Breaking News
Lincoln Place Tenants Raise $20,000 for Legal Action
By Tibby Rothman with additional reporting from Roger Templeton
May 26--The Lincoln Place Tenants Association has raised $20,000 to fund a law suit against AIMCO, the owners of the Lincoln Place Apartments, over anticipated evictions.
The funds were raised within a week of the association’s decision to pursue the legal action.
According to Lincoln Place Tenants Association President Sheila Bernard, the City of Los Angeles will also be named in the action.
The suit will ask the courts to hold both respondents responsible for not upholding the conditions of a tract map that tenants contend the owners and the city agreed to in 2002. Amongst those conditions are protections of Lincoln Place tenants from involuntary eviction. Most of the 695 apartments have emptied, with tenants leaving for a variety of reasons. However, on December 6, 2005, over fifty households were evicted by Sheriff's deputies. Fifty elderly and disabled tenants remain.
“An appellant court ruled that those conditions were enforceable… The city is refusing to enforce those conditions which has resulted in the evictions of 80 tenants and sheriffs’ forceable lock-out of 58 of those,” said Bernard. “So the city, by [failing] its obligation to enforce those conditions, has directly caused those evictions to happen. We are suing to see to it that the remaining tenants are protected under those conditions.”
AIMCO’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Patti Shwayder, responded, "It's been litigated. It's been to the highest court. We won. The tract map has been litigated. The EIR has been litigated. And, we've won each time. Their threatening frivolous lawsuits is not going to get them anywhere, but, if anybody has ideas, we're ready to listen."
Bernard stated that the tenants were holding the suit in abeyance while the group’s attorney and an attorney from Lincoln Place’s owner discussed a settlement for the senior citizens remaining on the property.
Eviction of those tenants was set to begin this June 1, but, according to Bernard by agreement between both parties’ counsel, “those evictions are now on hold while we talk about potential settlements…and we will get ten days notice prior to AIMPCO commencing eviction proceedings.”
AIMCO’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Patti Shwayder, confirmed that an agreement existed that the company would give the tenants ten days notice prior to posting eviction notices but stated that no further negotiation was underway.
"We had a mediation. We offered our 'best offer'. It wasn't accepted,” said Shwayder. “We're of the opinion that nothing is going to be worked out…We're moving ahead. We're putting together plans for development and a new tract map and moving on a new EIR, and it will go through all the public process."
According to a source close to the tenants, approximately $60,000 more will be needed to fund the tenants’ legal action. Bernard acknowledged that the group would need more money but did not state a dollar figure.
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