In Spring of this year, Payless Realty (owned by Daiuy Nguyen) began harassing tenants at Winona Avenue by demanding illegal charges and trying to evict them. By forming a tenant council and reaching out to community organizations like Tenant Councils of San Diego (TCSD) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the tenants were able to fight back. Through Winona Tenant Council, they stopped Payless Realty from forcing them out. Now Winona Tenant Council is reaching out to other Payless Realty properties to empower their fellow tenants and make sure that Payless Realty ceases its illegal practices at every complex it owns.
Payless Realty and S&S Towing Harassed Tenants at Winona Avenue
The tenants at Winona Avenue are predominately from immigrant and low-income communities. For years, Payless Realty has ignored their maintenance requests or charged them extra for repairs that Payless Realty had a duty to make. These requests included fixes to plumbing issues that made tenants’ showers and sinks unusable. Tenants also reported that the property manager illegally charged them a different, arbitrary amount for water each month.
Around April of 2024, Payless Realty escalated the situation by demanding illegal rent increases from the Winona Avenue tenants. Muridi Omar reports that his original rent was $2,000.00 a month, but the property manager told him that he would now have to pay $2,800.00 a month. When Mr. Omar objected, the owner told him he could move out. Payless Realty served at least two low-income tenants with eviction notices at around the same time because Payless Realty did not want anyone who could not pay inflated rents to stay at the complex.
As the tenants began to object to the illegal rent increases and other fees, Payless Realty used S&S Towing to illegally tow their vehicles. Mr. Omar had never been towed before in the two years that he lived at the complex. Then he was suddenly towed in April of 2024. At first, Mr. Omar tried to resolve the issue with the owner and the property manager. They said that the reason he had been towed was that he did not have a sticker on his vehicle. Mr. Omar says they had never in the two years prior provided him with or told him about a sticker requirement. Payless Realty also told Mr. Omar that he would still have to pay all the towing charges of over $800.00.
However, even after Mr. Omar obtained the sticker the towing company, S&S Towing, continued to tow his vehicle. City authorities initially told Mr. Omar he’d have to go to small claims court to get damages for the illegal towing. When Omar confronted the towing company, an armed tow-truck driver met him with death threats. At that point, he insistently persuaded the San Diego City Attorney’s office to investigate S&S Towing in mid-May of 2024.
The Winona Tenant Council Organizes
By the end of May, the city was not doing anything about Payless Realty itself. But Payless Realty was the source of the Winona Avenue tenants’ problems. Mr. Omar reflected that the landlord was treating them like they were “not even human beings.” By enabling S&S Towing and allowing its employees to threaten tenants, he remarked, Payless Realty “almost took our lives.”
In mid-June, Mr. Omar and other tenants connected with CAIR’s San Diego chapter. CAIR acted as an intermediary between the tenants and city authorities so that the city would take the tenants seriously. In addition, CAIR connected the tenants with TCSD so that they could begin collectively organizing.
Five tenants at Winona Avenue, including Mr. Omar, formed the Winona Tenant Council. According to Mr. Omar, forming the Winona Tenant Council with TCSD’s help is what “made all the difference.” Once he and the other tenants were in contact, they compared stories and saw that they weren’t alone in their struggles with their landlord, and that the landlord’s illegal practices were a widespread issue.
Winona Tenant Council’s numbers and information gave tenants the power to hold a press conference on July 31, 2024. The press conference resulted in news coverage highlighting Payless Realty’s illegal practices and forced the city to take action. On August 5, 2024, the police finally executed a search warrant at S&S Towing and the news began to cover how S&S Towing targeted immigrant communities for exploitation. The property manager who had been trying to collect illegal fees and rent increases from tenants disappeared.
More importantly, Mr. Omar says that once he and the other tenants were organized as a collective, their landlord was scared. The tenants have not been harassed since the press conference. When they asked for repairs, the repairs were done immediately starting in early August. Mr. Omar reported that each member of Winona Tenant Council can finally “feel safe in our own home.”
Winona Tenant Council is Reaching Out to Others that Payless Realty Harmed
Throughout August, TCSD and Winona Tenant Council assembled a list of other Payless Realty Properties owned by Daiuy Nguyen. TCSD canvassed these properties, leaving information encouraging tenants to organize against Payless Realty’s illegal practices wherever they take place. TCSD and Winona Tenant Council also invited other Payless Realty tenants to come to a potluck on September 8, 2024.
Through this organizing effort, Winona Tenant Council learned that Payless Realty had been using the same illegal tactics against tenants at other complexes. Mr. Omar shared the Winona Tenant Council’s victories against Payless Realty with tenants from the other complexes. Sadly, TCSD also learned that many tenants at other complexes had already self-evicted. The tenants reported that they had left in response to wildly fluctuating “water bills” and constant towing. Payless Realty did not return any of the tenants’ security deposits. If not for forming the Winona Tenant Council, the same could have happened to the tenants at Winona Avenue.
Take Action
Thousands of families across San Diego face harassment and exploitation like Winona Tenant Council did, but Winona Tenant Council’s story shows the power of organizing to enforce tenants’ rights to stay in their homes with safety and dignity.
If you live at an apartment managed by Daiuy Nguyen’s Payless Realty or you have information about Payless Realty’s illegal practices, please contact us.
If your landlord is refusing to repair your unit, overcharging you, or trying to evict you and you want to fight back, please sign up to join Tenant Councils of San Diego and organize your neighbors!
