2/18/2009

Lawsuit Alleged Discrimination, Illegal Evictions and Violations Of Redevelopment Laws

By Amanda Becker
Daily Journal Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES -A group of current and former low-income tenants of the Alexandria Hotel who claimed they were victims of discrimination, deplorable housing conditions and illegal evictions will receive nearly $1 million under a settlement reached with the building's owners and the city of Los Angeles.

The settlement also will require sweeping changes to policies at both the Alexandria and the city's redevelopment agency governing how tenants should be treated when the buildings they live in undergo publicly funded renovations.

"Compensation for the main plaintiffs is very important... for stepping forward, putting their necks out there and spending the time to get this case going," said Matthew Oster, a partner at McDermott Will & Emery who handled the case pro bono. "But equally important to the money that was delivered is that we were able to achieve significant concessions from the CRA as to how they will handle these situations going forward."

The building's owners and managers will pay $550,000 to the named plaintiffs in the case, and the city and the redevelopment agency will pay $400,000 into a fund to compensate other tenants of the building who were not party to the case.

The lawsuit, filed in December 2007 after local housing advocates noticed an influx of Alexandria tenants at Skid Row housing clinics, alleged widespread disability and race discrimination, illegal evictions and the systematic violation of multiple redevelopment laws at the residential hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The agreement was announced on Thursday.

Attorneys at McDermott and several agencies -the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, the Disability Rights Legal Center, the Western Center on Law and Poverty and the Los Angeles Community Action Network -filed the suit against the Alexandria Housing Partners, Logan Property Management Inc., the City of Los Angeles and the Community Redevelopment Agency. Woods, et al. v. Alexandria Housing Partners L.P., CV07-08262 (C.D. Cal, filed Dec. 20, 2007).

The city and CRA were named in the suit because Alexandria Housing Partners, which is a partnership between the Calabasas-based Buxbaum Group and The Amerland Group of San Diego, financed the $30 million purchase of the building and a planned $14 million renovation with a tax-exempt bond and a loan from the city and the Community Redevelopment Agency, according to Amerland's web site and the complaint filed with the court.

But Alexandria tenants say the two-year renovation did not go as planned. Elevators were frequently out of service, the water was turned off at least one full day per week and tenants were not given proper notices or relocation assistance. They also alleged there were frequent violations of policies that protect low-income tenants during rehabilitation projects funded with city money.

"There was a time when I was without water for a week and I'm in a wheelchair," said 72-year-old Allen McCorkendale, one of the tenants who filed the suit. "I had no way of getting downstairs because the elevator was out, and when I complained, they sent some guys up with a bucket and said, 'Well here, this will take care of it.'"

Advocates organized tenants and lodged complaints, but conditions at the Alexandria continued to deteriorate as the renovations progressed.

"We started going to CRA board meetings and bringing groups of tenants, and unfortunately we got nowhere. We had to file the lawsuit," said the Legal Aid Foundation's Barbara Schultz.

The court issued a preliminary injunction in May 2008 that required the city to implement a relocation plan for displaced tenants, prohibited the transfer of any more public money to Alexandria Housing Partners until it was in compliance, suspended evictions and required repairs. Since then, the two sides had been working to reach a settlement.

Plaintiff attorneys said last week's agreement established and strengthened policies that will protect Alexandria's tenants as well as others in low-income buildings throughout the city that receive public funds. Provisions include a new rehabilitation strategy and better protections for disabled tenants.

Attorneys estimate that in addition to the 10 individual tenants who filed the suit, another 80 could be eligible to receive settlement money.

"I didn't sue to get money, I sued to keep anybody else from having to have happen what happened to me," McCorkendale said. Nonetheless, "I didn't expect this much," he said. "It's wonderful."

Attorneys who represented Alexandria Housing Partners, Logan Property Management, the City of Los Angeles and the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles did not return calls seeking comment.

amanda_becker@dailyjournal.com

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