Here’s how Modesto may step forward to provide money for evicted downtown tenants

Modesto might provide financial help for the tenants being evicted from a downtown apartment building the city has declared unsafe and unfit to live in and whose residents have complained of mold, rotting bathroom floors, rat and cockroach infestations, and other problems.

The City Council on Wednesday will consider spending as much as $60,000 to help tenants move into new housing. (The council meeting was moved because of Tuesday’s annual National Night Out event.) The money would come from what the city calls its abatement fund, and the amount being asked for is significantly more than what the city could end up spending.

Modesto requires relocation assistance in these circumstances. The relocation benefit is equal to twice the current monthly rent or rent for the new residence, whichever is less, according to a city report.

The report estimates Modesto could pay about $1,200 in relocation benefits per apartment. The two-story building at 624 Ninth St. has 27 studio apartments that rent for $575 or $585 a month, according to owner Steve Arakelian. The building is home to about 80 poor people, including about a dozen children.

The owner is responsible for the relocation benefit, and if he doesn’t pay it, the city can provide it and seek reimbursement from him, according to the city report. Community and Economic Development Director Cindy Birdsill said Modesto notified Arakelian on Tuesday that he has 10 days to provide the benefit.

Arakelian has said he does not have the money for that or to make repairs and has put the building up for sale. He had tenants notified in mid-July that he was evicting them, giving them 30 or 60 days to leave depending on how long they had lived there. Birdsill said some tenants are challenging the evictions.

If the city pays the relocation benefit it would reimburse tenants who have moved into new housing. But Birdsill said that may not be practical for tenants who cannot come up with the first month’s rent and a security deposit. She said the city is looking into paying the landlord rather than reimbursing the tenants in those cases.

Modesto is working with Stanislaus County and social service agencies to help tenants find housing. Birdsill said a county official told her three or four families have found housing. She said while agencies have funding to help tenants move into housing not all tenants may qualify for those programs. She said Modesto could provide financial help in those cases.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

This story was originally published August 1, 2017 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Here’s how Modesto may step forward to provide money for evicted downtown tenants."