Last month, two married California landlords were sentenced to four years in jail after being
convicted of several reckless acts aimed at evicting and scaring their tenants. The crimes took place over a
two-year span, and led the couple to become dubbed, “Landlords from Hell.”
The district attorney in San Francisco said the landlords harassed their tenants by cutting off power and phone
service, changing locks, and illegally removing and/or destroying their
belongings. They even were charged with soaking the victims’ clothes and
electronics in ammonia and using a chainsaw to cut a hole in the floor of one
tenant’s unit. They also severed floor joists in hopes of making the building
unsafe, and hoping it would ultimately it collapse under the tenants.
The duo also sent fraudulent emails pretending to be their
victims. The emails were aimed at making it appear as though the tenants were threatening to kill the
landlords’ children.
Authorities say the motive behind the attacks was all due to
the landlords wanting to renovate the rental
units and sell them off individually. However, California has strict laws
regarding the harassment of tenants
by landlords, and prohibits the eviction of tenants without just cause.
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