Tenants at Apartment 'Scam' Profiled In SF Weekly Say Shenanigans Continue

1030 Post Street

According to folks who live there, strange dealings are still afoot at 1030 Post Street. The building, which was profiled in a 2006 cover story by SF Weekly alumnus A.C. Thompson, used to house a number of long-term, low-income seniors. After management entered into a state program in which it was awarded tax dollars to convert the structure into "affordable housing," many of those indigent folks were given the boot; their rents were jacked up and they were deemed too poor for affordable housing. Yes, you read that right. At the time, then-Supervisor Aaron Peskin went so far as to label the practice a "scam."

Now, nearly three years down the road, tenant Ryszard Czarnecki phoned SF Weekly and complained that his apartment in the building is "very stinky" and management will do nothing for him. His lawyer, Raquel Fox of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, has sued KDF Post Street LLC on Czarnecki's behalf.

"Ryszard has some really severe habitability issues in his home. KDF Post Street, while receiving thousands of dollars in tax credits, can't even improve the unit -- and they forced Ryszard out to do seismic retrofit work but didn't do the other work that needed to be done," says Fox.

In short, Czarnecki was displaced so his apartment could be retrofitted, but Fox claims his rampant mold and rodent problems were purposely ignored.

Calls to KDF's attorney, Clifford Freed, were not returned for this story.

Of course, Czarnecki's situation is just the tip of the legal iceberg. Following Thompson's 2006 story, the city's rent board ruled against KDF's practice of jacking up rents in "affordable" units -- some tenants saw rates jump from $500 to $1,300 a month. The city's position is that such "affordable" units fall under the jurisdiction San Francisco rent control laws, despite KDF's involvement in a state program.

This triggered a lawsuit vs. the city of San Francisco. Deputy City Attorney Wayne Snodgrass says that case has its day in court on April 2.

Fox continues that KDF's treatment of its tenants has not been above-board.

"Lots of families have been frightened into leaving when they're told INS is going to show up. People have left in the middle of the night," she says.