I'm a veteran and am being evicted for 'no reason' - we discovered our landlord found a loophole for the property

TWO tenants at an apartment complex have sued their landlord after they were evicted, while a strange loophole might affect the living spaces of several others.

In the neighborhood of Ocean Beach, at the westernmost point of San Diego, California, residents at apartments on West Point Loma Boulevard are nervous about their future housing.

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The complex's landlord, Michael Mills, has come under fire from some residents, including US military veteran Damin Dixon.

He has claimed Mills unlawfully evicted him from his ocean-front unit, per local NBC News outlet, KNSD.

Dixon hired an attorney to assist in a suit against Mills, who allegedly gave him a notice to vacate the premises in July.

"There’s no reason to boot me out. I’ve been here for over two years," he stressed to the outlet.

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"I’ve always paid on time — 100 percent disabled veteran.”

The veteran claimed in the suit, which KNSD obtained, that Mills did not give him a reason as to why he was being evicted from the property.

Mills argued that the absent reason was a mistake by the property manager.

Even so, Dixon listed the failure to specify reasoning in the suit and an increase in rent as unlawful.

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He told the outlet that he requested reasoning for the rent increase as well but claimed he didn't hear a response for at least six months.

“I asked like, 'Hey, isn’t this a little too much?' but never heard back," Dixon said.

"For like six months … never got a response to that message.”

Although Dixon's situation became more worrisome for other residents after signs were posted around the complex detailing short-term lease rentals for several units on West Point Loma Boulevard.

The landlord reported having 114 units applicable for being licensed as a short-term rental through a supposed San Diego city loophole that requires each rental unit to have a different tenant, according to KNSD.

Mills admitted to the outlet that he had family and friends sign on to the rental units as new hosts under the loophole law.

“We have a lot of turnover on the beach, probably average tenancies between nine months and one year," the landlord explained.

"So as they become naturally open, what we've been doing is switching to short-term rentals, or what I call vacation rentals."

He added: "That began in November 2018."

Mills continued to stand by claims that he did not break any law, and the application for the short-term lease licensing only required certain information and did not require the host to be a homeowner.

“I think it was ethical. I didn’t write the law,” he said.

In the case of Dixon's claims, Mills argued that it was never his intention to evict the veteran from his unit on West Point Loma Boulevard and that the rent increase was an error.

“I have never evicted a disabled veteran and I certainly don’t plan to start,” Mills noted.

Even so, some feel that Mills' short-term lease rental process is a manipulation of what the San Diego law intended to do in the first place — offer affordable housing to residents.

"On their own, they said they’re gonna try this. We are gonna game the system," the law's author, councilmember Jen Campbell, said to KNSD.

"Well, guess what? No, you’re not gonna game the system because the whole idea is one to make more housing available to San Diegans who live and work here full time."

Venus Molina, chief of staff for Councilmember Campbell, also noted Mills' decisions with the law reveal a "glitch" in what was originally intended, per SD News.

“There are certain things you can anticipate and certain things you cannot,” she told the publication concerning its creation.

“And there will always be people who try to skirt the system, really try to find a way around the system.

She added: "We did know this was possible. We just didn’t know to what extent – or how much.”

Even so, in Dixon's case, Mills argued to KNSD that he never served an eviction notice for the purposes of using their unit as a short-term rental space.

He also noted his fondness for the community.

“The people that live here are very welcoming and like it’s like all the outcasts who’ve created their own family here. And that’s what I love about it," Mills said.

The landlord also noted hopes of settling the dispute with Dixon outside of court, but Dixon said he planned on letting his attorneys handle it moving forward.

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