191 Lincoln Place Tenants, Evictees Sue Landlord; AIMCO Files
Counter-Suit
On March 14, Lincoln Place Garden Apartments
attorneys John Murdock and David Lefkowitz went to court to add more tenants and
former tenants to their lawsuit against AIMCO, Apartment Investment &
Management Co. The suit is designed to make AIMCO pay for on-going disruption to
the lives of 191 tenants and evictees at the largest apartment complex in
Venice.
AIMCO returned the favor, March 25, with a
suit in federal court against the city of Los Angeles. The city had granted
AIMCO a track map for redevelopment several years ago with the provision that
the tenants not be evicted. The Denver-based corporation apparently believes
that if it can persuade a court to agree that the track map was not in force,
then AIMCO cannot be held legally at fault for the
evictions.
Tenant leaders insist that
AIMCO should restore the illegally terminated tenancies of 450 households, which
included many seniors and families with children. Eviction threats persuaded
many families to abandon their rent-controlled apartments. Payments they
received rapidly disappeared in the local housing crisis. The lawsuit for
damages demands that AIMCO compensate these households for the higher rents
they’ve had to pay since leaving Lincoln Place, as well as for the
destruction of their community and the harm caused to the lives of these people.
Most of the plaintiffs are also asking to be restored to their former
apartments.
On December 6, 2005, AIMCO
had the LA County Sheriffs lock out 52 households, including 21 children and 65
adults. This was the largest single-day sheriff lockout in the history of Los
Angeles.
In its 2007 annual report,
AIMCO acknowledged to shareholders that "Plans to develop Lincoln Place have
been the subject of controversy and litigation, which reduces its market value
and may result in a future impairment (financial loss)." AIMCO’s idea of
development apparently is to kick out the tenants, tear down the apartments and
build hi-rise condos.
"AIMCO took a bad
business gamble. They broke the law and hurt a lot of people. They threw
families out of their homes, little children, frail elderly ladies, and people
with life-threatening illnesses. You bet it’s going to cost them," said
Sheila Bernard, the feisty president of the Lincoln Place Tenants
Association.
Laura Burns, a locked-out
tenant observed that this is the first acknowledgment AIMCO has made to its
shareholders that its plans to demolish and redevelop Lincoln Place have run
aground. "AIMCO thought they could extort more height and density from the city
of L.A. They used the tenants as hostages during a protracted period of eviction
threats and tense negotiations spanning the last five years. But this Goliath
has met its match," said Burns.
According to lead attorney John
Murdock, who shepherded LPTA's case against AIMCO to a stunning victory,
Superior Court Judge David Yaffe has issued an injunction preventing further
evictions at Lincoln Place. Attorneys for the tenants will be using this
injunction to obtain dismissals for the 48 households who are currently fighting
their 2005 eviction orders in court.
"AIMCO abused its power," added Amanda Seward, an entertainment and intellectual
property rights attorney who won historical status for Lincoln Place and has
learned landlord-tenant law on the job as she successfully held off the eviction
of the last group of senior and disabled households who are still anchoring the
complex. "The company underestimated the tenants at Lincoln Place and they are
not going away."
Posted: Tue - April 1, 2008 at 08:21 PM
