SANTA MONICA—On December, 17th landlords at the Ocean Front Walk Apartments has been order to pay tenants $1 Million dollars for allege unsafe living conditions in 2016 after a fire. The news was announced in a press release by the Legal Aid Foundation Los Angeles (LAFLA).
The lawsuit granted by LAFLA, states that former Mink family landlords illegally terminated tenants after a fire ignited at the low-income rent controlled property on December,12, 2015, which resulted in displaced occupants to hardship living conditions.
“I lost my home of 28 years and all of my belongings in a fire that could have been prevented had the Mink family taken proper care of their building. Rather than pay temporary relocation, Marty Mink told my neighbors and me to sleep in sleeping bags on the manager’s floor. I am now 77 years old, and the fire took a toll on my health and the lawsuit was very stressful,” said former occupant Isabel Cerneka to news press.
The suit also further claimed that the Mink landlords refused to compensate temporary relocation benefits mandated under local law in Santa Monica. Instead the landlords processed documents to the Santa Monica Rent Control Board to revoke their property from the housing program under the Ellis Act, which legally allows landlords to evict residential tenants to withdraw from the market business.
Displaced occupants did receive some shelter relief offered by the Red Cross and the City of Santa Monica during the event.
The former tenants defendants will receive $1 million in compensation for hardships ruled by LAFLA Attorney Denise McGranahan.
