Landlords From Hell
'Landlords from hell' Kip and Nicole Macy are expected to be sentenced to over four years in prison for terrorizing their tenants. San Francisco DA

A San Francisco couple known as the “landlords from hell” for ripping out a section of the living room floor of one tenant’s apartment with a power saw and burglarizing other tenants’ units pleaded guilty Wednesday to a number of charges that will land them in prison for more than four years.

Kip Macy, 38, and his wife Nicole Macy, 37, pleaded guilty to residential burglary, stalking and attempted grand theft for a string of incidents stretching from September 2005 to December 2007, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement released Wednesday. The couple had been extradited from Italy to face the charges.

“The actions of these defendants are so outlandish and brazen that it sounds like the plot line of a horror movie,” the DA said. “This case shows you cannot flee this country and avoid the consequences of your actions. These defendants will be held fully accountable for their crimes.”

The “landlords from hell” owned a Clementina Street apartment building in the South of Market section of San Francisco, and set out a plan to evict tenants from the space in August 2006.

The plan involved Nicole May creating an email account and sending a message to one of her tenant’s civil attorneys claiming to be the tenant. The email stated that the tenant was firing the lawyer.

While still pretending to be the tenant, she sent another email to her own attorney from that account. Nicole Macy “threatens to kidnap and dismember the attorney’s children” in the email, according to Gascon’s office.

The “landlords from hell” then took more active and violent roles to disrupt the tenants they wanted to evict. In September 2006, the couple used a power saw to cut out holes in one of their tenant’s living rooms while the renter was still inside the unit. They also cut multiple sections out of the joists below his floor in an attempt to collapse the apartment, according to the DA’s office.

In March 2007, a gun was added to the mix of violent behavior by the “landlords from hell.” That’s when, according to Gascon, Kip Macy bought a semi-automatic handgun and threatened to shoot the building manager if he ever came by the apartment building again. The couple also changed the locks on the manager’s apartment and took all of his belongings before destroying them.

The Macys also burglarized the apartments of three tenants in June 2007, placing all of their belongings in trash bags. When one of the victims stopped by their apartment, Kip Macy kicked him in the ribs, according to the DA’s office. About $1,800 was also taken from the unit but never recovered.

Besides being burglarized, the tenants also received letters threatening deportation and death.

In another instance, the “landlords from hell” soaked the victims’ clothes, beds and belongings in ammonia, according to Gascon’s office.

During a two-year period, the Macys cut their tenants’ phone lines and shut off their electricity, gas and water, the DA’s office said.

The Macys were charged in April 2008 with the crimes they pleaded guilty to Wednesday. They failed to appear for a June 2010 court date and took off for Italy. The Italians extradited the “landlords from hell” on May 17 and were held on $2 million bail.

The Macys are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 22, and are expected to receive a four-year-and-four-month prison sentence each.