Get away from abusive landlord
Donation protected
Hi there, over the past year and some change my landlord has been committing domestic violence against me because I got behind on rent. He's been opening (and stealing) my mail, blocking my path when I leave my home, stalking me, verbally harassing my friends & I, harassing my family, changed the lock to my storage space with no notice and help my possessions hostage , starting rumors, and encouraging me to commit suicide. Recently he's begun entering my apartment without permission and I am now urgently looking for help moving. When asked why he's behaving this way he doubles down and berates me about my personal politics, family life, hobbies and activism. Lately he's even installed a security camera outside of my apartment door, which can ONLY see my door. He uses this camera to know when to corner me in the halls to berate me about anything and everything. He's committing domestic violence under WA law and I've had enough.
Over the past year my landlord has refused to engage in a professional way and from the first month I missed rent he never sent any formal late notices... he just started harassing me. During Seattle's eviction moratorium he posted an eviction notice which was invalidated by the city. Since then he's waged an ever-increasing campaign of harassment, with multiple instances caught on camera. My landlord is accustomed to the 1980s style of doing business where he can do this slumlord routine, unfourtunately for him cameras exist now. I've posted one instance of out of dozens I've caught on camera:
In it I questioned why my landlord was opening all of our mailboxes (he had quickly closed it as I approached). In the previous month he'd stolen my mail and taunted me about this fact, so naturally I wanted to know what he was up to. He gave a plausible answer so I didn't push too hard... he then launched into a tirade about me being a bad father and alleging that my interest in cyber security research were for nefarious purposes.
Contrary to his claims, cybersecurity while Black is NOT illegal. Nor is researching technologies that the police abuse. I was invited to speak in 2023 about my research at the world renowned DEFCON hacker convention:
Given the -very- public + informational nature of my talk I find it hard to believe my landlord has any cause to bring up this work in a rental discussion and was instead a show of his personal displeasure with my politics and significant anti-Black bias/racism.
Black Americans are 300% more likely to face economic hardship that leads to eviction. Despite my background as a technology nerd, my life has been full of systemic racism. I am no more able to overcome an entrenched system of racism than any other Black American.
I will use funds donated first and foremost to remove myself from this unsafe housing situation. I expect to need a few months of storage space and to move in either with friends or my partner until my partner and I can find a space suitable for us to live together. Donations will help cover paying rent in a temporary housing situation and to make a deposit (first/last/security) in a home with my partner.
I will be pursuing legal action where appropriate but my first priority is to get somewhere safe. Funds beyond my goal move will be used to engage the legal process. I am NOT the first tenant my landlord has treated this way and several other current tenants have indicated that they have significant fears of economic and physical retaliation if the building organized to have him removed from his job. It's important to ensure that people like this face accountability and with your help I'll be able ensure that happens in this case.
Organizer
Alan Meekins
Organizer
Seattle, WA
