Hey LAHD, What Do You Even DO Around Here?
In theory, the Los Angeles Housing Department is responsible for “[solving] unmet housing needs…[balancing] services that regulate and assist both landlords and tenants in the rental housing market…administering housing policy and leading programs that produce and safeguard affordable rental housing…guided by a belief that all Angelenos should have equitable access to housing and to the opportunities that a safe, stable home can deliver.” That’s from LAHD’s own website.
In practice, however, that is NOT what’s happening.
Longtime readers may recall that LAHD was complicit in how bad the Lourine Court situation became (the above photo is of one of the fires at the complex). The Department’s General Manager, Ann Sewill, left in 2024, but unfortunately the Department does not seem to have improved.
I know I don’t need to tell my readers that Controller Kenneth Mejia’s latest transparency project lists the city’s top 100 problem rental properties, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell Eastside residents that Wyvernwood ranks high on the list.
When Wyvernwood was built in 1939, it was based on “Garden City Movement” principles that gave renters fresh air, sunlight, and open space. Garden complexes were meant to be a healthy, community-oriented alternative to filthy, overcrowded slums. However, modern-day Wyvernwood renters are dealing with a landlord that has racked up a whopping 225 complaints and a Housing Department that is actively failing to help them.
This piece from the Boyle Heights Beat made my blood boil. Here are a few excerpts:
Once inside, protesters waited about 40 minutes to meet with a housing department staff member to discuss the closure of “hundreds of complaints” from Wyvernwood residents. Advocates said they were ready to present rental contracts and paperwork they believe show reductions of services at the apartment complex.
An employee never came out to meet them.
Wow, cowardly AND horribly unprofessional!
…Wyvernwood residents deal with moldy roofs, faulty repairs, and a lack of affordable parking spaces that have been privatized.
Please watch this CBS news clip on the unsustainable parking problems in Boyle Heights BEFORE commenting on the parking situation. Not everyone has the luxury of going carless.
The complaints include allegations of health code violations, failure to make repairs, insurance fraud, reduction of services and a proposed online-only payment system that would disadvantage aging tenants without bank accounts.
I would like to remind everyone that a lot of those online payment systems charge processing fees. Also, I’m not sure how good the internet connectivity situation is at Wyvernwood, but I’d guess that when it stops working, it probably doesn’t get fixed promptly (I used to live in a neighborhood that was not a priority to the only available internet service provider, trust me on that). That could create a real problem if the internet goes out right before the rent is due.
Oh, and California Civil Code 1947.3. (a) states: (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a landlord or a landlord's agent shall allow a tenant to pay rent and deposit of security by at least one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic funds transfer. (Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.)
Boy, all these complaints and NO accountability? What is LAHD even doing with all of this information? What are they doing with Angelenos’ hard-earned tax dollars?