A 20-year resident of Chinatown lived in a building on Johnny Court with her husband and three young children. In 2015, the building was sold to an investor, who at first raised their rent from $930 to $1,450 a month. The family was forced out after the investor-owner demanded $2,600 per month, as he converted the units one by one to short-term rental use. The Chinatown Community Land Trust had prepared a purchase offer for the building, but the owner sold to the investor. With TOPA in place, residents could have preserved their housing and taken it permanently out of the speculative market.
|