Laura

City: 
Los Angeles
Residence Type: 
5-9 units
Landlord Type: 
Private Landlord -- Rent Control

You will all love this!
My boyfriend and I moved into the apartment on Doheny 10 years ago. Within 8 months of being there, problems started to arise. First with plumbing, then electricity and we even were hassled for planting a beautiful garden in the back yard (which was previously a heap of garbage)

We chose the apartment because the rent was insanely cheap and it is in an incredible location; hardwood floors, huge and built in the mid 40’s.

When we lost hot water, the landlord did not return calls for almost 48 hours, though other tenants reported seeing him leisurely sipping coffee at the local Starbucks! With the toilet, we had to hire a plumber which he fought us on when we withheld the amount from the rent with full written notification. There was one problem after another and the landlord was rude, belligerent and threatening. We even went as far as to find the owner and leave a letter at her home address. This was also met with hostile responses and threats of eviction. Attempts at certified letters were returned to us undelivered.

Now let me preface all of this by saying that most repairs are done by the tenants so that no has to deal with the landlord. So for us to contact him, it has to be a big deal. Additionally, I have a perfect fico score and pay my rent on time, every time.

It got so bad, that I finally started contacting building and safety and the health department. This resulted in a bogus eviction claim for non payment of rent where my brother, a partner at a major law firm, had to take time out of his busy schedule to defend us in court.

It was later revealed that the then landlord told one of the tenants that he had lied about not receiving the rent so he could bogusly evict us, but the other tenants were too afraid of retaliation to tell us.

Within a few months of the attempted eviction, the lovely landlord went after the infirm neighbor with kidney problems and on disability. My brother again had to go to court on her behalf as he attempted once again to evict a tenant on bogus grounds. This last escapade cost the owner 5,000 and a hike in her insurance rates before he was finally fired. He was fired just 2 years ago!

Welcome to renting in LA folks!

Laura

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