Nearly 30 Bridgeport families are facing eviction after their buildings were sold to a
Residents were blindsided when some of them were given just seven days notice to move out after a strip of multi-family buildings along East Main Street were sold. Bridgeport residents, housing advocates and elected officials gathered outside one of the sold properties Monday to protest the mass evictions.
The building was sold in late February. Eviction notices were sent to residents in early March and continued into April, residents said. The new landlord, , is owned by Benjamin Yakubov, according to state business records.
Leslie Caraballo, who has lived in her duplex with her 5-year-old daughter for five years, organized the protest.
鈥淚t shouldn't have gotten to this point,鈥� Caraballo said. 鈥淭hey should have just talked to us the way we were trying to talk to them. Now that we reached out, now they want to do relocation fees. How was that fair?鈥�
All of the evictions were for lapse of time or 鈥渘o-fault鈥� evictions, meaning the landlord opted not to renew the lease, through no fault of the tenant, Caraballo said.
Additionally, the ground-floor commercial spaces in some of the buildings saw rent increases of more than $1,000, according to Caraballo.
The landlord is working with some tenants to reach a compromise, according to State Sen. Herron Gaston, a Democrat, who represents the neighborhood impacted by the evictions.
鈥淚t does seem like there is some level of negotiations that's happening on a case by case basis, it might be different for someone else that might have a different set of arrangements,鈥� Gaston said.
The increase in rent for some tenants reflects the state鈥檚 housing crisis and needs, Gaston said.
鈥淲e cannot put enough housing in the ground fast enough. We need affordable housing. We need mixed-use housing. We need low-income housing,鈥� Gaston said. 鈥淭his is a clarion call for the state of 黑料吃瓜网, our legislators, our governor, to invest, especially in our inner cities, to get housing up as soon as we can so that people have a menu of options.鈥�
The landlord did not respond to 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 request for comment.
