Queer SF Couple Fights Eviction

A San Francisco same-sex couple is fighting their landlords' efforts to evict them from their apartment.

Oona Hanawalt, 33, a special education teacher and tutor, and Alison Panko, 39, an unpaid psychotherapy intern, say landlord Irma Encinas is ousting them from their 25th Street home because Encinas claims they had illegal subtenants.

A judge last week ruled against the couple, who identify as queer, and they have until August 1 to get out, according to Hanawalt. They're appealing the judge's ruling.

"We are terrified, devastated, and entirely broke," Panko said in an interview.

Hanawalt and Panko are also suing Encinas because they say she failed to repair bad plumbing and other problems.

Encinas formally sued the women for eviction in November 2013 after previously issuing several three-day eviction notices because she claimed "we had too many people living in our apartment and we had illegally replaced roommates."

Hanawalt moved into the apartment in 2008 with three other people. The rent on the four-bedroom apartment was $3,100 a month. She said all three of the others have been switched out "a couple of times." Panko moved in in 2011. The couple has been together for more than seven years.

Among other conditions, the 2008 lease says the tenants agreed "not to assign this agreement or sublet the premises without first obtaining the prior written consent of the owner. ... The parties agree that violation of this covenant and obligation shall be just cause for eviction."

Hanawalt said, "I made a mistake" by not getting Encinas's approval for the switched roommates, but she pointed to rules of the city's rent board.

The agency's definition of a tenant includes someone approved by the landlord "by sufferance," essentially meaning the property owner gives approval by not interfering.

Hanawalt said Encinas and Andres and Saul Alvarado, who Hanawalt said are Encinas's family members and co-owners of the building, had known about the new roommates but hadn't done anything about them.

Rent board rules also state that someone subletting is considered to have the landlord's approval "If the landlord fails to respond to the tenant in writing" within 14 days of receiving the tenant's written request.

In December 2013, after the eviction was filed, Hanawalt wrote Encinas a letter introducing one new roommate. Hanawalt asked whether the woman needed to complete a formal application. She said Encinas didn't respond.

Hanawalt and Panko reached a stipulation with Encinas earlier this year that included an agreement that the couple would notify Encinas before any change of occupants and not have more than three people in the apartment. Hanawalt said Encinas installed a security camera outside their door and Panko said she then claimed the couple had violated the agreement by having "many illegal subletters."

But the couple said Encinas had over-counted people. For example, they said, one recent roommate had gotten a haircut, making it appear that she was two different people.

According to court documents, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing found that the couple had breached the stipulation and ruled against them Friday, July 18, allowing their eviction.

Neither Encinas nor her attorney in the case, Brenda Cruz Keith, responded to interview requests Tuesday, July 22. Andres and Saul Alvarado couldn't be reached for comment.

Alleged Lack of Repairs

In May 2013, the couple and their roommates filed a civil complaint in superior court against Encinas and the Alvarados. In the filing, the women say that among other problems, there was a "defective" electrical system and plumbing - "including raw sewage leaks," and "peeling paint." They're seeking damages exceeding $25,000.

In an interview, Hanawalt said she wasn't aware of the problems when she moved in in 2008. She said as things broke, she sent letters to Encinas. While many repairs have been made, she said, at least some of the fixes weren't effective.

After Encinas filed an initial eviction notice in December 2012, she quit making repairs altogether, Hanawalt said.

P. Richard Colombatto, the attorney representing Encinas and the Alvarados in the civil lawsuit, was out of the office Tuesday and didn't respond to interview requests.

However, in court documents, Encinas and the Alvarados defended themselves in part by saying, "It is unclear which problems arose when or how extensive they were."

Department of Building Inspection data show the agency issued a notice of violation in May 2013 related to the apartment. The records cite problems including exterior painting that were eventually corrected. An issue involving a window permit remained as of earlier this year.

The couple said their lawyer advised them to file the complaint in November. Before that, Panko said, they "weren't aware that was an option."

Hanawalt and Panko are the only two people living in the apartment now. Two women who were Hanawalt and Panko's roommates at the time the November complaint was filed are listed as plaintiffs in the original documents but have since moved out. They couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

The current rent for the apartment is about $3,200 a month. If the eviction goes through, the women said, they'd have to leave the Bay Area.

Hanawalt and Panko are trying to raise $8,000 through www.gofundme.com/survivingeviction to cover moving expenses, a security deposit, and other costs. As of Tuesday they had raised $1,760.