`Pacific Heights' spins suspenseful yarn with landlord as victim

The 1990 suspense thriller "Pacific Heights" could easily be re-titled "A Landlord's Worst Nightmare." It's landlord vs. tenant in a vicious collision of wills, where the tenant moves in without permission, pays no rent, can't be evicted, creeps out a nice couple upstairs, and drives the building's owners to a near state of ruin.

Carter Hayes (Michael Keaton) is the scheming occupant who wriggles his way into the downstairs apartment of a two-story Victorian in San Francisco just purchased by Drake Goodman (Matthew Modine) and his girlfriend, Patty Palmer (Melanie Griffith). Although Keaton plays the arch-nemesis to Drake and Patty, he gets lots of help from the film's other villain: California real estate law. As presented in the film, the statutes help Hayes with his slick, predatory maneuvers.

"If this is a true depiction of the landlord-tenant laws in California, then in my opinion, the laws of California are taking a direct hit," said Tracey Donley, broker/owner of RE/Max Excellence. "The film is holding those laws up for ridicule."

Indeed, Hayes moves in without permission -- legally. He stays in his apartment without paying rent, or even a security deposit -- legally. He changes the lock on the front door -- legally.

Donley said Nevada laws are not this "liberal," since a Las Vegas landlord could be rid of a tenant like Hayes as quickly as a single cockroach. An infestation of cockroaches, by the way, happens to be a creepy, crawly weapon Hayes uses to sabotage Drake and Patty's building and spook out the elderly couple who rent upstairs.

Hayes' skulduggery, however, was more than just randomly released mayhem. A good chunk of the film's tension comes from his attempts to goad Drake into a hotheaded response, after which Hayes capitalizes on the show of violence.

Early in the film, for example, Drake discovers Hayes has changed his front door lock so neither Drake nor Patty can enter. Furious, Drake dashes down to the cellar and shuts off Hayes' electricity and gas. The next morning, Drake finds Hayes has called the police so that "justice" could be administered.

"What you did is against the law," Drake hears from the vituperative officer, who demands that Drake turn the services back on. "Mr. Hayes can sue you for the stunt you just pulled, and most likely he'll win ... if he's `in', he's got rights. That's how it works."

Donley noticed how the film was exploiting the naivete of Drake, as Hayes was preying on his inexperience as a landlord.

"Basically, Michael Keaton was a squatter since he didn't pay any money," she said. "So he (Drake) could have gone directly to an attorney, and initiated all the proceedings ... Michael Keaton would have been gone after six weeks.

"It appears that, in California, you've got to go to a court of law to evict someone who has absolutely no ownership rights of any description, regardless of whether you've gotten any money. They just didn't know any better."

Things get worse for the landlords when they attempt to evict Hayes using a court of law. The judge notes Drake's ill-fated attempt to force Hayes out, and refers to it as "unlawful eviction." He then ruled that Hayes was entitled to a reduction in rent.

"If those laws depicted in the film are true, then the film is showing that the legal system can go way too far in the protection of an underdog who's actually not an underdog," Donley said. "It's OK to protect those people who need protection, but this film went over the top. Basically, you have someone who was able to live rent free."

Hayes never does pay his rent and eventually disappears. With the help of a locksmith, Patty gains entrance to Hayes' long-unseen apartment, but instead of finding the premises just as she and Drake had left them, she discovers that Hayes has removed all of the furniture and appliances; disconnected and removed the light fixtures; and ripped out the toilet, sinks and cabinets.

In a nutshell, Hayes barricaded himself in the apartment, picked it clean, and went on the lam.

"That was probably the most realistic thing in (the movie), when you have a tenant who wrecks the place in one way or another," Donley said. "The damage that he did -- that can and does happen in Nevada."

The film's ending has Drake and Patty selling the building, and they even gain an appreciable profit on the $750,000 they initially paid for the fixer-upper. Donley stated that that figure is a sign of the times for the early '90s, since a Bay Area structure that size, especially a Victorian, would be worth considerably more today.

Drake and Patty were in pursuit of the American dream with the purchase of their prize property, and the film takes that dream and turns it into a nightmare, though Donley noted the final scenes were a "silver lining." The film can still be considered a cautionary tale.

"It's a lesson and the lesson is: `Beware landlords, before you take your tenants,'" Donley said. "And, beware buyer, figure out how you're going to make your payments. In the film, they had the best of tenants, and the worst of tenants."

Real Estate home