East NYers Facing Tenant Harassment to Protest at Quik Evic Office Saturday

EAST NEW YORK, BROOKLYN — East New York residents, activists, and local elected officials plan to form a demonstration against tenant harassment in front of the Quik Evic office on Atlantic Avenue this weekend.

The demonstrators will march in the East New York neighborhood on Saturday morning and tear down 13 signs posted that promote eviction and home-buyouts in the community, according to the Coalition for Community Advancement, the nonprofit organizing the event.

Council member Rafael Espinal, Public Advocate Letitia James and Assemblywoman Latrice Walker will speak out against tenants and homeowner harassment at the press conference in front of Quik Evic after the march, the coalition said.

From the coalition:

As property values and rents rise in the newly re-zoned neighborhood, predatory investors are harassing vulnerable homeowners with offers to “buy homes for cash.” They are making repeated calls, leaving flyers, knocking on doors and sending texts to low-income, senior or monolingual Spanish-speaking homeowners. The Coalition is working to create a Cease and Desist Zone for Brooklyn Community Board 5 so that homeowners can opt into a “Do Not Solicit” list and so that violating agents will risk fines and losing broker licenses.

"Investors and LLCs are lining their pockets with profit by taking advantage of financially-strapped, unaware seniors and uninformed homeowners," said Darma Diaz, a Cypress Hills homeowner. "We won't let outside interests chase us out. We say to predatory investors: Cypress Hills/East New York is not for Sale!"

Quik Evic has posted signs all around the East New York and Cypress Hills area that say, "Tenant Evictions Done Here," and "Evict your tenant!"

"This year the owner of our building tried to evict all of the Section 8 tenants," said Moraina Gonzalez, a long-time Cypress Hills tenant. "We all got the eviction notices and started looking for a new place to live. It turned out what he was doing was illegal. Once we spoke to a tenant organizer and an attorney, we found out that we had rights as rent-stabilized tenants. We went to court and the judge dropped our case. We don't have to move. We want to make sure other tenants know they have rights, too."

"This Saturday homeowners and advocates in Brooklyn are putting unscrupulous speculators on notice,” said Council Member Rafael Espinal (BK- Bushwick, ENY, Brownsville). "Our community is sick and tired of the unwanted solicitations of our homes. We have been harassed by unwanted and deceptive offers of cash for our homes, received non-stop offers about how we can be 'helped' in selling our property and paying our mortgages. It is time to put a stop to these unwanted and devious advances. These solicitations prey on so many elderly, low-income, and financially strained homeowners who deserve to not only live peacefully in their homes, but also, to receive the support they need to grow and raise their families in our community."

The demonstration is on Saturday, Dec. 10th from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. The press conference begins at 12:30 p.m. at Quik Evic office, 2747 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn.

Photo credit: Coalition for Community Advancement