Although Wright works two jobs at local restaurants, landlords don't want tenants previously evicted or those whose monthly salary is not three times the rent. As times get tougher, more people have chosen crowded and unsafe conditions. East Palo Alto officials say more families than ever are sharing apartments and houses. When a house fire tore through a chicken coop and a dog house in one back yard last month, city Planner Michael Bethke discovered they were rented by families who had lost apartments. The sewer district has seen increases in toilet use in single-family homes that suggests multiple tenants.
Residents say more cars are parked on their streets because each house contains several families.
Landlords say they rarely enforce evictions, but they don't want to tolerate crowding anymore. They say they need to respond to the new rental market pressures, particularly after so many years when East Palo Alto suffered from very high crime rates and high vacancy rates. Kiani said he has rarely evicted a tenant, and only then for not paying rent. Other landlords insist they have not evicted anyone. But they are doing new, comprehensive checks to see if prospective tenants have been previously evicted, enforcing rules about the number of people per unit and making sure a tenant's monthly income is double or triple the rent, landlords said.