Resident manager says whites not safe at Hi Point Apts

The tenant for life ordinance.

As told to the Los Angeles City government August 2019.

 Communications with city employees

Denial of housing services

* The intercom system unit 9 and outside the building is unusable. The intercom needs repair * Unit 9 tenants are still being denied a tandem parking stall
* The back interior stairs remain unstable and need repair as they are dangerous wobble when walking on them

Updated May 24, 2018

Manager threatens to sue tenant who complained about illegal dogs

 

SUBJECT: Disturbance by Manager Ogan of my quiet enjoyment of the premises —Request for removal of resident manager

FROM: [TENANT NAME AND EMAIL REDACTED]

TO: walter.barratt@gmail.com; tenantrelationsatyourapt@gmail.com; mayor.garcetti@lacity.org; karen.baggio@lacity.org; robert.galardi@lacity.org; angelo.shannon@lacity.org; steve.ongele@lacity.org; richard.horn@lacity.org; crystal.otero@lacity.org; corey.hupp@lacity.org; paula.hudak@lacity.org; terry.herr@lacity.org; emily.hu@lacity.org; michael.hughes@lacity.org; jonathan.hom@lacity.org; maria.a.hernandez@lacity.org; scott.matsunaga@lacity.org; robert.hughes@lacity.org; hcidla.rso.central@lacity.org;

CC:info@smchamber.com; contact.center@dfeh.ca.gov; councilmember.wesson@lacity.org; councilmember.buscaino@lacity.org; councilmember.huizar@lacity.org; councilmember.ofarrell@lacity.org; councilmember.englander@lacity.org; councilmember.bonin@lacity.org; councilmember.price@lacity.org; councilmember.harris-dawson@lacity.org; councilmember.rodriguez@lacity.org; councilmember.martinez@lacity.org; paul.koretz@lacity.org; david.ryu@lacity.org; councilmember.blumenfield@lacity.org; councilmember.Krekorian@lacity.org; councilmember.cedillo@lacity.org; controller.galperin@lacity.org; ali4servicing@gmail.com;

DATE: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 3:48 PM

 

To whom it may concern Walter Barratt, Jade Beck, Hi Point Apts LLC et al:

I was just walking down the Hi Point street about 2:55 pm and checking my phone voicemails. I had just spoken with a neighbor in another building who without prompting asked me what was being done about the dogs in the building. He said he had heard about numerous dog complaints and that [Cynthia Ogan] the resident manager is frequently seen with five or six dogs under her control going into the building.

Just then Ogan drove up and either was walking two or three dogs or taking them into the building. I briefly saw two dogs and heard them barking but then Ogan had disappeared into the building. As I tried to get to the front door, at 3:05 pm, Ogan was exiting. I was still working with my phone. So she decides to disturb my peaceful enjoyment of the premises and says as I am my door trying to open it, ” I am going to sue you. I know you are not on the phone and you better not be taping me. I want to talk to you.” I told her to email or post a letter and request an appointment.

Ogan seems to think this is some type of fun and games here. She seems to think she has some type of friendly relationship with me, which such does not exist. But she has a duty towards me as she is the resident manager, and I have duties as a tenant. For her to help provide the maintenance to the intercom, and assist with assigning me a tandem parking I have requested, and the rent reimbursement I have requested, does not require me to have a meeting with her or talk with her in any way. She can take care of what she needs to take care of or put it in writing, and put any other concerns in writing post on my door, and I will decide whether I need to respond.

Barratt- Abady Holding- AAGLA Asked to Remove Racist manager

Her job is to provide me feedback on the request for intercom maintenance and the request for tandem parking since Ogan parks in two tandem stalls and also single parking stall eleven. Ogan is also responsible for causing the animal services complaints about the building.

I assume Ogan has threatened to sue me because I have made race, retaliation, code enforcement, housing services, and animal control complaints. etc. Such threats by Ogan I consider continued retaliation by the owner. Ogan benefits from my rent monies but I still do not have housing services of intercom maintenance and tandem parking stall, etc.

Please immediately remove Ogan as resident manager.

 

All rights reserved.
[NAME REDACTED]

HamJewDNAKushite/Black Tenant
1522 Hi Point St #9
Los Angeles CA 90035  CC: DFEH via email

Don’t move to Hi Point Apts

 

April 27, 2018

Los Angeles- In a scathing attack on the owner of 1522 Hi Point St 90035, the resident manager told all tenants that she “insisted” on changes due to “safety” concerns. But the resident manager was immediately scolded by a Black tenant who claimed the resident manager is the one mainly causing the safety problems.

The April 27 2018 letter from the manager as well as a tenant response was turned over to city government rent control officials and made a part of the Public Record.

Below we excerpt both letters but leave out a few issues for matters of tenant safety. If you need full copies of both letter and email, you can contact Mayor Eric Garcetti, Council president Herb Wesson, or the property manager Jade Beck. If they stall at giving you copies, tell them you are a member of the Public interested in leasing and you want to be fully informed about living conditions.

We reprint parts of the tenant response which includes references to the manager’s letter.

 

Subject: The Negligence of Ogan — 1522 Hi Point St Apts—- Resident Manager Says White Tenants Not Safe at Hi Point Apts– Constructive Eviction

From: [Tenant 9}

To: mayor.garcetti@lacity.org; karen.baggio@lacity.org; presiliano.sandoval@lacity.org; robert.galardi@lacity.org; angelo.shannon@lacity.org; steve.ongele@lacity.org; richard.horn@lacity.org; mark.salazar@lacity.org; crystal.otero@lacity.org; corey.hupp@lacity.org; paula.hudak@lacity.org; terry.herr@lacity.org; michael.hughes@lacity.org; jonathan.hom@lacity.org; councilmember.wesson@lacity.org; info@da.lacounty.gov; emily.hu@lacity.org; maria.a.hernandez@lacity.org; scott.matsunaga@lacity.org; hcidla.rso.central@lacity.org; robert.hughes@lacity.org; charles.v.garcia@lacity.org; walter.barratt@gmail.com; ali4servicing@gmail.com; 1ccanary@gmail.com; tenantrelationsatyourapt@gmail.com;

CC: info@smchamber.com; info@da.lacounty.gov; contact.center@dfeh.ca.gov;

Date: Monday, April 30, 2018 4:17 PM

INTERCOM MAINTENANCE

ABANDONED VEHICLE IN STALL 14

DO YOU COMPREHEND ENGLISH?

To whom it may concern:

I received a notice Friday April 27 from resident Manager Cynthia Ogan that the … is being changed Saturday and that there have been break-ins and thefts. The letter says “recent problems with packages, car break-ins, laundry machine break-in”. The copy of the letter is attached. This is a rent controlled building.

  1. Speaking of lack of health and safety for all tenants, upon entering and exiting the front door, guests risk being knocked over because there is no window or peephole. There needs to be a front door peephole because I have witnessed tenants let people in the building who were standing outside the door, but they never sought to identity the person’s business in the building.
  2. The bush to the left of the front door needs to be trimmed. Perpetrators can hide behind that bush at night. That bush is a known causation of criminal activity.

  1. There needs to be more exterior light motion sensor lighting in the parking lot. The sensor light under my window, and maybe others, does not work properly, but I do not see mention of this in Ogan’s April 27 letter. That light has not been working properly for months.

    “…packages, car break-ins, laundry machine break-in…”

 

  1. I notice that tenants who have a working intercom will give out the … to avoid being bothered by guests of tenants who do not have a working intercom and because it is not clear from the outside of the building if the intercom system is working. It is typical of unsafe conditions and substandard conditions that the intercom system has not been fully functional since 2014 but there is no mention of this needed maintenance in Ogan’s April 27 letter.
  2. Ogan negligently does not mention the abandoned vehicle in stall #14, a vehicle which is a known attraction for thieves. It is her vehicle.
  3. I note that recently the …was not shutting securely and this was like this for weeks maybe months before it supposedly partly repaired so obviously no concern for safety.
  4.  There are a lot of people the …code is given to: (1) tenant’s friends and relatives (2) delivery people including USPS, UPS, Amazon (3) other delivery workers, etc. Some delivery services like Amazon actually allow you to put in the … when ordering merchandise, and I have been told by numerous Amazon drivers that they have the …code. I don’t know this issue can be addressed but it is obviously how so many people get into the building; I even saw Jehovah Witness in the building twice. Cleaning service people also may have the …code. Undoubtedly, many of Ogan’s Dog Boarding business Customers also have the code.
  5. An intercom system that can clearly be determined from the outside as non-maintained is also an attraction to thieves.
  6. 1522 Hi Point St 90035 is targeted by the criminals because of many of the conditions I have mentioned herein and previously, a danger to white tenants in the building. Numerous customers of Ogan’s Dog Boarding Business, as well as neighbors, as well as other tenants, assume there is probably …in this building because they see Ogan’s two brand new dog boarding vehicles, and a total of five vehicles, they see the number of dogs and her customers on the property, and she tells neighbors who tell other people, who tell me …dog boarding business. That type of retail activity attracts the criminal element and puts all tenants at risk. There is no mention of this in Ogan’s letter, for obvious reasons. Her business activity is more important than tenant health and safety.
  7. INTENTIONAL DENIAL OF MAINTENANCE TO THE INTERCOM TO CAUSE HARM TO BLACK TENANTS.
  8. Ogan, Jade, Mozannar Construction appear to be concerned about the issues in their Apr 27 letter authorized by Walter Barratt and Abady Holdings and the [Garcetti) Mayor’s Fund, but for the issues they don’t mention like lack of intercom system maintenance, etc. they need to be fired from their positions.
  9.  While the door lock mechanism has recently been repaired, and now the door frame is being repaired, the door lock mechanism was faulty for a number of days.  The door should be fixed …. I am sure it is a simple adjustment. This is obviously a safety issue that tenants see, the manager sees, outsiders see, maintenance sees, yet it is still a safety issue. I guess Ali Mozannar runs up the bill repeatedly to keep coming out and it never seems to be repaired.  The unsafe condition here is intentional since I know Ogan and others are aware of this for months because the … is used by her to a large extent to lead those customer’s dogs in and out of here.
  10. This shall verify to all and the DFEH that the latest DFEH complaint was received by the DFEH on April 18, 2018 at 11:57 am. I consider all acts stated herein as occurring after April 18 2018 as continuing retaliation because I complained, i.e denial of intercom maintenance and denial of tandem parking, and denial of rent reductions. My observation is that white tenants Ogan and Navis park five vehicles in the parking lot while I am only assigned parking for one vehicle while unit 9 has two vehicles needing parking; this is in no way “equal” terms and conditions, a violation of applicable housing discrimination laws.
  1. “I thought about Emmett Till, and I could not go back. My legs and feet were not hurting, that is a stereotype. I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated. I was not going back.” Rosa Parks
  2. Standing in the Apt House Door.
  3. The Ogan-MickeyMouse-ThreeStooges-Beck-Mozannar-Navis-Barratt-Garcetti team cannot repair or replace an intercom since 2014 and none dare call it intentional racism.
  4. Let God surround the good tenants and protect them from the lying and cheating and stealing of the owner and his designated agents.
  5. Within the last few days the owner has put numbers for each unit on the outside intercom box. See attached picture. This represents a false and deceptive business practice because you have not indicated on the outside intercom which units are not operational, i.e units 9, 5, and 8. Besides being a violation of the business and professions code, this creates the unsafe condition that visitors will press on an intercom that does not work, or worse press on someone else’s intercom because they believe the system is fully operational, which it is not. Tenants tend to unsafely buzz visitors in because they don’t want to be bothered; I have witnessed this.
  6. The owner and his agents and the city government agencies participate in a fraud scheme that makes tenants unjustly pay rent monies for an intercom system that is not fully maintained.
  7. Just as tenants pay rent for motion sensitive security lights that are not properly maintained on this property.
  8. The California legislature has declared that “It is recognized that the practice of discriminating….foments domestic strife and unrest … the practice of discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, or genetic information in housing accommodations is declared to be against public policy.”
  9. Illegal drugs on the property is considered to be an unsafe condition. Ask anyone on the street in this area where can you get illegal drugs and they will direct you to 1522 Hi Point St. I would not know because I don’t use illegal drugs, or sell them, but I suppose they are being transported in the dogs collars. Yes, drug traffic in and around the property can attract crime.
  10. “The RAC Guideline 920.00 defines resident manager as two types: resident (tenant) manager and employee-manager. The resident (tenant) manager is someone who resides on the premises and acts as the owner’s agent in maintaining the premises. A resident (tenant) manager is fully protected by the RSO unless they are an employee-manager as defined in Regulation 920.02. An employee-manager is a resident manager with similar duties as above and is required to live on the premises as a condition of employment. The employee-manager receives compensation in the form of a free rental unit plus income”. It is my belief that former resident managers L Sakachi and M London did not receive free rent as required by RAC herein.
  11. Ogan and Navis’ duties are as stated above : “The resident (tenant) manager is someone who resides on the premises and acts as the owner’s agent in maintaining the premises.” Based on what is stated herein, such conditions that have not been corrected and see code violation complaint 673292, Ogan and Navis have failed to perform their duties, and I request they be removed as resident managers.
  12. Ogan says in her attached letter “safety is my main concern” but she does not mention the intercom system and does not mention the rear stairway railing/guardrail unsafe wobble.
  13. Barrett and agents have failed to act in a reasonable and good faith manner as required under the rent agreements.
  14. Move to 1522 Hi Point Apts and Garcetti’s Klan will make you pay rent for denial of maintenance.
  15. In the case Groh v. Kover’s Bull Pen, Inc., 221 Cal. App. 2d 611 (1963) Court of Appeal, the court ruled in favor of tenants due to breach of covenant to maintain premises in useful condition under a lease. Groh v. Kover’s Bull Pen, Inc., 221 Cal. App. 2d 611 (1963). “Plaintiffs afforded defendants every opportunity to remedy such conditions” (Groh v. Kover, page 614); “A constructive eviction occurs when the acts or omissions to act of a landlord, or any disturbance or interference with the tenant’s possession by the landlord, renders the premises, or a substantial portion thereof, unfit for the purposes for which they were leased, or has the effect of depriving the tenant for a substantial period of time of the beneficial enjoyment or use of the premises.” (Groh v. Kover, page 639)
  1. The owner’s acts herein have deprived tenants of the beneficial enjoyment and use of the intercom system and tandem parking, i.e. tenants unit 9.
  2. Ogan doesn’t mention the safety that her and Navis enjoy by having parking for five vehicles, while I am denied equal safety and have to park my vehicle off the property, denied the terms and conditions granted to whites Ogan and Navis.
  3. The intercom for unit 9 is not in useful condition.
  4. Ogan fails to mention that one of the uncorrected unsafe conditions at the property is dogs not on a leash in the common area parking lot and hallways. In large part such dogs are the same dogs under her control.
  5. Ogan never mentions the lack of safe work practices that resulted in primary renovations to ten units in the building and never mentions the wall heater peeling lead based paint hazard and airborne hazard in unit 9. Hardly sounds like she has a concern for health and safety.
  6. Jade Beck is presumed to be one of the drug traffickers in and around the property.
  7. The purpose of the intercom is security to screen visitors and to give access to visitors to the building.
  8. If Ogan and Navis are supposed to get free rent, or a reduced rent, then their salaries are a matter of Public Record by way of the LAMC and the state labor code.
  9. There is no sign outside the building telling the unsuspecting public that part of the intercom system is not working, nor has there been a notice to all tenants as to which intercoms are not working. Tenants rent monies pay for the lack of maintenance to the intercom system.
  10. Ogan and Navis’ letter (attached) does not mention any of the safety issues that are complained about in city code violation case number 673292: they mention the …but does not mention the non-working intercoms which are connected to the same front door as the keypad; she does not mention debris, illegal storage, and unsafe abandoned vehicle at parking stall #14; they do not mention the guardrail or handrail in disrepair rear stairway; they don’t mention the unsafe peeling lead based paint in unit 9; the letter does not mention the lack of uniform compliance as regards the intercom system; or the debris that Ogan had underneath the car at stall #14 and debris inside the building power supply closet.
  11. For the “health and safety” issues that Ogan and Navis mention —-as well as the issues they leave out—-I think they have been primarily caused by their negligence as managers and by the customers, etc. of her dog boarding business. When the public knows this is a place they can get drugs, or they see abandoned vehicle or debris for years, or they see a non-working security feature like an intercom—-for years, or they see what they perceive as a business where someone has …. and five vehicles, or they constantly see a …., these are all issues I believe can attract a criminal element.

All rights reserved.

[Tenant #9]

HamJewDNAKushite/Black  1522 Hi Point St Los Angeles CA 90035

c: insurance companies of De La Torre Electric and Mozannar Construction; owner Manager Jade Beck at tenantrelationsatyourapt@gmail.com

“What is the procedure for unit 9 [nine] tenants to apply for a second parking stall at this plantation property city rent controlled building?” Email Oct 18, 2017 to Ogan. Ignored by Ogan.

 

2018-3-21 Apt 9 at 1552 Lead Peel 2 of 2

Peeling lead based paint at Hi Point Apts 90035. Airborne hazard.

2014-4-27 New Intercom Keypad One Unit

This is the famous intercom and keypad installed as one unit in 2014. Keep in mind there was already an intercom and keypad in place, so this was actually routine maintenance. But the city incorrectly granted the owner a $17 per month rent increase but three tenants are still without a working intercom. At least ten Black tenants had to pay the $17 per month increase but never received the working intercom. The city authorized the repair and rent increase but refuses to order the maintenance for the remaining three units. Say hello to corruption.

 

(Editor: bold subheadings DO NOT appear in the original email.]

(Editor: How much money would you allow someone to cheat you out of? This is a question that many landlords may try to guess especially in rent control buildings where the city has a hand in rent increases for renovations and capital improvements. Landlords know that the average person—not every person—will not complain when something goes wrong. So are you a person who will complain over five dollars, fifty dollars, $100, $1,000? Everyone is different. If a denied housing service is worth $5.00 per month, you may not complain. But if a resident manager should receive free rent at a cost of $1,000 per month —and that is denied—would you complain? Maybe or maybe not depending on your values. Just think if the government enforced civil rights even if no one complained; that would be TOO much, huh?)

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