Vince Young and the Young Family Trust purchased my building in December 2013and we were instructed to make rent checks Payable to him. Then in January we were notified that he had formed a corporation with limited liability and future rent should be paid to the LLC. In February we received our Ellis eviction notices.

Filing under the Ellis Act does not require a cause, the landlord just needs to state they’re taking all units off the market for five years.  But Vince Young decided he had to have a reason when he called each tenant he was evicting to ask “what he could do to help.” When he tried earlier to illegally evict me and my neighbor Jim he said he was doing it as an owner move-in so he could care for his ailing father. He liked the story so much he stuck to it when he called us about the Ellis notices.

From the information I gathered it didn’t really add up. His father, Lesley Young, who apparently had also been in the real estate business, was an elderly man living with home care on a quiet street in Alameda. He would be moved to a third floor apartment, in a building with no elevator, on one of the steeper hills and busier streets in downtown San Francisco. Since I’m assuming his medical care is in the East Bay, he would also be adding hours of commute time to keep any appointments.

When Vince Young called offering me his “help” I mentioned these details to him. He said that his father was living on $1500 a month social security, that he was moving several family members into the other units so they would all care for him. And somehow they also planned to fit an elevator into this ancient building. To supplement the leaning staircase no doubt.

I told him I was skeptical and that I was under the impression that this is what he did for a living, flip properties (he is listed on the Madison Hunter website with DRE No. 01898614 ). He was evasive. I said I found that he and the Young Family Trust had sold a $2.3 million property in Piedmont a couple of years ago. He blurted out, “but that’s my Dad’s money!” later qualifying it with “I guess some of it is mine.” The conversation did not end well, although I did say I looked forward to the new elevator.

In July I had an email from State Senator Mark Leno whom I’d contacted about his efforts to amend the Ellis Act. He mentioned that,  “Mr. Young and Ms. Leadbetter spoke in opposition to my legislation on June 18.  His testimony sounded almost identical to the situation you have described below with the exception of showing the property to potential buyers. However, during a question and answer period, it was revealed that he was in real estate and owned multiple properties, which is vastly different than what he would have the committee believe based on his testimony. “

It has been six months since the first tenants started moving out under the intimidation of eviction. None of the Young family have occupied any of the vacated units.

On Wednesday Vince Young along with other realtors visited the building next door that recently sold (or is in the process of selling). I’m guessing that it’s now going to take 14 units to care for his father and they’ll be constructing an underground walkway to connect the two buildings. Once they get the elevator in.

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The Eviction Story

• As the Pot Melts
• Rear Window
• Christmas, Baby Please Come Home
• Mein Kampf
• Visions of Carlotta
• Rotten Plums
• Your Eminence, Your Worship, Your Grace
• Mon Petit Chiu Chiu
• Would You Buy a Used Car From this Man?
• Don’t Piss on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining
• Second Floor, Women’s Lingerie
• What Have I Got to Hide?
• I Have Not Been Served
• Clarity
• A Woo By Any Other Name
• Meet the Mongels
• The Folks at Home
• The Great Un-Quashed
• The Only Person Who Can Judge Me Is Judy
• Said the Joker to the Thief
• I Left My Heart
• Up On Housing Project Hill
• I Fought the Law and the Law Won