lunes, 28 de julio de 2014
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Unlawful eviction challenges migrant(1)
By Alfredo Santana
J.L.
Felix leased a strip of land last year near his apartment, hoping to rack in
better money as auto mechanic, put his school-learned skills at work, and
improve his family’s stressed economy.
But
a violent incident last March between him and his landlord left Felix stranded
with work, and with an option to file a legal complaint for unlawful rental termination.
So far Felix has refused to file it because he said “he’s not one that likes to
seek trouble.”
Felix
is an undocumented immigrant who has lived in Los Angeles since the mid-1990s.
He moved to L.A. from his hometown of Mazatlan, México, and has worked in both
house construction and auto repairs fields. He lives with his wife and two
children, one of whom was born in the United States.
On
November 2013, Felix started a verbal rental agreement with property manager
Alberto Ponce, for a 8.5 by 4.5 feet
open space at 3001 W. Delay Dr., in Los Angeles CA. 90005, at $250 a month.
Ponce also rents containers for construction workers and spaces to park cars. The
contract was set to be renewed each month with advanced monthly payments.
However,
on March 31, 2014, Ponce decided without explanation to abruptly terminate the
rental agreement, told Felix to clear the premises immediately, and gave him 24
hours to do so. This occurred after Felix had paid the landlord a month worth
of rent a day before.
Felix
was caught off guard, didn’t have another rental space to move in, and could
not vacate the premises. When Ponce returned to the rented plot of land, he
challenged Felix to start a brawl with their barehands, “to rip each other’s
guts,” threat to which Felix refused to engage. He told the landlord to “calm
down” and to think the situation better. Ponce returned Felix his advanced
payment and told him he didn’t need his “dirty money.”
Watching
Felix’s peaceful demeanor, the property manager grabbed a pan filled with automatic
transmission oil, and tossed it on a stake bed truck Felix was repairing. He also
threw an air compressor on top of the truck, and spilled Felix’s tools on the
truck and on the ground. Felix estimates
he spent $550.00 wiping the oil off, and repairing the damaged compressor, in
addition to a full day of labor he estimates at $150.
On
April 1, 2014, Felix hired a tow truck for about $100.00, pulled the truck out
and emptied the plot of land. Felix estimates he lost about $2,500.00 in wages
the month it took him to find another mechanical repair space for rent, plus
another $300 to move into another plot.
Please read Landlord, page 2
Please read Landlord, page 2
Unlawful eviction challenges migrant(2)
Landlord, page 2.
Leticia
Ponce, who lives in Canoga Park, CA. is the property owner, and DKG Inc., located
at 16302 Brook Forest Dr., Houston TX. 77059, is the property beneficiary, or
the company which can collect rental fees or income generated from the
property.
Ponce’s
property is a strip of land that has big-rig metal containers for rent to
tenants who work in construction, landscaping, painting and house and
commercial refurbishment. It has about 10 more uncovered spots that tenants
rent to park their work trucks and vehicles.
The
lot stretches underneath a Glendale freeway overpass. It is located one block
east of N. San Fernando Rd., corner with Roswell St.
The
encyclopedia California Jurisprudence,
Third, says an aggressive landlord, like Ponce, “can be punished by the
courts if he or she acts with malice, offends and behaves outrageously against
a tenant” like Felix, in his efforts to
evict him.
California
Civil Code, section 1945 also says “a
landlord, property manager or a lessor who receives money in advance from a
tenant, or a lessee who has possession of a unit or a plot of land is presumed
to have renewed the rental agreement “on the same terms and for the same time.”
The
law firm Kimball, Tirey and
St. John published on its website www. kts-law.com that contested
landlord-tenant evictions have increased in Los Angeles County 31% since the Shriver
Act was phased in 2010. In San Diego County, unlawful detainer cases peaked
27%.
The Shirver Act provides attorney access
to poor residents in unlawful detainer actions. Currently, each case costs $240
to file. Felix,
who earned several automotive repair certificates at the East Los Angeles Occupational
Center Felix, said he is thinking about his chances to file a suit against his
landlord.
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