MATTHEW MILLER
Matthew Miller garnered international attention for his eviction of the Lee family in 2012.
Evictions
450-454 Waller St, 3 Buy Out and Breach evictions through 450 Waller LLC in 2017
1504-1510 Jackson Street, 8 units Ellis Act evicted through 1506 Jackson LLC in 2012
32-40 Varennes Street, 6 units Ellis Act evicted through 32 Varennes LLC in 2008
Miller bought 1506 to 1510 Jackson Street for $1.2 million in January 2012. Within four months, he offered buyouts to the longtime residents there. 1508-A Jackson Street was the home for Chinese immigrants Gum Gee Lee and her husband, Poon Heung Lee, since 1979. They had raised seven children there. They were Ellis Act evicted, along with their 48-year-old disabled daughter, from the eight-unit complex in fall of 2013. As Gum Gee Lee, 73, explained, "We raised our family here and we paid rent for more than 30 years. This new landlord knew we lived here when he bought the building. But he did not plan to keep us. He started to evict all of the tenants right away."
The Lee’s lawyer, Omar Calimbas of the Asian Law Caucus, who represented most of the tenants in the complex, believed that Miller, utilized the Ellis Act to flip the units and sell them: "It's the same business model — he bought the property with the purpose to flip it from rent control to luxury TICs, sell it and move on." Miller used his 1506 Jackson LLC to do this, along with CA1REAL Estate. The Ellis Act petition L120766 had been filed on April 16, 2012.
Miller did the same in North Beach at 32-40 Varennes St., which, following eviction, was renovated into luxury TIC units listed starting at $439,000 each. An Ellis Act petition L080806 had been filed there on April 28, 2008 through his 32 Varennes LLC.
Miller has also been managing member of 943 Stanyan LLC and a member of 1030 Treat Avenue, LLC, based in Florida.
The Lees remained strong throughout their move. Nevertheless, it was difficult, especially for their daughter. The family lives on Social Security checks and explained that it would be nearly impossible to find anything for a comparable rent. They wanted to stay near Chinatown, where they didn’t have to speak English and where there is community and social support services for their daughter. Before being forced bout, Gum Gee Lee explained, "We thought we'd live here until we passed away, And now this. It is all so sad."
Info
LLCs that Matthew Miller is a member of or affiliated wtih:
MATTHEW MILLER
2 SOUTHERN HEIGHTS AVE
SAN FRANCISCO CA 94107
1030 Treat Ave LLC
PO Box 1271
Winter Park, FL 32790
Designer Dwellings: August 2005 – Present (8 years 9 months)
Founder and owner of San Francisco-based property development company that focuses on renovating and converting multi-unit residential apartment buildings into housing for first-time buyers.
Past employment: PayPal, eBay Payments (Billpoint), Mondex USA