Joshua Lopez is putting up his Christmas lights early this year. But he doesn’t feel like celebrating.
Lopez lives with his mother, Rosa Perez, at a small apartment in Imperial Beach. His two-year-old nephew, who Perez watches on weekdays, was sad when Halloween ended. So, even though it was still mid-November, Lopez and Perez decorated their tiny kitchen with lights and tinsel in hopes of cheering him up.
At the same time though, Lopez, an elementary school special ed technician in Chula Vista, is rushing to figure out whether this will be his family's last Christmas in that apartment, where they have lived for 11 years.
The day before Halloween, they received an eviction letter. Their apartment building’s new owner, F&F Properties, was ordering them to move out by the end of January.
The company had issued a mass eviction notice to everyone at the 64-unit apartment complex, known as Hawaiian Gardens, just 16 months after purchasing it.
The notice said San Diego-based F&F was planning significant renovations to the building — a legal reason for landlords to evict their tenants in California. The company attached permits outlining its plans to add new floors, cabinets, heating and air conditioning systems.
In a statement, a company spokesperson said F&F had taken steps to make the eviction process easier for their tenants, including giving everyone three months’ notice and not charging the final month’s rent. The company also said it will return everyone's full security deposit.
"F&F Properties is going above and beyond what the law requires to ensure the smoothest of transitions," said spokesperson Tony Manolatos.
But Lopez is scared. He and Perez, and several other Hawaiian Gardens residents, said the evictions would upend their lives and force dozens of young families, older retirees and longtime Imperial Beach residents out into an unforgiving housing market.
Now, they’re urging city leaders to intervene by passing a local tenant protection law that would halt their evictions before the end of January. Lopez knows they’re facing long odds, but says he and many of his neighbors are holding out hope.
"There aren't any guarantees that, anywhere that we move to, you won't be faced with a similar situation — whether it’s months or years down the line," he said. "We’re hoping to be able to make some kind of difference."
'Not just in your community'
Hawaiian Gardens isn’t the only building in the city bracing for this kind of eviction.
Just next door, along Imperial Beach Boulevard, retired bus driver Sherman Qualls is preparing to receive his own notice.
Qualls has lived in his building, Sussex Gardens, for 18 years, along with his wife, Marie. When he opens his door in the afternoon, warm light floods their apartment, illuminating their DVD collection and two decades of family photographs.
The building is a special place for Qualls, particularly because its original owner was Guamanian, like his wife. He always suspected that the owner cut them a deal on their rent because of that.
"Had a good atmosphere here, you know?" he said. "I like living here, and I still like living here."
In May, Qualls’ apartment building was purchased by two private equity investment companies: San Diego-based DMJ Equity and another company registered at the same address. That same month, the new owners sent the tenants a letter. It told residents how to reach them and where to send their rent checks. It also mentioned plans for significant renovations.
"At some point, these renovations will require you to vacate the property permanently," the owners wrote.
That notice shook many tenants, especially Qualls.
He and Marie were already dealing with a flurry of other bills, including medical expenses for her diabetes, a broken foot and other medical conditions. Qualls was also spending most of his time caretaking for her, helping her eat and move around the apartment.
In August, they decided to have Marie move up to Ramona to stay with her granddaughter while Qualls prepared to pack up their things, just in case.
Recently, Qualls and two other residents said their property manager had tried to reassure everyone that no one would be evicted immediately. But that did little to quell the anxiety spreading throughout the building.
"It’s all over the place," Qualls said. "A lot of people have moved out, but right now, I can’t afford to unless I take a big portion out of my savings."
DMJ did not respond to requests for comment.
These types of evictions have become a regular occurrence not just in Imperial Beach but across the state in recent years. That’s according to the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, a nonprofit law firm that offers free legal services.
Earlier this month, Legal Aid senior attorney Gilberto Vera told Imperial Beach City Council members that the firm is fielding more frequent questions about evictions for remodeling.
"We’re seeing substantial remodel being a reason that’s displacing tenants not just in your community but countywide," Vera said.
A gap in state law
Substantial remodel evictions are partly the result of a state law that was meant to shield renters from unjust treatment.
That law, the Tenant Protection Act of 2019, passed five years ago, right before the pandemic. Before then, landlords in California were free to order their tenants to leave at any time. The act created new protections for renters by requiring most landlords to justify evicting someone.
But it did leave the door open for certain types of evictions, including when a property owner wants to do significant renovations to the building.
That gap in the law has drawn growing criticism from many tenants’ rights groups across the state. They say some landlords can exploit it by purchasing older buildings, kicking the old tenants out and putting the remodeled apartments back on the market at a higher price.
"Every day, we're losing more and more of the naturally affordable housing," said Jose Lopez, San Diego director of the tenants’ rights group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE. "It's just making it more difficult for people to make ends meet."
(Lopez is not related to Joshua Lopez, the tenant at Hawaiian Gardens.)
California lawmakers agreed with that diagnosis. Last year, the state legislature voted to pass the Homelessness Prevention Act, which required landlords to pull permits, among other things, before moving forward with a remodeling-related eviction.
Some cities have gone even further.
Just last month, the Los Angeles City Council voted to ban substantial remodel evictions entirely. The law still allows L.A. landlords to renovate their buildings, but they are now required to temporarily relocate their tenants and allow them to return after the remodeling is finished.
'Our Hail Mary'
In several weeks, Imperial Beach officials are set to discuss these evictions for the first time.
In an interview earlier this week, Mayor Paloma Aguirre told KPBS she plans to bring the topic of substantial remodel evictions forward for an initial discussion in the first week of December.
"It doesn't benefit anybody putting people on the streets, especially over the holidays," she said. "I look forward to having a robust conversation on the matter with my colleagues on the council."
The IB City Council has granted emergency protections to renters before. In 2022, they temporarily halted all evictions and imposed a rent cap in mobile home parks after property managers tried to exploit a loophole in state protections.
But a law like Los Angeles’ would be the first of its kind in San Diego County, according to Vera. Two cities, San Diego and Chula Vista, have taken some steps to blunt the impact of substantial remodel evictions for renters. But no cities in the area have voted to end them completely.
At a City Council meeting earlier this month, some Imperial Beach residents also pushed back against the idea.
John Decker pointed out during the meeting’s public comment portion that a ballot measure that would have opened the door for cities to vote on local rent control failed earlier this month. He insisted that any move by the Council in favor of tenant protections would be opposing the will of California voters.
"The California state rent control proposition in 2018 and in 2020 and again yesterday … have all been voted down," Decker said.
Residents of Hawaiian Gardens and Sussex Gardens, on the other hand, urged the City Council to take that further step and end substantial remodel evictions outright. That, they said, could prevent the building’s tenants from losing their housing and potentially falling into homelessness.
"It's kind of like our Hail Mary," said Lopez, in Hawaiian Gardens. "It's that chance that we're kind of holding on to."
It’s unclear whether city officials stand on that discussion.
KPBS reached out to Councilmembers Mitch McKay, Jack Fisher, Matthew Leyba-González and Carol Seabury for comment. None of them responded.
Back on Imperial Beach Boulevard, Sherman Qualls has begun to pack up 18 years of his life with Marie as he waits for news from the City Council. The neat rows of family photographs on his living room walls are now divided by nail-studded gaps, where some frames have already gone into boxes.
Qualls isn’t letting the circumstances get him down. He’s hopeful that, as his wife’s health continues to improve, their medical costs will fall and they will be able to afford a better place.
"If I have to put my stuff in storage, stay in a car until I find a place, that’s what I have to do," he said. "Whatever I have to do to survive, I will."
In the building next door though, Joshua Lopez is still scared.
He’s worried about what the eviction will mean for him and his mom if the City Council does not intervene. He’s not sure how they will afford to move on just his salary working for the school district.
"Some of that fear sets in,” he said. "Because you hear about or even you see what the markets like out there for rentals and you can't even consider purchasing. At least, I can't."
But Lopez isn’t giving up. He points out that Los Angeles and other cities in Northern California have done more to restrict evictions. By speaking up, he hopes to push San Diego County to do the same.
"It feels like San Diego has some catching up to do," he said.
Lopez hasn’t started packing yet.
