Chair Marte questions panel on temporary relocation plan for tenants
Marte asks about the temporary relocation plan during rehabilitation. Daniel Tompkins is sworn in and explains that Novus Living will relocate tenants, who continue paying current rent, with the project budget covering rent differences. He notes efforts to keep tenants in the same neighborhood.
Yeah, impressive.
I have one question.
What is the temporary relocation plan for current tenants during the rehabilitation process?
Do you want to take that?
The way HPD operates, I actually haven't done one of those before.
Daniel, can you answer that?
If you come up to the panel and then I'll just swear you in.
And I click a button.
Would you raise your right hand and state your name for the record?
Daniel Tompkins.
And do you affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in your testimony before this subcommittee and in answer to all council member questions?
Yes.
Thank you.
So all the tenants that live there now will be relocated by Novus Living, the sponsor.
Maybe you work with brokers or maybe you have an in-house team that works on this, but the sponsor will work with tenants to find units that fit their needs, their household sizes.
And tenants will continue to pay their current rent payments throughout the relocation period.
And the project budget will carry the difference between the rents of what units they're living in during the project.
Yeah, that's what I was going to follow up with.
Two questions.
Would they be in the same area?
And also, has the landlord done it?
location like this previously?
Often it'll be many different landlords that will take on these tenants.
Some of them will be familiar with the program, some of them might not be.
And your first question was about in the neighborhood.
If necessary,
It's, you know, many tenants prefer to stay in their neighborhood during relocation, and the sponsor usually does their best to find units within the same neighborhood.
Some tenants will choose to maybe stay with a family member somewhere else.
That's also allowed.
Some might be more flexible to go to other neighborhoods, but the sponsor typically does their best to find units within the neighborhood for tenants to stay in.