SANTA MONICA—Two former Santa Monica landlords agreed to settle out of court in an apartment rent control violation case on Tuesday, November 30. According to the agreement, Cheryl Kautzky and her daughter, Deborah, will pay the city of Santa Monica and a former tenant a total of $120,000. The agreement was made during the jury selection phase of a joint trial combining the lawsuits of both the city and the former tenant, Edward Vincent. Santa Monica’s suit claimed that the Kautzkys violated the Tenant Harassment Ordinance, while Vincent accused the pair of charging excess rent and wrongful eviction, among other claims.
Cheryl Kautzky, who purchased the four-unit apartments in 2000, filed papers to “Ellis” the property in 2001, evicting tenants from the rent-controlled apartments and agreeing to leave the rental business. The lawsuits claimed that the Kautzkys proceeded to rent out the apartments to new tenants soon after evicting the previous tenants, and did so at market rates, despite the property still being subject to rent control laws. New rents are to be at the same level as the prior tenant’s rent.
Edward Vincent alleged that in 2008, he was told to vacate his apartment. It was then that he learned that he was paying “far above” the legal limit for his apartment, had eviction rights and was living in a rent-controlled property, unbeknownst to him before. Vincent alleges that upon learning this, the Kautzkys removed all his belongings from the apartment when he was away and threatened bodily harm against him if he returned.
Santa Monica Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky commented on the agreement in a press release issued by the city on Wednesday, December 1. “This case shows that breaking the rental laws does not pay. When landlords go out of the rental business, they need to follow the law,” he said.
