Grand View tenants could avoid displacement for now 

Tenants of Grand View Apartments in Paso Robles will receive at least some temporary help. The owners of the apartment complex recently proposed extending the eviction deadlines for their tenants, and People's Self-Help Housing raised $30,000 in donations to aid the soon-to-be former residents.

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• EXTENDING TIME The Grand View Apartment owners have proposed extending the deadline for evicting their tenants.

According to court documents filed on Nov. 22, the owners of the 55-unit complex proposed a motion that would delay the enforcement of the notices to vacate to all tenants at Grand View until the end of the year.

The motion would also extend the tenants' ability to receive the previously proposed $1,000 relocation fee, the document states, to align with the new proposed deadline.

With this proposal, the document states, the Grand View owners trust that no further extensions would be granted to the tenants.

The hearing to consider the proposal is slated for Dec. 5 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.

In the interim, just 12 days after appealing to the community to aid the Grand View tenants, Peoples' Self-Help Housing had raised $15,000 in donations.

John Fowler, CEO of the organization, told New Times, he was shocked to see the local and statewide support, as several donors were from different areas in California.

"We had no idea that everybody was reading about Grand View and has such an interest in it," Fowler said.

On Nov. 25, he said the organization received a call from Pacific Premier Bank, which matched the funds—raising the total to a little more than $30,000.

In another effort to aid the tenants, Fowler said Peoples' Self-Help Housing offered to pay the Grand View owners fair market price for the property in an effort to keep the tenants housed.

"I was an expert witness in court for the residents and that didn't resonate well with the property owner. So initially there was some discussion that we could not be a viable buyer because we were actually helping the residents in court," he said.

The owners, Fowler said, seemed to get over that as the broker did entertain the proposal, and there were several discussions about the value of the property. As part of the offer, the Peoples' Self-Help Housing team was also willing to undergo a 10-day escrow with a bank loan.

"But in the end ... we just probably agree to disagree on the value of the property. Unfortunately they've gone silent on us at this point; we haven't heard back," he said.