Lack of ‘Just Cause Eviction Protection’ Forces City Worker to Leave Pasadena

Grandfather, whose family has been in Pasadena for four generations, forced to leave.

Nathaniel Cooke, who has been a Pasadena city worker for the last 35 years, and whose family has been in Pasadena for four generations, recently received a 60-day eviction notice.

By Garrett Rowlan

Nate’s case is one of many indicating the complicated relationship between owners and tenants, reflecting the upward rent trend of Pasadena’s housing and, sadly, the upward trend in homlelessness. Nate recently appeared before the Pasadena City Council to plead his case.  He stated that he has been a model tenant and has even gone above and beyond by providing outdoor maintenance for free and enduring interior conditions that border of the horrific, including hot wiring the heating system to get it to work.

[Should] not be
happening to my
grandsons and me

Ironically, the apartment next to Nate’s is being remodeled, and Nate and his grandsons were hoping to move into the new place. Instead, he received his eviction notice.

“Landlords should not be allowed to evict tenants without just cause,” Nate told the Council. Regardless, Nate now needs to find some other community he can afford, and he will need to commute to his work in Pasadena.

“If we had real protections for tenants in Pasadena, this would not be happening to my grandsons and me,” Nate concluded.

Nathaniel Cooke at Pasadena City Council on Monday, May 20th, 2019