Monolingual Spanish-speaking tenants at 1057 S. Western Ave. were illegally coerced into signing English-only agreements that more than doubled their rent and relocated their families to smaller units. Their apartments have repeatedly flooded and many are filled with toxic black mold. Management has sexually harassed tenants and threatened to call ICE.
Now tenants are on strike, demanding to be returned to their previous lawful contracts, an end to all illegal harassment, and dignified living conditions.
DEMANDS
1.
Tenants who were forced to move from one unit to another in the building and those tenants who were forced to sign new leases MUST have their original contracts restored. We DEMAND that these contracts include a rental rate at the amount tenants were paying according to the contracts that were in place when Alpine purchased the building, as well as no additional monthly costs for utilities such as gas, electric, water, sewer, trash, or cleaning of common areas. If no written agreement survives from before Alpine’s ownership, tenants MUST be given new contracts which restore the terms and rental rates from before Alpine’s ownership for a comparable unit that includes a written agreement, as well as no additional monthly costs for utilities as described.
2.
Any and all debt accumulated during the pandemic period MUST be forgiven, be it related to rent, utilities, or fees. This period is defined as the City of Los Angeles Declaration of Local Emergency, March 4, 2020 through February 1, 2023.
3.
Alpine MUST communicate to all tenants in the building, in writing, that additional monthly costs for utilities such as gas, electric, water, sewer, trash, or the cleaning of common areas will no longer be charged. These costs were not charged before Alpine’s ownership of the building and we DEMAND their cessation.
4.
We DEMAND a responsible resident manager who lives on-site, is a member of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, and is available to respond to emergencies immediately.
5.
All repairs to individual units and to common areas (as detailed in frequent correspondence with Alpine) MUST be made immediately. If they cannot be made immediately, Alpine MUST share a timeline with residents detailing a timely repair plan.
Los inquilinos monolingües de habla hispana del 1057 S. Western Ave. fueron coaccionados ilegalmente para que firmaran acuerdos en inglés que duplicaban su renta y reubicaban a sus familias en unidades más pequeñas. Sus apartamentos se han inundado repetidamente y muchos están llenos de moho negro tóxico. La dirección ha acosado sexualmente a los inquilinos y les ha amenazado con llamar al ICE.
Ahora los inquilinos están en huelga, exigiendo que se les devuelvan sus contratos legales anteriores, que se ponga fin a todo el acoso ilegal y que se les den condiciones de vida dignas.
DEMANDAS
1.
Alpine restablece las termas de tenencia anteriores que disfrutaban antes los inquilinos quienes fueron movidos de una unidad a otra en el edificio y obligados a firmar nuevos contratos durante los años 2020 y 2021. Exigimos que estos contratos nuevos incluyan una tarifa de renta por la cantidad exacta que los inquilinos estaban pagando antes de que Alpine compró el edificio, así como sin las cargas mensuales adicionales por servicios públicos como gas, electricidad, agua, alcantarillado, basura, o limpieza de zonas comunes. Si no sobrevive ningún acuerdo por escrito anterior a la propiedad de Alpine, exigimos que estos inquilinos reciban nuevos contratos escritos que restablezcan los términos y las tarifas de renta anteriores, así como sin costos mensuales adicionales por servicios públicos como detallada arriba.
2.
Se perdonan todas y cada una de las deudas acumuladas durante el período de la pandemia, incluyendo las relacionadas con la renta, los servicios públicos o las tarifas. Este período se define como la Declaración de Emergencia Local de la Ciudad de Los Ángeles, del 4 de marzo de 2020 al 1 de febrero de 2023.
3.
Alpine comunica a todos los inquilinos del edificio, por escrito, que las cargas mensuales adicionales por servicios como gas, electricidad, agua, alcantarillado, basura o limpieza de áreas comunes, ya no se cobrarán después de la resolución de esta huelga de renta. Estos costos no fueron cobrados antes de la propiedad del edificio por parte de Alpine y exigimos su cese.
4.
Un candidato para un nuevo manager residente--que vive en el sitio, es un miembro del Sindicato, y es disponible para responder a emergencias--se presenta a los inquilinos del edificio y se aprueba su contratación por mayoría de votos.
5.
Todas las reparaciones a unidades individuales y áreas comunes (detallado en nuestras demandas a Alpine) son hechas inmediatamente. Sí no pueden ser hechas inmediatamente, Alpine comparte un línea de tiempo con residentes explicando cuando van a ser hechas.
From kcrw, “Tenant harassment is illegal in LA — but the law isn’t getting enforced”:
Landlords sometimes even hire “tenant relocators,” who coerce tenants to move out or offer them a lump sum of money to leave voluntarily — a practice known as “cash for keys.”
Rebeca Sanchez, a member of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, says a relocator named Angel Escobar, hired by her landlord K3 Holdings, tried to get her to accept a cash for keys offer repeatedly, despite the fact that she told him she wanted to remain in her unit.
When it didn’t work, she says the landlords eventually resorted to other types of harassment — including threatening to call immigration on her and doing noisy construction that damaged her unit.
“I ended up with not just one hole in my kitchen, but two holes in my kitchen. And they ruined all sorts of things for me in the kitchen. They even ruined some of the food that I had stored for my children,” Sanchez says.
Ross says while harassment tactics like this are all too common, they’re routinely disregarded by the city, which says it doesn’t have the funds to enforce the law.
From capital & main, “While an Industry Feeds on the Destruction of Rent Control, Help Is on the Way”:
Alpine LA Properties acquired Rebeca Sanchez’s 76-unit building on Western Avenue in 2019. At the time, it was filled with Spanish-speaking immigrants, but Sanchez says through a translator that an aggressive campaign of cash-for-keys offers, in conjunction with threats to call ICE on resisting tenants, has nearly cleared the building. Tenants were presented with documents in English that they could not understand, according to Sanchez, including buyout offers and rent and utility increases.
Today, under a quarter of the building’s units are rented by their pre-Alpine LA Properties occupants.
When Angel Escobar, a management operative, presented her with documents in English he said she had to sign, Sanchez relented. Suddenly, Alpine LA Properties raised her rent from $750 to $1,800 and began charging for utilities, she says, and the company also claimed she had agreed to a $20,000 cash-for-keys offer.
When the pandemic began she stopped paying her rent. Alpine LA Properties building manager Jose “Pepe” Yepez began to call her twice a week, according to Sanchez. “Señora,” he allegedly asked her, “What are you doing? Beware of ICE.” She says he once called at 4 a.m. asking if she was “in the shower.”
When asked about allegations that Alpine LA Properties threatens tenants with deportation, a Alpine LA Properties spokesperson did not issue a denial. “At Alpine LA Properties we operate good buildings, servicing and supporting our tenants without regard to race, color or national origin,” the spokesperson wrote and did not elaborate further.
In 2019, Sanchez says Alpine LA Properties construction workers smashed a hole in her ceiling, and dirty water flooded the apartment; then, when she moved to a new unit with the help of the union, the same thing happened a second time, taking out her TV.
On March 2, the apartment of Marbarita Ortega flooded as well in the building at 1057 S Western Ave. Her basement apartment had flooded before Alpine LA Properties took over the building, Ortega says, but the old manager regularly cleaned the pipes; when Alpine LA Properties reduced services, her unit now floods every three or four months.
Ortega, another Spanish-speaking immigrant tenant in a deeply rent-stabilized unit, put out a cry for help in the tenant council’s group chat. Tenants from other buildings arrived with mops and supplies.
The same building manager who threatened Sanchez also threatened Ortega with deportation, she says, alleging that the manager told her, “I can have everyone without papers in this building deported.” She also accuses him of spying on her and sexually harassing her in the building.
SUPPORT THE RENT STRIKE!
¡APOYE LA HUELGA DE RENTA!
Action #1: Sign our petition to help Unseal K3 Holdings' Corporate Documents Detailing Slumlord Practices.
Action #2: Help pack the courtroom for one or more of our upcoming court dates. Demonstrating mass support for tenants facing eviction makes a huge difference in community morale and how the judge and jury perceive the case. Text your name + “court support” to the number below to get info on upcoming court dates and other ways to support in the future: 323-613-3726.