ANOTHER “BATTLE” TAKES PLACE IN “WAR ON SLUM HOUSING” IN LOS ANGELES AS LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST TWO APARTMENT COMPLEXES

LOS ANGELES, CA, December 14, 2006

As part of their own “war on terror,” many apartment dwellers residing in the downtown Los Angeles area are fighting to provide their families with a clean, healthy and safe living environment. As part of that ongoing “battle,” residents of two apartment complexes today filed lawsuits in Los Angeles Superior Court against their respective owners and management citing grievances relating to “slum housing” conditions.

According to the lawsuits, residents allege that the buildings are substandard and are inflicted with a wide range of severe unsanitary and unhealthful conditions, including: cockroach and rodent infestation, mold, inoperable or faulty electrical and heating systems, structural damage, inadequate water supply; faulty and leaky plumbing, unstable stairs and balconies and inadequate security. As a result, he emphasized, residents have sustained injuries and experienced harmful health effects such as respiratory problems, asthma and skin irritations.

At a news conference held today at one of the complexes immediately following the filing of the two lawsuits, Attorney Eric E. Castelblanco, reported that 36 residents of the apartment complex at 3451-3525 W. Florence Blvd. joined together to be plaintiffs of that lawsuit as did 26 residents of another complex located at 406 S. Rampart Blvd. filed suit. According to Castelblanco, the six causes of action contained in each lawsuit, include: Breach of Warranty of Habitability (Violation of Civil Code 1941), Tortuous Breach of Warranty of Habitability, Breach of Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment, Nuisance, Violation of Business and Professions Code 1720 and Negligence. Through the lawsuits, the residents are seeking general, special, exemplary, punitive and statutory damages plus legal and court costs. Named as defendants for the 3451-3525 complex are Urban Gardens Hyde Park, LLC, a California limited liability company, Shaver Family Trust U/D/T 10/30/89 and William B. and Martha Shaver, trustees. Defendants in the lawsuit for the 406 S. Rampart apartment building are a series of companies that have owned the building over a period of years, including the current owners, 406 South Rampart Boulevard Trust, Trustee Properties, LLC as trustee of 406 South Rampart Boulevard Trust as well as the management company, Savvy Property Management, LLC. At the news conference, Castelblanco reported that the two building complexes combined had previously been cited for nearly 200 code violations by the City of Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety.
He commented: “The ownership and management of each of these buildings have a deplorable record of operating buildings that are a threat to the health and safety of their residents and have repeatedly ignored requests by both the residents and government to correct numerous deficiencies. Make no mistake, this is a war against slum housing and the residents are fed up with inaction and are prepared to take part in this battle until these intolerable living conditions are corrected.”
Castelblanco, whose Beverly Hills, CA law firm filed the lawsuits in conjunction with Reilly Atkinson of the Santa Monica, CA law firm of Yuhl Rhames & Atkinson, stressed that there are countless other apartment complexes in the area that are equally uninhabitable. “Slum housing is an epidemic,” he remarked, adding “unfortunately, there is no sure fire instant antidote – we just have to keep finding a cure for each case, one at a time.”