Undocumented and unhoused: With few resources, Bakersfield tenants have few options in fighting unfair evictions

May 6—It wasn't the flooding that got their attention, or the mold that sprouted up the bathroom walls. It wasn't the cabinets that kept loosening from their hinges, or the two front burners that failed to spark.

After more than two years of living in an unlivable space, Teresa Vega and her family — a son and grandson — finally got their landlord's attention on Dec. 27 in the form of a letter posted to their door. They didn't understand the details of the letter, only that they were to pay what they owe and leave.

Vega is one among the 1.6 million workers in California without legal status, and cannot access the few resources — rental assistance programs and free counsel — afforded to other low-income renters. Her situation came to the attention of local tenant and immigration advocates who are now asking officials to remedy this by creating a Keep Bakersfield Housed campaign to expand free legal counsel and educational programs to help renters, both undocumented immigrants and citizens, hold their landlords accountable and navigate the bewildering eviction process.

"The court system is very nebulous and discouraging for residents, who do not know how the court system works," said Sandra Plascencia, a policy advocate with Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, a local advocacy group.

After her summons on Dec. 27, Vega went to court in March without an attorney. She speaks little English, she said through an interpreter, and in her confusion took the first deal offered to her: Pay $5,000 and leave by the end of May. The money is a combination of rent owed and random fees she couldn't contest — like $400 for new curtains — and will take awhile, given her $500-a-week wage picking carrots for Grimmway Farms.

"Once (Vega) got the notice, she didn't know whether to keep paying rent," Plascencia said. "Which we find to be very common with people."

Evictions on the rise

The problem of evictions extends beyond those who are undocumented. Despite having one of the longest eviction bans in the nation due to COVID-19, California eviction rates have been on a steady rise. It's a similar scene in Kern County, with 1,303 eviction filings in 2020, 1,620 in 2021, 3,206 in 2022, and 863 in the first three months of 2023, according to county court filings.

About half of those, on average, have resulted in default judgments, as many tenants — especially those without legal status — don't know their rights or how to navigate the eviction process and will often self-evict and not respond to the summons. Some refuse to appear in court, out of fear it could lead to deportation.

Meanwhile, an estimated 3.2 million Californians are cost-burdened — meaning more than a third of their paycheck goes to rent — and 99% of renters cannot afford legal counsel in the event their landlord refuses to make repairs, stalls code compliance or wants to evict them, legally or not.

"If you steal a watermelon or a steak from a store and get arrested, you get a public defender to walk you through the whole entire process," said Shara Thompson, the Central Valley regional coordinator with Tenants Together, a local advocacy group. "But when you're being evicted for subletting — which is very minuscule — you don't get any assistance."

It's unknown the exact scale of tenants who vacate their home before a proceeding, as even a verbal threat or lockout from a landlord can drive someone to leave. If locals want help from the few available resources, like rental assistance and free counsel, they have to join a growing waitlist with Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance, a nonprofit contracted by the city to provide legal aid.

Advocates warned city officials at last week's Bakersfield City Council meeting that landlords are constantly violating the California Tenants Protections Act, which caps annual rent increases at 10% per year on buildings built after 2008 and prohibits malfeasance, like improper eviction and general harassment.

According to the California Apartment Association, rent increases above 10% annually are allowed on older buildings if landlords provide proper notice. Landlords can also evict people on the claim of major renovations to the home, which advocates say is another common tactic they believe is used to evict tenants.

"I am constantly being harassed and threatened with evictions from my landlord and I am exhausted," said Bakersfield resident Amanda Johnson, who accused her landlord of falsifying inspections, barring code enforcement from inspecting the property and providing her an illegal three-day notice to vacate.

How will Bakersfield will pay for a housing campaign?

The proposed program would cost $1 million, pulled from the Measure N tax. In the upcoming 2023-24 budget, city officials countered with a $350,000 expansion of legal services, though it is unclear whether the proposed money will go to GBLA or a separate program through a private firm.

"It is perhaps less than what is being asked or what could potentially serve everyone in need, but it is in balance with other competing interests in the budget, but we have recommended an increase in our proposal to do more," said Bakersfield City Manager Christian Clegg.

Ward 2 Councilman and Vice Mayor Andrae Gonzales and other council members agreed this was a real issue. Gonzales mentioned the city could tap $500,000 in federal funding and $700,000 in unspent state funding for further rental assistance.

"It is concerning that there are so few resources for folks to turn to," Gonzales said.

GBLA is currently funded through a $400,000 federal grant, but it has a long waitlist and "cannot serve all the individuals who are requesting their service," Clegg said.

GBLA did not respond to requests for comment.

It is also unclear whether any added funding by the city would allow the nonprofit to offer services to undocumented immigrants, as their funding guidelines restrict such service.

"We want more clarity on what was recommended," Plascencia said. "Because currently we don't know."

Typically, when a tenant reports a problem — mold, broken appliances, leaky pipes — the city will send a code enforcement officer to inspect and request landlords provide temporary accommodations to residents. But this process can be stalled by the landlords, officials said.

"If code (enforcement) does an inspection on the site and does find repairs are necessary and goes through the process, historically the city isn't going to make those repairs or lien those property owners for those repairs," said Christopher Boyle, the city of Bakersfield's director of development services. "Historically, it can be a long and arduous process in bringing about compliance by a bad landlord."

Vega attended the City Council meeting, but acknowledged she was too scared when she stood before the council to speak. "I just remember saying my name twice," Vega said, chuckling.

'Life goes on'

Telling her story, Vega sits in a single wing chair opposite the couch where she's slept for the past year.

The light shone from the window outlines the small, cramped quarters that constitute her living room, dining area and kitchen. Boxes scrawled with her name, sparse furniture with rotted legs and a lunch pail overflowing with fresh cilantro all stand atop spongy, water-stained carpet that gives when you walk over it.

At the mention of eviction, she shakes her head and shrugs back her shoulders, cracking a tired smile. To this day, the front two burners still don't work and the cabinets are still hanging from their hinges. Vega said she still hasn't been told why her apartment kept flooding.

"But the (repairman) would randomly come in and fix things after I began going to court," Vega said.

In the background, Vega's grandson plays with a toy car, its speaker blaring "the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round." Once evicted, Vega plans to live with a friend until she can afford her own place. Her son, meanwhile, will take her grandson and move in with his girlfriend. In her mid-60s, Vega will soon begin a new chapter: living alone.

"Life goes on," Vega said.

John Donegan can be reached at 661-395-7415.