TWO tiny home communities say the city is trying to force them out after auctioning off the land, however, they're doing their best to fight.
The Coyote Bush Collective and 37MLK are two groups part of long-standing unsanctioned communities in Oakland, California.
4
4
Most of the residents live in wooden shelters on land that has been tax defaulted, meaning taxes haven't been paid for the property by the owners for at least five years.
However, in March, Alameda County held its annual auction of tax-defaulted properties, and Sanjay and Gaurav Khanna purchased both sites.
The Khannas served both communities with "unlawful detainer" notices and the "residents" were asked to leave.
But many say the community has provided stability, such as Rayetta Delores Simon-Dixon, who has lived in the 37MLK since it opened in the summer of 2019.
READ MORE TINY HOMES
"I don’t feel homeless here," she told The Oaklandside. "If we have to go I know I'm going to be the first one to start crying.
Before moving to the 37MLK, Simon-Dixon, who has been homeless for 12 years, said she was sleeping on the street near the property when it was fenced off and vacant at the time.
The 37MLK community was created by Stefani Echeverría-Fenn, who began setting up tents on the land without permission after seeing her neighbors on the street.
In a Facebook video at the time, she said she was "demanding land for my homeless friends."
Most read in The US Sun
STANDING TALL Tallest skyscraper in US gets the green light with 'work to start in months'
BEAR RAMPAGE Brit tourist, 72, mauled by BEAR while taking photos as it leaned into her car
NEW PAD? Theodorus Struyck seen 'househunting' after $1.7b Powerball lottery win
Soon, the lot began to fill up with other people who had lost their housing in the area, like Simon-Dixon, who grew up and spent her entire life in the neighborhood.
"I went to school here, met all my people here, my kids were born here," she told the outlet. "This area is my whole life."
About seven or eight people live in the 37MLK, which Simon-Dixon said is "like a family."
But by Many, the 37MLK residents found paperwork attached to their fence, telling them that 10 unnamed inhabitants were being used in the unlawful detainer case - the first step to get an eviction.
OFFER DENIED
At the other property the Khannas bought, the Coyote Bush Collective has been fighting against the sale and eviction of the site.
Two people have lived in tiny homes they built since 2020, surrounded by a community garden that has been tended to by volunteers for years.
The property was abandoned by its previous owners for decades until the Khannas bought it and were alarmed to find that people were already living there.
Angeles Gottheil and Nicolas, who didn't give his last name, live in the Coyote Bush community and told the Khannas that they wanted to buy the property back from them.
At first, the Khannas were willing to consider their offer, however, the residents only had $35,000 from community donations and their own savings.
The Khannas bought the land for $274,000 and said they wouldn't wait for Coyote Bush to raise the rest of the money.
Gottheil claimed the Khannas showed up to the property with the police and cut a lock the residents put on the gate.
Soon, they also received an eviction notice.
"Now, we always have one of us staying here," Gottheil told the outlet. "We’re determined to fight it, so I’m definitely optimistic to a certain degree."
FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE
Alameda County treasurer and tax collector, Henry Levy, said he's tried to be a mediator between the Khannas and the Coyote Bush Collective.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has also been made aware of the issue.
"I’ve been in contact with both the buyer and the residents...to discuss potential outcomes that could be supported by both parties," Darin Ranelletti, the mayor's policy advisor on housing security told The Oaklandside in an email.
Ranelletti wouldn't give more details on those conversations.
Levy, who oversees the property auctions, said he didn't know people were living at the Coyote Bush site and that if he did, he would have removed it from the auction list.
In the case of 37MLK, Levy said he was aware of the community and it was removed by the auction list a decade ago in a process that allowed nonprofits to buy tax-defaulted land.
The site was sold to the Community Development Corporation of Oakland, however, the property was never developed by the organization.
"We tried to get interest from nonprofits and the city of Oakland for seven to eight years," said Levy.
The county eventually decided to auction off the property, selling it to the Khannas for $305,100.
The residents of the 37MLK have challenged the case in court and are being represented by Briggitte Nicoletti, a lawyer with the East Bay Community Law Center.
Read More on The US Sun
"Will the county step up and recognize that it sold land at a tax sale where people were living?" Nicoletti told the outlet.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Khannas and Alameda County for comment.
4
4
