Gay Google Exec Battles SF Tenants

A gay Google executive who's been working to evict people from the San Francisco apartment building he bought is facing a lawsuit from tenants over mold and other problems.

Jack Halprin, an attorney for the Mountain View-based tech company, settled a separate wrongful eviction lawsuit with a former tenant in May.

According to the city's planning department, Halprin is the sole owner of 812 Guerrero Street, which was last sold in 2012 for $1.4 million.

City rent board records show that Halprin started ousting people from the building after he filed an owner move-in eviction against tenant Daniel Rubin in May 2012. Months later, he filed an owner move-in eviction against tenants Susan Coss and another woman because his then-domestic partner, Daniel Ortiz, was moving in.

In November 2013, Coss filed a wrongful eviction lawsuit against Halprin. The complaint notes that Halprin and Ortiz separated just days before she left her apartment November 16, 2012.

According to Los Angeles County Superior Court records that Coss provided, the couple separated November 10, 2012, and Halprin petitioned for dissolution of the partnership July 29, 2013.

Coss claims that Halprin never planned for Ortiz to move in and never offered to re-rent the unit to her. Halprin was merging his apartment with Coss's unit without obtaining the necessary permits, she says. City records indicate he's worked to obtain permits since then, but it's not immediately clear they're related to the merger.

In an interview, Coss, 48, who now lives in Alameda, said she has "no idea" what Halprin's intentions are through the evictions, but she suspects "part of the reason" he's trying to get rid of the other tenants is he's retaliating against her.

Whatever his reasons, Coss said "one of the most egregious parts" of the situation is "how difficult it was for people to fight for the right of domestic partnerships. To see someone use it for their own personal purpose and circumvent the law is such a slap in the face to people who worked long and hard to get that through."

Coss, who's straight, wouldn't say how much she settled the suit for.

Reached by phone, Halprin said, "I have no comment" for this story. "You have a great day. Thank you." He hasn't yet filed a formal response to the lawsuit, according to the San Francisco Superior Court website. Ortiz couldn't be reached. Rubin, the first tenant to be evicted, declined to comment.

More Evictions

In June 2012, Halprin filed an eviction against tenant Rebecca Bauknight. A rent board document says he was removing her from the garage.

Then, on March 6, 2014, he filed Ellis Act eviction notices against Bauknight; Christopher Sideris; Claudia Tirado and Alex Barros, who are a couple; and Matthew Evan Wolkenstein. He'd filed notices of intent about a week earlier.

The Ellis Act is a 1986 state law that allows landlords to evict tenants in order to get out of the rental business. The landlord must remove all units from the rental market. Such tenants are paid relocation expenses to move. The amount they receive can vary depending on how many individuals occupy a unit, the tenants' ages, or disability/HIV status. The amounts can range from $5,000-$15,000 per tenant, with an additional $3,403 paid to tenants who are senior/disabled, according to information from the Tenants Union website. For most tenants, the money doesn't go far in San Francisco's sizzling rental market.

Last month, the tenants, who have all lived in the building since at least 2006, filed a lawsuit against Halprin and Ortiz.

In their complaint, they say problems included "rodent infestation, mold, and mildew;" "inadequate" heating and plumbing; "a lack of working smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detectors;" "excessive debris in the garbage and refuse area;" and "failure to maintain working fire extinguishers."

The tenants claim they had notified Halprin and Ortiz through the former couple's agents "repeatedly" of the problems, but repairs weren't made.

The complaint notes that in May, the city's Department of Building Inspection issued notices of violations for mold and other problems with Barros and Tirado's apartment, as well as for issues with the building's common areas.

Data from the building inspection department's website indicate at least two of the problems have been corrected.

The complaint says Ortiz co-owned the four-story, seven-unit building until February 2014. The tenants are seeking unlimited damages exceeding $25,000.

Tirado, 44, and Barros, 43, have a 3-year-old son. In an interview, Tirado, who's a teacher, said it would be "very difficult" for them to stay in the city if they have to leave their apartment, for which the rent is $1,600 a month.

Wolkenstein, 40, who's straight, said he and the other tenants had tried to resolve their problems with Halprin "through normal means of communication" and the suit wasn't meant as retaliation for the Ellis Act filings.

The other tenants couldn't be reached for comment.