Samantha Johnson sat on a bench in the courtyard of her apartment complex on a crisp October afternoon, and rested her hefty backpack on her knees.
She unzipped the bag and brought out folders of all the documents she’s saved since 2015 when she signed her lease agreement at Merced Gardens Apartments.
“Growing up in the foster system, I learned to save all my papers,” Johnson said. “I’m ready. We can go to court.”
The 35-year-old mother of two referred to the owners of the affordable housing apartment complex in north Merced where she’s lived for the past decade.
Johnson and other Merced Gardens tenants may be forced out of their affordable housing units as they await the owner’s decision to either sell the property or increase rents to market rate.
This comes as a result of the property owners breaking compliance with their Section 8 agreement and choosing not to renew their affordable housing agreement with the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) department.
Meanwhile, underserved, vulnerable tenants endure habitability issues and are banding together to form a tenants association while considering legal action to retain their affordable housing.
Over the course of this year, The Merced FOCUS has interviewed multiple Merced Gardens tenants about their experience at the apartment complex, in addition to housing advocates working with tenants.
The FOCUS reached out multiple times to the owners of Merced Gardens, Southern California-based America Progreso Meadows LLC. The company did not return The FOCUS’s request for comment.
Tenants report poor living conditions, federal inspection identifies deficiencies
For the last two years, tenants have complained about management issues at Merced Gardens. Requests for repairs stall while tenants tolerate clogged pipes, broken fixtures and oftentimes triple-digit temperatures without air conditioning systems.
However, signs the building was deteriorating began manifesting over a decade ago.
In 2014, Blanca Abarca’s kitchen flooded unexpectedly.
“I couldn’t understand why water was coming from the stove (or) from the ceiling,” the 68-year-old Merced Gardens tenant said.
A blocked water pipe connecting her kitchen sink to her upstairs neighbor’s sink had burst, she later learned.
Maintenance requests throughout the years from Abarca and other tenants indicate owners are aware of recurring problems with the property’s plumbing and electrical systems.
In 2024, a federal inspection by HUD recorded 64 deficiencies at the property and identified America Progreso Meadows as being in violation of its Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract.
Potentially life-threatening conditions in a 2024 HUD report included exposed electrical wiring, dysfunctional smoke alarms and a ceiling covered in mold.
The owners are struggling, under the HAP contract, to operate the property, Alex Ramirez, assistant general manager at Merced Gardens, told The Merced FOCUS during an interview in January.
“When (the contract) was established a long time ago, it worked for the property, it gave enough to maintain the property,” Ramirez said, noting the property’s previous ownership dating back 45 years. “The last couple of years, it hasn’t.”
Built in 1979, the nine-building complex is naturally deteriorating, and the owners are pursuing cost-effective solutions, according to Ramirez, such as opting out of their affordable housing contract when it expires at the end of the year.
America Aracely Jaime and Salvador Jaime, owners of America Progreso Meadows, bought the Merced Gardens property in 2018, according to HUD documents obtained by the National Housing Law Project (NHLP).
With the purchase, the Jaimes inherited the property’s HAP contract, which was renewed by its previous owners for 20 years starting in 2006, and expiring this year on Dec. 31.
Expiring HUD contract would end 45-year affordable housing partnership
Under a HAP contract, property owners agree to cap rents in exchange for government subsidies, or payment assistance, offered as an incentive for landlords who lease affordable housing units.
The contract, which guarantees rents are capped at 30% of a tenant’s adjusted household income, has been tied to Merced Gardens since 1980.
As such, the property provides housing for several dozen of Merced’s low, very low and extremely low-income residents.
On Jan. 16, Ramirez, a property owner representative, coordinated an emergency meeting with tenants to inform them of coming changes to Merced Gardens.
Tenants of the 47-unit complex at 3299 Meadows Ave. were notified of a contract change between the property owner and the federal housing department.
“I wanted (tenants) to understand the notice and fully grasp what the next year was going to look like,” Ramirez told The FOCUS at the meeting in January. The FOCUS reached out to Ramirez multiple times to follow up about the situation but did not receive a reply.
The owners, the one-year notice states, decided not to renew their affordable housing contract when it expires on Dec. 31. Opting out of the HAP agreement, Ramirez said, would allow the owners to lease available Merced Gardens units at increased, market-rate prices.
The possible transition is something tenants are still trying to understand. They say it has left them feeling distressed about their housing.
“We are all scared something is going to happen,” Abarca said, adding she is bracing for more unexpected changes once the contract expires.
Owners decide to opt out of contract
Rosa Vazquez, executive director of the Housing Authority of the County of Merced was alerted to the developing situation at Merced Gardens in January, when tenants obtained the owners’ one-year notice of intent to opt out of their affordable housing contract.
“A tenant came in and said, ‘I got this (notice)…What am I supposed to do?’,” she said.
The Housing Authority, located at 405 U St. in south Merced, is different from HUD, which operates out of the local field office in San Francisco.
The difference, Vazquez said, means her team is on standby until HUD authorizes the owners’ request to opt out of their HAP contract.
The Housing Authority, in the six months leading up to an expiring Section 8 project-based contract, steps in to issue special housing assistance vouchers, called enhanced vouchers, to eligible tenants.
“In a normal, wonderful world, at that point, the families are not left without assistance,” Vazquez said.
The Housing Authority has not received formal notice by HUD of any change at Merced Gardens, Vazquez reported during the agency’s September monthly board of commissioners meeting.
Due to the federal government shutdown, HUD representatives were unavailable to comment on an update about Merced Gardens in time for publication.
The contract expiration at Merced Gardens comes as the Trump administration is expected to cut more than $1 billion in federal funding to house the homeless, Politico reported in September.
For fiscal year 2025, Congress appropriated $16.9 billion to fund project-based programs, such as Section 8 at Merced Gardens. The recommended budget for fiscal year 2026 proposes to eliminate funding to project-based programs altogether.
In the meantime, some Merced Gardens tenants are weighing other options.
Robert Rodriguez, who moved to Merced Gardens in 2013, said he’s begun making preparations to avoid becoming unhoused. “There’s no way I’m gonna be living out in the streets,” the 67-year-old tenant said.
He’s considering pooling his resources and moving to Southern California to live with his brother.
“I don’t care if it’s right here in California or out of state,” he said. “I told my brother…either we can look for a place that is an affordable rent deal to live in, that’s better, or we live out in the streets like homeless people do.”
Rodriguez pays subsidized rent for a one-bedroom apartment at Merced Gardens.
“Still, that’s a heck of a lot of money for just me,” Rodriguez said, adding his approximately $1,200 fixed social security income barely covers rent, grocery, and bill costs.
The living conditions alone at Merced Gardens are reason enough for him to consider returning to Southern California to live with his brother, he said.
Frustrated tenants form association
Merced Gardens tenants Abarca, Johnson and Rodriguez started meeting regularly with advocacy groups following the owners’ one-year notice.
Johnson, whose habitability issues at Merced Gardens predate the current owners, described feeling a renewed sense of hope upon meeting with members of Tenants Together, the National Housing Law Project, Faith In The Valley and Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.
“I was fighting a silent battle before I met them,” Johnson, who lives with chronic back pain, said.
During a blazing summer in the middle of the COVID-19 lockdown, Johnson was recovering from two surgeries – a foot surgery and a cesarean section after delivering her son, now 3 years old. Her unit had no working AC.
Describing her experience living at Merced Gardens, Johnson said: “Pain and suffering, neglect.”
In October, Sharrah Thompson of Tenants Together, a statewide coalition of tenant unions, helped residents launch the Merced Gardens Tenant Association.
Thompson, the Central Valley regional coordinator for Tenants Together, described two political advantages of forming a tenant association.
For one, all tenants are represented as one entity in court, minimizing the risk of retaliation.
Tenant associations, such as Merced Gardens, also support city tenant unions, which prepare tenants for citywide campaigns, including rent strikes, Thompson said.
The petition, addressed to America Progreso Meadows, listed several demands, including the association’s formal recognition, qualified on-site management, and owner compliance with HUD regulations and state law.
Marcos Segura, a staff attorney at the National Housing Law Project, is also helping Merced Gardens tenants prepare for potential litigation if the owner decides not to offer the property up for sale.
Under state law, America Progreso Meadows is required to submit an offer to purchase the property, giving qualifying entities a chance to purchase the property and preserve its affordability.
In August, the state department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) issued the owners a notice of potential violation, in part, for failing to do so.
Visionary Home Builders, an affordable housing developer in the Central Valley, is assisting the owners in bringing the property in compliance with HUD requirements. Thompson said she hopes the nonprofit investor can purchase the property.
In the city of Livingston, Visionary Home Builders finalized construction of Tierrasanta Villas Apartments this summer.
The 80-unit complex features child care and adult education programs, according to a September call for applications, and prioritizes housing for families, the elderly and low-income residents.
Merced Gardens tenants continue to meet to discuss strategies to keep their units affordable and habitable.
Dozens of tenant unions, according to Thompson, are popping up throughout the San Joaquin Valley, including 28 in Fresno County.
In April, Thompson and Tenants Together successfully organized to amend a Fresno city’s property code enforcement policy after a child was hospitalized for mold poisoning.
“Organizing is not for the weak,” Thompson said in support of Merced Gardens tenants. “We’re stuck (together) in this one.”