Lodi Animal Shelter Faces Eviction After Property Acquired By New Landowner
LODI (CBS13) — A Lodi animal shelter is looking for a new forever home after learning the new landlord wants it out.
The Animal Friends Connection Humane Society has had thousands of four-legged friends looking for a forever home. The non-profit has been around for 31 years and at its current location on Cherokee Lane for 21 years.
After the property they rent was sold to a new owner and they were told that they'd be able to stick around, the shelter's president and co-founder said they were thrown a curveball. They were told just last week that they'd have to look for a new home.
"He sent somebody over that we were going to have to move. And, we haven't received a formal eviction notice," Patricia Sherman, the president and co-founder of the Animal Friends Connection Humane Society, said.
The landlord's realtor told CBS13 it's in the process of issuing a formal eviction notice. Still, it's something longtime clients of the shelter couldn't believe.
"I was shocked. I can't believe it. These people do great work. It's a no-kill shelter," Rudy Ruiz said.
The new owner of the property didn't want to speak to CBS13 on-camera. But, he did tell CBS13 that he feels that the rent the shelter is paying is not a fair market share or value.
Sherman said that the shelter is currently paying $420 per month on their month-to-month lease that was established by the previous landowners.
The new landowner also told CBS13 that he is able to ask someone on the property that is on a month-to-month lease he owns to leave the area.
We asked the landowner if there's any way that he and the shelter could come to common ground on the fair share or value of the rent the shelter is paying. The landowner said that he is unsure if the shelter could pay that fair market share or value. The shelter said they would simply want to talk to the new landowner regarding the eviction situation.
The new owner says he understands the shelter's concerns and wants to give them ample time to find a new place.
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"They said something about six months which for us to find something is probably going to take us that long," Sherman said.
Sherman said moving away after two decades won't happen overnight. They're asking the public's help for a potential location in the Lodi area and for any possible donations.
It's a tough pill to swallow for any business or non-profit.
"It's going to be very difficult for us to pack up and move wherever have to move," Sherman said.