Posted on 02/04/2016 6:53:38 PM PST by artichokegrower
If you're interested in whether rent control makes rent prices go down — and plenty of people think it actually makes them go up — then stop what you're doing and watch this video on San Francisco's real-estate war, by my colleague Andrew Stern.
The video features a heartbreaking interview with artist David Brenkus, who has lived in a rent-controlled apartment on Walter Street for 34 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
My last apartment in San Francisco sold for over $1,000,000.
This guy is a moron.
There...fixed. It always amazes me that, while markets make billions of decisions each second, some idiot thinks he can do it better.
I got the feeling that he felt that he was entitled to live here for $735.00 forever. On one hand I do feel sorry for him the other you can only live off someone’s hard work for so long. The gig is up. Go to Santa Fe, nice artist colony there.
Sorry pal, you used up all the karma you were owed. Now you have to go out and actually work.
Brenkus is an experimental photographer whose home doubles as his studio and gallery.
Artist David Brenkus has lived on the top floor of a three-story building in Duboce Triangle for the past 34 years. [...] He pays $735 a month for the two-bedroom unit.
The Harshawat family purchased the building in 2013 - the ground floor unit for the grandparents, middle floor for [Emma Acker and her husband Ish] and the top floor for brother Kaveet.
Only Kaveet can’t move in because Brenkus refuses to move out, even after the family offered him an $80,000 buyout.
“I think our lawyer said it’s the most generous offer he’s seen in 25 years,” Ish said.
In February, they filed for an Ellis Act eviction, which allows landlords to evict tenants if a family member plans to occupy the unit.
He’s paying $365 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in the pleasant, tree-lined Duboce Triangle neighborhood, where two-bedroom units are advertised for $5,550. The new owners have offered him $80,000 to vacate (plus $50,000 for his roommate), but he’s turned it down. He’s hinting he’d listen to a higher offer.
And now he’s enlisted the help of the firebrand advocacy group Eviction Free San Francisco, whose battle cry is: “Whose homes? Our homes! No more speculation, no more evictions.â€
So maybe it is time for a reality check. Asked how he made a living, Brenkus didn’t have a straight answer. He does a little carpentry and odd jobs. He admits he hasn’t sold any photographs for some time.
“The idea that this guy is some sort of an artist?†Zachs said. “Try to find him on the Internet. I don’t see him as someone adding to the artistic fiber of the city.â€
Frankly, Brenkus’ greatest asset was a sweetheart rent-controlled apartment. He had a great run with it for 34 years, but now the numbers don’t add up.
“As far as I can tell, he doesn’t work,†Zachs said. “He can’t afford to live here. And you don’t have a right to be here just because you came here 34 years ago.â€
Rent control benefits rich people and hurts the poor.
Manhattan is PACKED with sneaky old money voting “left...”
As long as they NEVER HAVE TO LIVE where the “dirty people” live...
(For four times the rent!)
“It’s been in our family for ages,” says the lefty Barnard girl who lives on Daddy’s money.
“One day if I really work hard I can live in Manhattan,” says the sucker who knows that all that lies between her and her dreams is LEFT WING ELITE RENT CONTROL.
Bingo. Thanks, Bedford.
I had a gibsmedat co-worker who complained that her mother couldn’t retire on her social security; when I asked what work her mother had done, she replied that she had watched children for cash (a career of choice in the ghetto). She mentioned her mother had to go back to work; when I asked what she was now doing...she went back to watching children for cash.
Parasites; they will never contribute anything, but take take take. The co-worker is trying get permanent disability; she was one of those forced off welfare when her children “aged out” of the freebies...
As a father and primary breadwinner, a big risk with working under the table is being injured on the job (never mind the lack of SS contributions you mention, or the lack of unemployment insurance). Here in NJ the underground economy is thriving with the illegals working under the table; Americans simply aren’t offered jobs in some sectors. The owners that use the braceros defend it by saying they can’t compete without them; they’d be underbid on any work by competitors that use them.
He demonstrates the morals and ethos of a worthless socialist. He is the perfect example of the Ant and the Grasshopper. He is the grasshopper.
Like uber liberals he does not understand that the property is private and owned by someone else, who will eventually sell it for various reasons at their discretion. He has absolutely no right to the property at all yet thinks the owner owes him something, or worse yet, he has grandfathered his rights to the property by simply living there.
KICK HIS ASS OUT! He is one of the millions of reasons our country has gone down the toilet in the name of collective socialism.
You are right, he can’t come to grips that he has been a lazy, sorry artist if over all of these years he has not amassed enough money to buy a house, apartment or condo.
bfl
And now he's enlisted the help of the firebrand advocacy group Eviction Free San Francisco, whose battle cry is: "Whose homes? Our homes! No more speculation, no more evictions."
It would not be at all surprising if tenants like that had "accidents". Like in the old days.
He can move to a small town.
But then few people want to live in the middle of nowhere.
San Francisco is super expensive.
My brother-in-law* employs about 20% of Montevideo, illegally of course, for his contractor business. Recently one of them supposedly was injured. The illegal knew immediately to lawyer up and is suing him and now my BIL has some ‘splainin’ to do with a couple state agencies.
*I haven’t talked to him or my sister (a public school teacher) in years. I was told this happened by a relative who still lives in the same city that they do.
And you can probably guess which political party they both worship.
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