeking a legal referral. The name Philip Rapier came up as a must “go to” but it was the good review he received online at The Berkeley Parent’s message board that convinced her the most which read, “ not only is he a great lawyer, he is just a nice person.”
Enter Berkeley-Oakland, CA Tenant’s Rights advocate, Philip D. Rapier, a former Berkeley Law Student himself and the good fight to protect Wilson’s housing rights began. The eviction process can be an abbreviated one, all by statute so things move fast. Just shy of a jury trial, Ms. Wilson agreed to a settlement wherein she would move out so the new owners could “Owner Occupy” the “Good Cause” exception upon which the eviction was based. This exception allows for the legal eviction of a tenant in Berkeley if an owner intends occupy the unit as their primary residence. After consummating the agreement, Ms. Wilson’s daughters maintained enrollment in their same school as she continued to pass the cottage while en route to the radio station. Remembering that an owner-occupation must occur within six months following an eviction, Wilson noticed nothing about the premises had changed. She immediately placed a call to Rapier, “hey, I do not believe those people have moved in, everything is just as we left it!” Rapier prepared the necessary documents; suing for Wrongful and Tortious Eviction seeking not only money damages for the one and a half year displacement but an Injunction as well, which for the first time ever in California history was granted. The family returned home.

Rapier, a tall, deceitfully youthful looking lawyer does not own a car; walks and takes public transportation. He is often mistaken for a basketball player during appearances in court for those who do not know him but they are few. He has been practicing Landlord-Tenant law advocating for the rights of tenants exclusively for some twenty-five years. He laments there is no money in this area of practice so it can be extremely difficult sometimes to mount an effective defense but the mild mannered Oakland resident claims to receive a huge satisfaction from doing what is right or what he calls “leveling the playing field.” He carefully chooses his cases. His “clients” mostly students, young families, seniors, and low income tenants in general who rely on affordable housing must sometimes work on their own cases.

To cut costs, he often mentors students from UC Berkeley or East Bay Community Law Center a project of the University of California, School of Law that assists low income East Bay residents with legal problems to help with his huge case load. His desk is often buried with paperwork. He often finds it difficult to break for lunch which is usually a healthy avocado sandwich on wheat bread from a café nearby. “Here, eat half of it”; his clients are often invited to partake. They can never relax; he might break to chat with his twelve year old daughter who plays basketball. At any given moment he may grab the dark blue suit that is ever present hanging on the file cabinet, a special he found at the Goodwill, his only suit. He steps into the men’s room down the hall to change into his courtroom attire consisting of the modest suit and sturdy shoes from the usual Khaki pants and tieless shirt before walking some twenty blocks to the courthouse. His office is shared with a former law school classmate, Family Law Attorney Sylvia Keita who might stop him and jokingly approve of his clothing. This is a familiar dance.

His clients if at all able and willing - walk the walk with him. Clients are encouraged not to dress up nor wear uncomfortable shoes. For those who can walk from his office to the courthouse, they pass Oakland’s beautiful urban lake, “Lake Merritt.” They go over what they will likely encounter at the hearing and re-cap what happened on the way back. While taking in the fresh air during the walk back to his office friendly shop owners or passersby steal precious Attorney-Client time from the friendly lawyer with the warm smile and equally warm demeanor. His spouse, Anula an immigrant, owns a restaurant downtown Oakland, Anula’s Café between his office and the courthouse. He finds a way to include a visit to her in his walk. He recently received an award for protecting tenants from Unlawful Evictions from an Oakland, CA non-profit Housing Rights Organization.

Ms. Wilson eventually settled with the Rices’ for an undisclosed amount. Her daughters cannot get their toys back but learned to fight for their rights. As for Attorney Philip D. Rapier, he is currently looking for someone to buy him out so he can pursue other interests such as marathon bike riding for good causes but alas, the attractive financial incentive to pay off student loans for those entering the legal profession, work for Goliath law Corporations usually wins leaving fewer and fewer like Rapier to fight for what is right.

Information: Gabrielle Wilson 510.684.9710 or missgabriellewilson [at] yahoo.com