Religious eviction?

Robert Taylor had been a seemingly model tenant at his apartment in a historic and classic building on The Esplanade for more than 25 years. Now, apparently because his landlady believes he attracts people who appear unkempt or homeless, Taylor, 74, is being evicted.

The divorced father of five and grandfather of nine insists he’s always paid his rent on time and has maintained excellent relations with his landlady, Morgan Grossman. Several times Taylor included notes of well wishes to her with his rent checks, especially after her husband, Dr. Rob Grossman, and their daughter were killed in a plane crash in 2005.

“It hurts because my love for her was so deep before this,” said Taylor, a former Butte College custodian and Air Force veteran. “It’s sad she’s taken this position without thorough investigation.”

Taylor’s attempts to remedy the situation by talking with Grossman have been rebuffed, he said, leading to protracted eviction proceedings. Neither the landlady nor her lawyer, Dirk Potter, would comment on the story because it is an ongoing case. Taylor said he thinks he is being singled out as a host of homeless visitors because of his 39-year history as a street minister.

Variously known as “Brother Bob” or “Pastor Bob,” Taylor helps the needy around town by listening to their stories and offering rides, small amounts of cash or use of his cell phone.

“I live according to the scriptures but don’t evangelize,” Taylor said. “If you help people from the heart, it’s all good.”

He said he does this at the downtown coffeehouse Has Beans, but never at his Esplanade apartment.

“I learned long ago not to allow the homeless to even visit my home,” he said. “My ex-wife and I found out the hard way that, if you do, it can lead to many problems.”

Taylor says his eviction began in 2010, when he allowed a friend who worked at Has Beans to move in after she lost her job and boyfriend. The arrangement was temporary, but after a few months his landlady came to his door with an eviction notice.

“She was very emotional and kept repeating I needed to get out but wouldn’t discuss it any further,” he said.

Grossman’s visit was followed by a letter claiming that Taylor associated with people who looked disheveled, which in turn violated the desired look of the complex. Bewildered, Taylor had his roommate move out, but submitted his next rent check anyway. He was relieved to see it cashed, which marked the last of that attempted eviction.

He continued to hold weekly social gatherings with friends and neighbors but was adamant that no homeless visit or live there. A year went by without further action, but last August Grossman again appeared at his door, this time with a 60-day eviction notice. Taylor recalls she exclaimed that she was fed up with him, had hired a lawyer and wouldn’t back down this time. As with the first attempt, Taylor said Grossman refused to discuss the matter any further. Two months later he was served with an unlawful detainer, which is the legal term for a demand to leave the residence after the tenant refuses to do so upon expiration of the original eviction notice.

This second, more ironclad eviction notice would have meant the end of Taylor’s long-time residence if not for the fact that his daughter, Jill Harris, had recently become a lawyer. She declined to comment but has taken his case and represented him so far in two appearances, for which Taylor is deeply grateful.

“I wouldn’t have been able to afford a lawyer if not for her,” Taylor said.

In a written court response to the unlawful detainer, Harris challenges Grossman’s accusations that he associates with “stray, vagrant, scruffy, homeless men who are losers.”

Taylor says Grossman is assuming many homeless who frequent the area are his guests. However, Taylor said, he lives in a complex adjacent to a parking lot notorious for attracting street people. The lot is located a half-block north of Memorial Way and enclosed on three sides. Ironically, the apartment’s back parking lot is directly adjacent to the courthouse where his case is being heard.

“For years homeless people have been buying liquor at the downtown 7-Eleven and gathering there at night to drink,” Taylor said.

His neighbor, who owns the apartment complex next door, 83-year-old Lois Kloss, agrees.

“They say he brings the homeless to his place, but many homeless take a shortcut from The Esplanade through the alleyway between our complexes to drink in that parking lot,” Kloss said.

At his second hearing, Taylor had several supporters testify to his good character and habits, including Kloss. She said she feels the attempt to evict Taylor is terrible and says he has always been a wonderful neighbor.

“Whenever I call him for help he comes over immediately,” Kloss said. “I’d be delighted if he lived in my house.”

Harris will be filing a trial brief this week that will be followed the by the plaintiff’s reply and a final defendant’s rebuttal. A decision will be reached sometime after May 30.

“I’d still love to talk to her, and even if she puts me out I feel I deserve a conversation,” Taylor said. “I must echo the words of Rodney King by asking, ‘Can’t we all just get along?’ ”