Landlord troubles: rich San Franciscans in uproar after their private street is sold

[turbinetree]

Source: The Guardian

For most San Franciscans accustomed to being at the whims of speculators in a soaring real estate market, the arrival of a new landlord is a near certain harbinger of bad news.

But the residents of Presidio Terrace are not most San Franciscans, and it’s highly unlikely that they’ll be crafting desperate Facebook messages seeking an affordable room to rent in Oakland (dog friendly pleeeeease), making plans to move to Los Angeles or living in a box.

Still, in May of this year, the owners of 35 of San Francisco’s most exclusive and expensive homes became aware of a decidedly undesirable development: they no longer owned their private street.

Two upstart real estate investors from San Jose, Tina Lam and Michael Cheng, had snapped up the street, the sidewalks and the landscaped islands of Presidio Terrace at a public auction of tax-defaulted properties in April 2015. The pair shelled out $90,582.50 for the plot, and they’re how exploring ways to earn a return on that investment.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/07/san-francisco-presidio-terrace-private-road-sold-angry-residents

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Now what......................

[Dopers_Greed]

1. Those rich people are communists for trying to stop them

Shouldn't two enterprising individuals have the right to do ANYTHING they want with a great idea to turn a profit?

[Crash2Parties]

2. We all know they'll win b/c more, better lawyers

But for that brief moment they knew what it felt like to be one of the rest of us.

[PJMcK]

3. EZ Pass

Tolls to get in and out. Those homeowners can afford it.

(Wink)

[Sancho]

31. You beat me to it!! Gold pass!

[Coventina]

4. This story makes my heart smile.

You live on a private street?

You suffer the consequences!!

[NCjack]

5. See! The rich have problems, also. All of those rich guys got rich by gouging their customers

and investors. Those rich guys will raise their prices for what ever they do, and the consumers will pay the new owners of the street.

[Blue_Adept]

8. You may want to look at who lived there over the years

You know, people like Feinstein and Pelosi.

But enjoy your broad brush!

[Calista241]

20. Senator Feinstein lives in a $15m home.

She has done some good work over the years, but she is not anywhere close to middle class.

[Blue_Adept]

22. I didn't say anything about middle class

I was responding to this:

"All of those rich guys got rich by gouging their customers"

[flibbitygiblets]

6. So, we just hate these residents because they're rich?

Since wealth is a matter of perspective, the same could be said about many of us. If I'm not mistaken, that's the main reason tRump supporters hate educated people who don't live paycheck to paycheck. Aren't we better than that?

[flibbitygiblets]

7. And yes, I know they were officially racists until 1948

But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in 2017. Hell, there are plenty of women still alive who were born when women weren't allowed to VOTE, yet I'm not going to hold that against all men.

[Iggo]

12. I don't hate them at all.

[Firebrand Gary]

9. This thread is why I don't post anymore.

I quit posting some time ago. I do (did) however come back from time to time to read the news and take the pulse. So apparently ALL of the people who live on that street are your enemies? Really? Because it's private? There are privately owned streets all over the US! Many of them are in municipalities that cannot afford to maintain them, but this street has expensive homes, so therefor all the people who live in must be against you. Hypocrites.

Good for the couple who bought the street, that's exactly how it's supposed to work. I feel sad for the people who live on that street and identify as progressives, democrats, liberals seeing that the people who are supposed to be in their corner are pointing and laughing at their discomfort, just because they have worked harder than you have.

[flibbitygiblets]

27. Agree with everything you said Gary. Most people here didn't seem to read the article.

And even some who did just assume that those who live on that street are bad people simply because they have means, and that they got those means by "screwing over other people". Maybe they invented something useful, like urinal cakes? Maybe they inherited their homes from their families, but are still decent people whose HOA and accountants simply aren't up to snuff? We don't know them, and judging them so recklessly, being gleeful of something that may just as easily happen to one of us, is, as many R's say about Trump, "Deeply Concerning".

[Luciferous]

29. Great points. Just because they live in a nice neighborhood doesn't mean they are bad people!

[Iggo]

10. Pay your taxes, fuck-ohs.

[vkkv]

15. Would you pay a bill that was never sent to you? Please read the full article.

[elias7]

18. There was no fair notice of a problem. I call foul.

It seems no one ever received the bill, no notice made of intent to collect, no notice of default, no notice of intent to auction/sale.

Whoever made that choice does not seem to have made any effort at communication. If there was no return of communication, one would have to consider there has been no contact.

Is this any worse than cutting voters from the roles without notification? Option to rectify?

[vkkv]

11. Would you pay a bill that was never sent to you?

The bill was never sent to their HOA, only to their old accountant from the 1980's..

They could have used a better system, but with 35 houses on the street.... ?

[Iggo]

14. Not one of them, nor even their current accountant, noticed they weren't paying their taxes.

[vkkv]

16. taxes $ 14.00 per year..

Read the full piece at the link.

Wasn't a matter tax evasion..

This kind of crap shouldn't happen to anyone, rich or poor.. right?

Are you with me on that?

No ?

[ananda]

13. My question.

Why didn't the rich people on the street just buy
it themselves?

[Johnyawl]

19. If they didn't know they were in default...

...they obviously wouldn't know their street was on the auction block

[Mosby]

24. They did own it but they were behind on taxes

So the city sold it.

[DK504]

17. These douche bags in San Francisco have helped make the City

impossible to live in any longer. The evictions that occured when Facebook and all the douchebags set up shop an hour away in San Jose went through the roof. Regular workers that lived there before this dickheads moved in to the City help create an cite to expensive to live in.

The City even proved buses FOR FREE to transport the little shits to their "campuses", also known as work place sicne they are colleges any longer. Despite the fact that the train from SF to San Jose is great, the little shits couldn't be bothered to use the great public transportation and continued to screw the City. If they are making soooooo much money they can pay for their own fucking transportation. Everything in SF is now nothing more than a ponzi scheme to screw the working class that used to be able to afford to live there.

Screw all these asses that cry over having to pay their fair share. Even those these a-holes with Facebook and the others just HAVE to live in the City rather than close to where they work. I have no sympathy for any of these rich shits in SF.

[Johnyawl]

21. This is how lawyers get rich.

[Mosby]

23. Sounds like the HOA really screwed up.

[TexasBushwhacker]

28. Or perhaps someone in charge stole the money

that was to pay the taxes.

[PoliticAverse]

26. Another DU thread on this issue....

Here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9427477

[xor]

30. I'm guessing their goal is to sell it back to the HOA for a nice profit

While a bit sleazy, I don't think anyone is going to suffer too greatly from this. Unless they try to turn into a toll road, I don't think I really care about this too much.

[flibbitygiblets]

32. Did you know DiFi and Pelosi live in this neighborhood? Or did at one time?

If I were them, or perhaps a famous musician, I might not mind living in a gated community. You may not agree, but imagine having people camping outside your house for years on end, just because you're famous.