Officials warned the hotel not to evict residents, but people are still being forced out
Last month, the owners of the Olympia Inn Hotel began threatening to evict tenants who had not been paying their rent.
After being contacted by city of Olympia officials and The Olympian, it appeared they were backing off those threats, which were in violation of the governor’s eviction moratorium. But now a resident says she was tricked into leaving her room and is stuck living in a tent.
Gov. Jay Inslee first proclaimed a moratorium on evictions in mid-March because the coronavirus pandemic had left so many people out of work and unable to pay for housing. He has extended the moratorium multiple times. The most recent extension keeps it in place until October.
One of the tenants The Olympian spoke to in July, a 58-year old woman named Brenda Cisneros, had been living at the Olympia Inn Hotel with her 37-year old son for about eight months.
But on Friday, The Olympian talked with Cisneros again, at her tent camp in Tumwater.
What happened?
Cisneros said the hotel’s owner tricked her into switching rooms – and then locked the door behind her.
“As soon as I got done moving out of my room, the managers were right on my butt going, ‘I’ve got to lock the room, I’ve got to lock the room, Mike said to lock the room.’ And I thought, ‘Wait a minute, something’s suspicious here.’”
The owner, who she knows only as “Mike,” told Cisneros she could move to another hotel he owns in Tumwater, the Tumwater Inn & Suites, and work as a housekeeper two days a week to start paying off her unpaid rent. She had been at the hotel for about eight months, and hadn’t paid any rent since March.
But when Cisneros and her son got to the Tumwater Inn & Suites, the manager refused to let them in, and called the police instead.
“He fooled me,” Cisneros said.
That’s how she ended up sleeping in a tent in a forested area just off of Tumwater Boulevard. The spot was suggested by a friend and homeless advocate, who set her up with a tent and other supplies.
The Olympian contacted the hotel and left a message for the owner, but did not receive a call back.
According to Thurston County land records, the hotel is registered to Mahesh Mungra and Nirmala M.
In July, The Olympian spoke with Lisa Arnold, who works for DVR Investments, an LLC registered to Rabesh Rabadia and Valabh Mungra. According to Washington state business records, there are 14 LLCs connected to Rabadia, including multiple hotels and motels, mostly in King County.
Cisneros said that the hotel’s owners have forced out other residents in the past few weeks too.
“I’m just done with people taking advantage of me,” Cisneros said. “I truly think the Olympia Inn should be shut down.”
From a hotel to a tent
Before living at the Olympia Inn, Cisneros and her son James had been homeless for about four years.
She paid the first month’s rent — $1,250 — and then agreed to work for the hotel as a housekeeper in exchange for board. Then, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, she stopped paying entirely.
“I started using my money for survival,” Cisneros said.
Cisneros and her son both make about $783 from Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
She told The Olympian she enjoys nature and can make do with camping, but her son suffers from seizures, making the street life they’d lived before especially tough for him.
But even this patch of greenery may not be Cisneros’ last stop.
The forest land where Cisneros is camping is owned by the Port of Olympia and is part of the New Market Industrial Campus, a 550-acre property that is the centerpiece of the Port’s Real Estate Master Plan. Within that parcel is the 200-acre property that was recently approved for a 10-year a lease option with developer Panattoni.
On Wednesday, a Tumwater Police Officer came by and told Cisneros she had to leave within 24 hours, she said. However, the officer didn’t come back the next day.
Tumwater Police Department spokesperson Jen Kolb confirmed that an officer visited the Port-owned property, but deferred to Tumwater city spokesperson Ann Cook for comment. Cook could not be reached for comment on Friday.
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 10:50 AM.
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