Daniel, 42, had just lost his job when he received two eviction phone calls and the second eviction notice, and he decided to end his life by hanging himself after learning that one of his neighbors living downstairs had already moved out. When Wen opened the door and witnessed the tragic scene, she cried out for help from the neighbors but it was too late. Since then, Wen has suffered badly from heart pains. She visited the emergency room multiple times, lost 40 pounds and began taking a dozen types of medications. Only recently has she become more emotionally stable with the support from neighbors.A new landlord purchased their apartment building in 2007 and turned it into Tenancy in Common, where each unit would be sold for $300,000. Meanwhile, the new landlord is also evicting the tenants using the Ellis Act, a state law that permits landlords to convert entire buildings from rental uses to condos or TIC units.
"My son was very well behaved, he listened to others, he was born and raised right here. He just lost his job back then, and after receiving the eviction notice, he kept walking back and fourth in the hallway and often lost sleep at night. Sometimes, he would ask me, 'Mom, where can we move to?' I could only comfort him by saying, 'I don't know, but don't be afraid.' Later, he found out that the neighbors downstairs moved away and he wouldn't stop saying, ‘We are going to be next.' Then, he decided to hang himself right there that night," described Wen, who was pointing at the room where her son committed suicide, tears running down her face.
In Wen's building, only one family moved out earlier on, and the remaining ones are all low-income Chinese seniors, with the newest tenant living there for 14 years and the oldest tenant, a 90-year-old World War II veteran, living there for more than 60 years. What are they supposed to do now?