East Bay landlord ends hunger strike after county lets COVID eviction moratorium expire
OAKLAND -- One landlord who ended his hunger strike Tuesday evening is calling the Alameda County Board of Supervisor's decision to let the eviction moratorium expire a big victory.
Friends and fellow property owners gathered around George Wu, who was feeling so weak and unwell he sat in a wheelchair.
He ended his 70-hour hunger strike after he started it Sunday in front of the building where the board meets in Oakland.
"Not eating food, a hunger strike will definitely harm him," said Jenny Zhao, interpreting for Wu. "It is Oakland, so safety is a real concern, he figured that this is his only way to make his story heard."
His story goes back to 2019. Wu owns a 3-unit building in San Leandro. He said a family stopped paying rent shortly before the pandemic, and owes him $120,000.
He said their inability to pay had nothing to do with COVID. Both parents took advantage of the system, after stating they had good paying jobs on their rental application.
"After all, he think it's worthwhile, because by doing this the public heard and the supervisors heard the story and they made the right decision today," said Zhao.
The moratorium under current county law will expire 60 days after Tuesday, when California's COVID emergency ends.
Wu has relied on a wheelchair, and the support of friends and strangers to get him through the strike. He broke it after the board chose not to extend the moratorium. He said he was encouraged by fellow property owners and tenants who stood by him and sent uplifting messages.
"He wants everybody to know that housing providers are just 'regular Joes,' using hard saving money to buy couple properties, doing this as a living," said Zhao. "And we're not cold hearted people and we also have sympathies to our tenants, but the policy makers should not just making laws that purely one sided."
Jennifer Liu is president of the Business and Housing Network or BAHN and a property owner herself.
"Everything else has returned to normal. It's not right to have such a long eviction moratorium, it's not fair," said Liu. "The government have been charging us property tax, I'm not aware of any of the county who waive the owner's property taxes."
Wu said his case was deferred 18 times because of the moratroium. The tenants who have not paid him have since moved, and other people Wu is not familiar with are living in the home, according to neighbors. Wu said he has borrowed money from relatives and picks up odd jobs as a laborer to get by.
"Even though he did this just by himself, he's not feeling alone," said Zhao.