MOJAVE, Calif. (KERO) — Mike Guillen says he was wrongfully evicted from his Mojave apartment after a fire broke out nearby in April of 2022. He now lives in a van parked outside the apartment.
- Mike Guillen has called on Kern County officials to investigate his former landlord. Guillen alleges the landlord wrongfully evicted him and two roommates.
- Guillen says he wants justice and that resources aren't as important. He describes himself as displaced rather than being homeless.
- Guillen says he was arrested and placed in jail for three days for what was thought to be trespassing.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Mike Guillen struggles each day.
He sleeps while sitting up in a van that is parked outside the apartment where he had lived.
It’s been this way for over the past two years.
I’m Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter in Mojave, where Guillen says he’s been a victim of a unique ordeal that began with a fire.
“We feel like we’ve been outrageously punished … for nothing.”
Mike Guillen tells me he doesn’t describe himself as homeless.
Instead, he says he’s been displaced.
In April of 2022, a fire drove him out of his apartment, and ever since he’s been battling to get adequate shelter.
He alleges that he was wrongfully evicted.
“We’re in a dire situation now because we’ve been left destitute. We’ve been left with nothing," he says.
Guillen has reached out to Kern County officials, calling for an investigation on the landlord at the time, Emylyn Sanchez Peralta.
He says she accused him and his two roommates of being squatters and also claimed there was never a rental agreement.
Mike says he has proof of the agreement and monthly payments.
In November of 2022, Mike was arrested and stayed in jail for three days until it was determined that he was within his legal rights for being at the address.
“I’ve had sheriffs say: well, just start over. How am I going to start over if half of my stuff was inside?" he says.
Mike tells me he worked as a DJ before he was evicted.
He says he stayed in the apartment after the fire, but the building was red-tagged.
He says Sanchez Peralta came with “an entourage” and forced him to move out.
This past summer has been cruel for Mike amid the scorching temperatures.
He cared for stray cats but says most of them died.
“This is not about resources. This is about justice," he says.
I contacted the former landlord Emylyn Sanchez Peralta and she declined to be interviewed.
The property has since been sold.
Mike says Kern County officials have not responded to his request for an investigation.
I’m Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter in Mojave.
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