November 30, 2005
Contact:
Sheila Bernard
(310) 871-6368
sheila.bernard@comcast.net
Illegal Evictions: Largest Mass Eviction in History of Los Angeles Housing Department Forces Tent City to Erupt at City Hall
Demonstration information:
Who: Tenants and supporters of Lincoln Place Apartments in Venice, CA
What: Tent city at City Hall to protest mass evictions at Lincoln Place Apartments
When: Friday, December 2, 9:30 a.m.
Where: Corner of Main St. and 1st St. in front of L.A. City Hall (map)
Why: A major developer, AIMCO Venezia, LLC (“AIMCO”), is threatening lockouts at Lincoln Place in order to extract development concessions that are in violation of state and city environmental laws and that are against the public interest. Further, the evictions are illegal because they are in clear violation of the tenant protection conditions of the only approved development plan for the site, the Vesting Tentative Tract Map 51337 (the “VTT”). The city has a choice: It can give the developer what the developer wants, thereby violating city and state laws, circumventing meaningful public input in the city planning process, and encouraging city-wide similar tactics by unscrupulous developers; or the city can stand up in support of the public interest and stop the rampant abuse of the public process by developers.
Misinformation given by AIMCO:
1. “The tenants haven't paid rent since July 2005.”
Tenants are not paying rent because AIMCO, as part of its eviction strategy, will not accept rent. Moreover, in the eviction proceedings, AIMCO waived back rent because it did not want to defend its poor maintenance of the buildings, which have been cited by city inspectors as needing repairs to maintain habitability.
2. “Most tenants accepted AIMCO's offer of $10,000 to move.”
Only tenants who were senior, disabled, or parents of minor children were offered $10,000. Others were offered $5,000. However, 160 households, half of whom are seniors and have lived at Lincoln Place for decades on fixed incomes, have declined AIMCO's move-out offer, because in today's housing market these tenants cannot find alternative housing, even with relocation money. The relocation money won’t go far toward doubled or tripled rents. Seniors are particularly vulnerable on this score, not to mention the trauma of being torn from their homes and community.
3. “The tenants turned down life tenancies offered by AIMCO.”
AIMCO walked away from the negotiations on Nov. 3, 2005, when Lincoln Place's historic designation at the state level became final, foreclosing AIMCO's desire to demolish 500 of the units at Lincoln Place without a public process.
For more information about Lincoln Place, please visit the Lincoln Place Tenants Association website at http://www.lincolnplace.net.
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