SF sues landlord over state of housing for once-homeless vets

A San Francisco landlord illegally crammed dozens of formerly homeless veterans into overcrowded dwellings across the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, while collecting millions of dollars in federal subsidies aimed at helping vets and the poor, a lawsuit filed Wednesday by City Attorney Dennis Herrera claims.

Judy Wu, along with husband Chuan Zhu, allegedly chopped up residences — mostly single-family homes — into multiple-unit buildings and then rented the units to tenants possessing vouchers from Section 8 and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Homes for Heroes program, which is designed to end homelessness among veterans.

The lawsuit identifies 12 buildings with 15 legal units divided up and rented to 49 individual tenants, two-thirds of them veterans.

In a letter sent to the property owners Monday, Herrera said tenants have been “fully informed of their rights and available services.”

Sidewalks filled up with cars and backyards became littered with mattresses, discarded furniture, stray cats and mounds of old clothing.

“It was a situation where overcrowding was making it impossible to provide trash service, which leads to illegal dumping,” Cohen said.

Again and again, according to the city, Wu obtained permits for minor alterations — a new bathroom, bedrooms, storage or laundry room — and then undertook much more extensive renovations than allowed, adding multiple units.

At 1351 Revere Ave., a single-family home purchased for $260,000 in September 2010, the landlords sought a permit to add a laundry room, family room, three bathrooms and three bedrooms, according to documents from the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection.

While she owns the business with her husband, tenants said they deal exclusively with Wu, who uses a real estate office in a Daly City strip mall as a business address.

Visits to Wu’s properties and interviews with her tenants create a picture of a landlord who, while allegedly violating the city’s zoning codes, also cares about housing veterans with few other options.

[...] tenants complained of everything from broken stoves to lack of heat to Wu’s unwillingness to get rid of residents who are disruptive or engaging in illegal activities.

Eric Clark, a Vietnam veteran who lives in one of Wu’s buildings on Fitzgerald Avenue, said he was referred to her through a nonprofit after a stint in a temporary unit on Treasure Island.

San Francisco has been a national leader in housing vets through the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, or VASH, under which veterans receive rent vouchers through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Since October 2013, the program has housed 1,163 formerly homeless vets in San Francisco.

Jason Elliot, deputy chief of staff for Mayor Ed Lee, said the goal is to bring Wu into compliance with the law while protecting her tenants.