Artist Nico Avina is marching along Whittier Blvd with a procession of activists. Accompanied by a 7 foot tall Virgin Mary reading an eviction notice, Avina is there in solidarity with his neighbors Teresa Alfaro and Martina Gallegos.

“What I'm trying to say with this piece that she's reading the eviction notice is that you know, once the demographics of this community change, so do the beliefs, so does the culture,” explains Avina.

It’s a concern shared between the two dozen activists from Union de Vecinos, so they’re occupying a corner in Boyle Heights to raise awareness about an eviction they feel is not only unjust, but worry is a sign of things to come. 

Alfaro has been living in a rented duplex for 23 years with her husband, three children, brother, and two dogs. When the property was recently purchased, owner Luis Martinez sent her a new lease agreement. 

However, there were quite a few differences between the new lease agreement and her current one, such as now having to pay utilities and no pets, and since the contract was given in English instead of Spanish, she refused to sign.

Shortly after, the owner began eviction proceedings against Alfaro and her neighbor. In response, they marched to the landlord’s house to ask him to stop the eviction and let them stay.  

“I am asking the owner to please don’t evict my family,” pleads Alfaro. “Because right now my situation is very tough. My husband is sick and I don’t have the resources to move somewhere else.”

In Boyle Heights, 75 percent of residents are renters and 85 percent of renters are protected by rent control, but landlords can still use loopholes to evict long-term tenants, such as claiming to live there after the eviction. (this part is confusing, who is making a claim, the landlord)

“These are tactics that are utilized to evict tenants of the city of Los Angeles and that is why tenants are fighting to make stronger rent-control laws because even though we have rent control here in the City of Los Angeles, some of those laws are usually always used against tenants,” explains Kenia Alcocer, a volunteer with Union de Vecinos, an advocacy rights group for low income families.

City records show the owner is also an applicant on a separate development in Highland Park, so Alfaro is suspicious. Unfortunately, Luis Martinez was not home to answer the tenants' request so they left a note.

Spectrum News 1 contacted owner Luis Martinez, however, he refused to comment.