Coronado Tenants File Suit Against Corporate Landlords and City for Violating State Law and Displacing Residents

CORONADO, CA—Current and former tenants of the Del Island apartment complex have recently brought their complex’s corporate owners to court for violating California’s Affordable Housing Preservation Laws (AHPL), threatening to take away affordable housing, and displacing most of the residents. In the same lawsuit, the tenants also sued the City of Coronado for failing to monitor and enforce the recorded agreement between the City and former property owner to provide affordable housing to very-low and low income residents.  Affordable Housing Advocates Tenants’ Rights Project (AHA), the National Housing Law Project (NHLP), and the Public Interest Law Project (PILP) represent the tenant plaintiff association in Del Island Tenants v. 308 Orange, LLC, et al. 

“My family has been living in Del Island since 1990, so I was concerned when the affordable housing complex was sold to new owners, who then started renovating vacant units. Then, last August, my neighbors and I received a notice offering us cash to move out of our home, all to enable the new owners to renovate and flip the affordable housing complex. I hope that Scott Darnell, also a long-time Coronado resident, and a principal in the five corporations that bought Del Island, will now work to ensure that the complex remains affordable for the long term,” said Kimberly Graham, President of Del Island Tenants. 

For nearly three decades, the 29-unit Del Island apartment complex provided some of Coronado’s only deeply affordable housing for poor and working people. In May 2025, new owners – a group of five corporate landlords – bought the property and threatened to illegally convert affordable units into market-rate apartments, in violation of the deed restrictions and the AHPL. 

Del Island Tenants allege the new landlords neglected necessary repairs to occupied units and began renovating vacant units instead of making them available to eligible families. They also allege that the landlords threatened existing tenants with rent increases and pressured them to move out with cash offers to vacate quickly, in order to renovate the entire complex and hike rents. Since the cash-for-keys letters were posted, vacant units have quadrupled. Only nine units remain occupied.

“The City of Coronado failed in its duty to the tenants and the community. The City identified Del Island as a property at risk of conversion from affordable to market-rate, and was contacted by affordable housing developers interested in working with the City to keep Del Island affordable. Despite this, residents were displaced, and the community is at risk of losing much-needed affordable housing,” said Catherine A. Rodman, Director and Supervising Attorney for Affordable Housing Advocates.

The tenant plaintiff association asked the Superior Court of the State of California, San Diego to:

• Require Del Island’s owners to maintain the property as affordable housing, pursuant to recorded covenants, and comply with state Affordable Housing Preservation Laws;
• Compel the City of Coronado to enforce the recorded covenants for affordable housing until the owners comply with state Affordable Housing Preservation Laws and the time periods for the three-year, 12-month, and six-month notices have elapsed;
• Restitution for the displaced tenants, including return to Del Island;
• Cease unpermitted and unprofessional construction at the property; and
• Ensure that Del Island apartments remain affordable.

“As alleged in the lawsuit, Del Island’s new owners are violating tenants’ rights and depriving Coronado families of affordable homes during a rampant housing crisis. Corporate landlords can’t short change their legal obligations to their tenants just to line their own pockets. We’re working with the tenants to ensure people are put over profits,” said Lila Gitesatani, Staff Attorney for the National Housing Law Project. 

“When the building owners accepted public funding to rehabilitate their private property, they entered into a contract with the City to keep the housing affordable and follow the laws of the state. Both the City and the owners have fallen short in their duties here,” said Melody Osuna, Staff Attorney for the Public Interest Law Project. 

Cities that are responsible for preserving affordable housing stock should ensure that all affordable units are listed with the State Department of Housing and Community Development, and that landlords have provided the required three-year, 12-month, and six-month notices to all affected tenants, public and qualified entities, before affordable housing provisions expire.

Read the full text of the complaint here. 

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The National Housing Law Project’s mission is to advance housing justice for poor people and communities. We achieve this by strengthening and enforcing the rights of tenants and low-income homeowners, increasing housing opportunities for underserved communities, and preserving and expanding the nation’s supply of safe and affordable homes. 

Affordable Housing Advocates is a nonprofit representing tenants and organizations, in individual and impact cases, to expand and enforce tenant rights and affordable housing requirements, in the San Diego Region.

Public Interest Law Project fights for affordable and fair housing, access to public benefits, homelessness prevention and civil rights for and in partnership with low income communities, communities of color, and legal services organizations throughout California.