Pittsfield Evictions Unexplained Where Have All My Neighbors Gone?
Pittsfield Evictions Unexplained
Where have all my neighbors gone?
by Claudia Green
Conflict between McKinley Properties and the tenants of Pittsfield Village has heated up recently in the wake of a slew of unexplained eviction notices to young families, elderly and low-income tenants. At least a dozen Village tenants have without warning received notice from McKinley that their leases will not be renewed, according to Pittsfield Village Tenants Union (PVTU) co-founders Leslie Riester and Martha Perkins.
Pittsfield Village, a 422-unit rental housing complex in southeastern Ann Arbor, had provided affordable housing for 40 years. But in January 1986 the Village was taken over by McKinley Properties, a large company started in the late sixties by Ann Arbor resident Ron Weiser. Since then rents have skyrocketed.
The Pittsfield Village Tenants Union (PVTU) was formed when tenants found the new owners unresponsive to their needs and in March 1987, a rent strike was organized through the Union. The strike resulted in some repairs, but according to a PTVU spokesperson, tenants complained that the work was shoddy and extremely disruptive with workers pounding on roofs, breaking out windows and entering apartments without warning. Many of the tenants who have held on through what they considered disruptive repairs, insensitive management, and rent hikes averaging 12-15% a year have now received a form letter from Mckinley denying them a chance to renew their lease. Nancy McAllister, a 22-year resident of the Village, received such a letter on November 7, 1987. The letter instructs McAllister to vacate her apartment by January 1, 1988 or face $30 per day rent, or even "physical eviction." The letter includes suggestions that she look for new housing in area newspapers or other cities, buy into a co-op or go to the welfare office.
McAllister was first sent a letter instructing her to accept or reject her new lease. When she called the Village management office to inform them that she had not received a new lease they checked their records and told her that she would not be offered a new lease. They did not offer any explanation. McAllister has been active in the PVTU.
Five-year Pittsfield tenant Carrie O'Durna was offered a new lease with a $50 per month rent hike, but before she could sign it she was informed that the offer was revoked and that she had six weeks to move out. A 30-day extension was denied to her. O'Durna had never called in any maintenance problems.
Evictions like these are terrorizing even Village die-hards. McKinley Properties management claims no responsibility for an exodus from the neighborhood they now call "The Village Townhomes." But not all of the tenants are on the run. Some are choosing to stay and fight. PVTU coordinator Perkins said, "There's hardly any affordable housing in Ann Arbor anymore, so we can stand and fight here or leave not only our homes but our city as well."
Riester and Perkins believe certain types of tenants are being singled out because of management's decision to follow city-wide trends, "upscaling" the Village to cater to higher income tenants. After months of rent strikes and court battles, tenants are reorganizing to make public their fight against these evictions. Members of the PVTU and other Pittsfield Village tenants are also involved in the city-wide campaign to stabilize rents in Ann Arbor. They feel confident that the rent stabilization ordinance would put McKinley Properties and other parties involved in the gentrification of Ann Arbor in check.