For over a year the San Francisco Housing Authority has tried to evict dozens of families the agency says are living illegally in a decrepit Potrero Hill public housing complex that is slated for demolition as part of a major redevelopment.
Now with the project behind schedule and many of the eviction cases likely to be tied up in litigation for months, the authority is trying a new tactic to convince families to leave: Airbnb gift cards.
Resident Tania Guevara, an immigrant who has been living with her 13-year-old son in a Potrero apartment since May of 2023, said attorneys for the housing authority sent her a letter in July offering a $5,000 Airbnb gift card in exchange for vacating her home. A few weeks later she received a second letter offering her $4,500 cash to leave by Aug. 27…