Two Crazy Realtors in Ajijic Mexico

Well they don't come any weirder than this. I present to you Jon Connor and Sol Alavi.

This is the third incident of harassment from these two crazy realtors in Ajijic, that we know of. A mother and daughter suffered much the same last year. The “outcome” was was far more traumatic. They were forced to flee fearing their safety and well being, in the early hours of the night. Given shelter from the night by a caring friend.

Monday night November 11, 2024, at 9:00 pm, lawyer Ramiro Alaya made himself available to assist foreigners in distress. He received the call for help over a Facebook Group and in just minutes showed up at the client’s doorstep.

Being foreigners to this country, the Canadian couple were completely unsure of what their rights were, what was happening or how to handle this highly abusive situation. All of this exacerbated by communication limitations (language). Lic. Ramiro did an excellent job of advising them of their rights, mediating the situation and keeping the renters safe.

What an amazing response from the community! The support and outrage from our community has been overwhelming. I will share here, what I can, in lieu of attempting to address individually all the people inquiring for more information.

Sol Alavi fitted for handcuffs by local police after a previous incident

Jon Connor fitted for handcuffs by local police after a previous incident

Facebook Admin and superwoman Catherine-Claire Blythe tells the story first hand...

I am able to give my account because I was present. But because I was not witness from the inception of the incident, I cannot give direct testimony to that portion.

A group member made a plea for help last night, stating that landlord of his B&B property had gone crazy and is trying to evict the couple. Once this was actively posted, I offered to assist and began receiving private messages and video shares from people who had previous knowledge of these particular landlords. I knew of the landlord as well. If you live in this city and are a problem maker, you can be sure that I know of you already.

If you watch the frightening and extremely racist video of a previous incident with this landlord, you can see what I was prepared to meet with upon arrival. And what you see in the video is exactly how he was behaving last night. The husband and wife landlords were unhinged. Yelling, cursing, laughing, antagonizing, making verbal threats, pacing, aggressive, abusive and smelling strongly of alcohol. The very large, well over six feet tall, husband continually pushed his way through the police and used his towering physical presence to intimidate.

The landlord made wild accusations and exaggerated accounts which included claiming that the renters were going to plant cocaine in his house, that they were moving in and planned on squatting, promises to report him to tax authorities and even of breaking the toilet.

I saw the toilet. It was not broken. As it turns out, a few days after the tenants began staying in the rental home, the very petite wife (maybe 5’1 and 100 pounds) sat down on the toilet and the plastic toilet-seat came loose, pinching her leg and almost knocking her to the floor. They reported this to the landlord, he fixed it. That’s it!

The tenants are a Canadian couple in their sixties and seventies. They had been renting the unit for just under a week. In preparation for their trip out of town two days after the incident, to their newly purchased home, the couple removed a few things from their storage unit in La Floresta. The storage unit holds their entire household of belongings, to be shipped to their new home. The small amount of items they are taking with them fit easily in their minivan, with much room to spare. Since the landlord did not provide off-street parking, although it was indicated in the rental advertisement the personal items had to be removed from their van (for theft prevention) into the rental home.

With the few items in the suite they took the opportunity to repack their things and stack the boxes neatly inside the home, moving only a side chair and sliding over a small bookcase. We found the rental property to be spotless. Bed was made, everything was organized, not a single dirty dish in the kitchen. Their personal belongings were boxed, packed and marked meticulously. Positively well-kept and clean, zero visible damage. The renters have this well documented /photographed and witnessed by myself, the lawyer and the police.

The police were called by the tenants themselves, when the landlord attempted to force them from the property. The couple were calm, cool, collected people. They did not curse or raise their voices. They were passive individuals, and the wife was very scared. They were respectful and communicative with the police. The police were extremely kind and supportive to them as well. They never threatened them with arrest and made it very clear that they were within their rights to be in the home and did not have to leave. The tenants asked for two hours to prepare to leave while simultaneously posting for help from our FB group. What he needed was time to discover, in English, what his rights were and what they need to do in this horrible situation. The tenants slid a side chair in front of the door in effort to prevent the landlord from trying to enter and waited for myself and Ramiro to arrive.

Once Lic. Ramiro and I arrived, we were able to hear the stories from the landlords, from the police and from the tenants. Ramiro explained to the tenants everything that was happening and their rights. The police were on site only in effort to prevent the situation from escalating (since this was not the first time they have had to deal with this landlord/this property), they were not being evicted. The police were very clear in that the couple did not have to vacate the property if they did not wish and were on solid legal footing to stay.

After four and a half hours of standing guard and protecting the renters, the word came down from the Chief of Police, that if the situation is not peacefully resolved immediately, both parties would have to be arrested and taken to jail, for it to all be sorted out later. Keeping FOUR police officers off the streets and from doing their job for hours was the only crime that was taking place.

It was at that time the renters decided to leave the property voluntarily, wanting to keep the peace and be able to sleep through the night without fear that the landlord would “bash the door in and get them” as he promised to do.

The tenant (husband) quickly and efficiently loaded all their belongs into their vehicle in a matter of minutes, while I stayed with the frightened wife and made reservations for them in the safety of a local hotel.

Various neighbors stopped by to offer concern and warn that this is a common occurrence at this property. Also offering a rooms to stay in for the tenants.

Today the landlord publicly posts pictures warning all of Lakeside to not rent to this couple. You will see in his pictures the complete invasion of privacy by snapping pictures of the couple through the window as they were working hard to neatly pack their minimal personal belongings.

BE WARNED!!!

I would, under no circumstances, rent from these individuals. Their intimidation and aggression clearly works for them and I would never consider this a place to stay or people to have ANY business dealings with, for my own security.

Facebook Admin Catherine-Claire Blythe