Moms 4 Housing victory: Property owner gives squatters chance to reclaim house

OAKLAND — Marking a major victory for a controversial group of housing activists, Moms 4 Housing will get a chance to move back into the West Oakland home its members were squatting in for two months before they were evicted last week.

The owner of the empty house on Magnolia Street, real estate investment group Wedgewood, has agreed to negotiate the sale of the property to the Oakland Community Land Trust — a nonprofit that works with community members to buy properties to convert to affordable housing.

The land trust intends to fix up the house and allow the Moms 4 Housing members to move back in, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who brokered the deal, said during a media conference Monday at City Hall.

In what Schaaf called a “historic agreement to change the way they do business in Oakland,” Wedgewood also agreed to allow the city, the land trust, or other affordable housing organizations the right of first refusal on  all of the dozens of properties it owns and had planned to sell in the city.

That means going forward, the city or a nonprofit would have the option to buy those properties at fair market value and convert them into affordable housing. The city still is working out the details with Wedgewood, but Schaaf’s ultimate goal is to require all real estate investors to first offer their properties up as affordable housing.

“These three parties have come together to really send a message that everyone cares about this crisis of homelessness,” Schaaf said, “and that when we come together, we can make progress in solving this humanitarian crisis.”

Schaaf’s office also plans to work on a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, which would allow tenants the first right to buy property they’ve been living in before it’s offered for sale on the competitive market. She plans to maintain a registry of foreclosed properties and vacant properties in the city, and create an advisory board to oversee the city’s partnership with local community land trusts.

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Members of activist group Moms 4 Housing and their children had been squatting in an empty house owned by Wedgewood for two months, in protest of real estate speculators they say drive up housing prices, leave homes vacant and exacerbate the city’s homelessness crisis. Alameda County deputies arrived at the house before dawn last Tuesday, broke down the door and evicted the squatters, arresting two Moms 4 Housing members and two supporters in the process.

The Moms 4 Housing movement struck a chord with many in the Bay Area who are fed up with the region’s shortage of affordable housing, as well as city leaders’ inability to shelter the thousands of people sleeping in tents, cars and RVs around the region. Other community members were appalled by the activists and their brazen taking of property that didn’t belong to them.

But last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the group.

Wedgewood initially had refused to negotiate with Moms 4 Housing members, who it called criminals, or with the land trust. But after the squatters were evicted, Wedgewood talked with Newsom, Schaaf and Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid, and ultimately changed its tune.

“This is a very good conclusion to what’s been a difficult situation in Oakland, not just at Magnolia Street,” Wedgewood spokesman Sam Singer said. “The housing crunch and the homelessness issue now isn’t going to be solved by this, but it’s a positive step in the right direction. That’s a good thing for everybody.”

The parties haven’t yet negotiated a price, but Wedgewood agreed not to ask for more than the property’s assessed value. The company bought the house in a July foreclosure sale for $501,000.

Singer estimated Wedgewood owns about 50 properties in Oakland that the city or local nonprofits now will have the option to buy.

The Oakland Community Land Trust has not yet determined what the Moms 4 Housing members will pay in rent when they move back in, or whether they will be able to buy the house from the land trust, said Executive Director Steve King. The land trust plans on using some city funds to buy the house, as well as financing from a partner lender and possible funds raised from the community. Oakland approved $12 million for community land trusts in the city’s most recent budget.

The deal with Wedgewood represents a major win for Moms 4 Housing, which from the beginning had been pressuring Wedgewood to sell the house to the land trust.

“This movement does not end today with us, with that house on Magnolia Street,” Moms 4 Housing founder Dominique Walker, who works for Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, told a crowd of media and supporters gathered in front of Oakland City Hall. “We will not stop organizing and fighting until all unhoused folks that want shelter have shelter.”

Walker was there with her two children, 1-year-old Amir and 5-year-old Aja as well as Moms 4 Housing members Misty Cross and Tolani King, both of whom were arrested last week when the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office enforced the eviction.

After the members were evicted, Schaaf reached out to Wedgewood CEO Greg Geiser, and learned he was trying to contact her at the same time. Their first conversation lasted an hour, Schaaf said. What followed was a meeting between Schaaf, Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda), Newsom’s staff and Carroll Fife, regional director of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, which has been working closely with Moms 4 Housing.

Despite the efforts she made to secure the house for Moms 4 Housing, Schaaf said she cannot condone squatters illegally occupying property.

“I cannot condone unlawful acts,” she said, “but I can respect them, and I can passionately advance the cause that inspired them. That is what we are doing here today.”

Even so, the Moms 4 Housing movement sparked pushback from some in the community. Some worried the activists would embolden other groups of squatters.

“While the property owner and residents may have reached a resolution, acts of civil disobedience like squatting do not solve our housing crisis,” Joshua Howard, executive vice president of the California Apartment Association, wrote in an emailed statement. “The best way to address this issue is to focus public policy and advocacy efforts on permitting and building more homes that are affordable to residents of all income levels.”