The corporate world, they tell us, is our world!

No alternatives!

The future!

The corporate world improves lives and is good for Mother Earth!

But at what cost to our lives and the planet? What cost to human, life rights?

We are at war with an entity - not a person! We are at war with a consciousness that is inhuman and that is all about the extraction of capital at the expense of life - and in the case of Post Brothers Apartment Rentals, not exceptional living for those living without capital.

First - a salute to Occupy Wall Street Philadelphia Movement! The people are awake to the shenanigans of the 1%!

In Germantown, Post Brothers Rentals is marching on!

Let us begin when the Corporation held the only meeting with tenants at 633 West Rittenhouse on April 1, 2011. Tenants listened as Post Brothers VP, Yvette Stewart, spoke about rectifying issues that had long plagued the two tower complex: exit doors propped open, unreliable security personal, squatters, drug activity. Don’t worry, Post Brothers is here! Renovations will begin.

At this meeting, Post Brothers’ representatives did not discuss the cost to mostly elderly fixed-income residents for newly renovated apartments…but leases will be honored!

On July 19, 2011, in the late afternoon, some residents in A building discovered an envelope on their door. I say some, because others found the envelope the next morning as they left their apartments for work or school. Others, still, away from home, returned days later to find their lives were about to change.

And change it did!

Move to B building by August 15, 2011: “This lease is hereby renewed for a month-to-month period beginning August 15, 2011 and ending October 31, 2011” - OR - move OUT by September 15, 2011. “Failure to return the lease renewal by this date [July 31, 2011] will be taken to mean you intend to vacate your apartment by September 15, 2011.”

Many residents of A located housing elsewhere by early August. Most moved out of Rittenhouse Hill Apartments. Some moved to B.

A few have remained in their apartments.

“We appreciate your cooperation and we want you to be a part of the Exceptional Value and Exceptional Living Post Brothers Apartments offers to our residents.”

I left my apartment on September 15, 2011. I returned keys and the key card, along with a note instructing Post Brothers to subtract the amount I owed for light and gas from the deposit.

On October 13, 2011, I called Bilal Hakim, Human Relations, to ask about my deposit.

No deposit.

Why?

You owed rent for August and the 15 days in September.

Well - here we go! People on fixed incomes or with low incomes were to pay rent to Post Brothers AND locate other housing and pay rent, security, and moving expenses!

It is all in THE lease!

You had to pay your rent!

I also had to leave - not of my own decision! I was told by the city that Post Brothers was violating our leases.

You had a third option.

A third option?

Yes.

What was the third option?

You could have stayed in your apartment.

I could have stayed in an apartment where Post Brothers already began gutting the vacant apartments of air conditioning units, sinks, bathtubs, electrical wiring etc. Where the contractors were tearing down the walls and white dust ended up on the carpets and in the air. “As part of the renovation process, construction will begin in your section of the building,” so states the July 19th letter.

I could have stayed?

Yes. There are some residents in A building.

Some residents in A? A week before I left, I met an older woman who was moving out of her apartment. Her apartment was in the long hallway where renovations had been underway. Several days before, I had heard the boom, boom sound of walls coming down at the end of her hallway. The woman said she was scared. Frightened! She had heard the boom, boom, too. Then, one day, there was a knock at her door. It was a Post Brothers’ representative come to ask when she planned to move!

Where is the document that states residents had this third option to stay in their apartments?

Silence! No answer!

Can I put you on hold?

He returns.

If you can get a letter from the city, we can wavier this charge of rent.

Most residents cannot afford lawyers. These corporations know too that residents are not familiar with legalese, carefully worded documents - not to mention missing documents.

Omissions are as dangerous as open lies!

Those few residents who have remained in A?

According to a former resident, they are resisting! These residents refuse to leave the apartments until their leases expire!

These few residents are resisting Post Brothers! They are resisting Corporate infringement on their right to a home, to affordable housing, to not becoming a non-person while the Corporations declare themselves PERSONS!

There is an occupation of the people at 633 West Rittenhouse, Germantown, PA!

BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Lenore Jean Daniels, PhD, has a Doctorate in Modern American Literature/Cultural Theory. Click here to contact Dr. Daniels.