Many Mountain View residents are scrambling to find a new place to live after a pair of town home complexes were sold to a San Mateo-based property company.
Residents living in the town homes fear they will be kicked out when their lease is up so the new owners can remodel and more than double the rent.
"We have pretty much been priced out of the area," said Emily Jones, who would like to raise her son in Mountain View.
Jones' husband has a 10-minute commute to Google every morning -- a commute that may double along with the rent price for their three-bedroom town home.
Prometheus Real Estate Group recently purchased the complex Jones' lives in, along with another property a few blocks down. Nearly 40 households have been reportedly told their leases will be terminated and units will be remodeled.
"They sent out a letter saying we could stay if we made $13,000 a month we could apply to stay," resident Emily Miller said.
Miller is currently paying $2,700 a month. After renovations, tenants are expecting prices to soar above $5,000 a month.
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"This is the nicest place I've ever lived," Miller said.
Mountain View City Councilman Lenny Siegel would like to pass an ordinance to protect renters like Miller, but said there is currently not enough support on the council.
"To me it's destroying the fabric of the community," Siegel said. "It's OK to renovate units as they become vacant. It's another thing to actually ask them to leave simply because you want to make more money."
Jones is hoping the new property owners will be willing to negotiate. If not, her husband is prepared to join many of his Google colleagues in the morning commute.
