After years of disqusting neglect, the City of Fresno shuts down Fresno Inn(why did it take so long?

[annm4peace]

Published on May 22, 2014
After years of neglect by the property owners, the Fresno Inn was recently shut down by city officials who declared the property a hazard. The City moved the tenants to temporary accommodations at the Ashland Inn. These developments follows repeated citations by the City and demands from tenant advocates that the property owners, Campo de Campo LLC and its principals, comply with state and local law. In blatant disregard of the health and safety of the residents, the owners refused to make repairs and have refused to make any relocation
payments to tenants.

On February 20, 2014, tenants represented by the Law Office of Kirkland & Rozzo sued the owner on behalf of 28 tenants, demanding repairs and compensation for the deplorable conditions at the Fresno Inn. The defendants (including Dr. Narender Bhatia, a medical doctor in Los Angeles) have neither fixed the property nor made relocation payments. The case is Bier v. Leyton in Fresno Superior Court.

On May 7, city officials declared the property "imminently dangerous" and required it vacated. This was done after the City discovered an active gas leak that threated the safety of tenants. Approximately 70 tenants occupying over 40 units were required to vacate. The City notified the owners in writing that they were required to pay relocation payments to the tenants, payments that still have not been made.

In the meantime, the City has paid for the tenants' temporary housing at the Ashland Inn. Initially, the City paid for a week, a period that was extended after a request from Tenants Together. City officials have been working with nonprofit organizations to find new housing for the displaced tenants. Some tenants have been re-housed, but others are still in limbo. Tenant advocates have applauded the City's most recent efforts to prevent the tenants from becoming homeless but also argue that the situation should never have occurred in the first place.

"The City needs to crack down on slumlords proactively, rather than waiting until everything falls apart," commented Dean Preston, Executive Director of Tenants Together. "The challenge now with the Fresno Inn situation is to make sure the tenants get new housing and that the owners end up footing the bill for all of the misery and cost they have caused the City and the tenants."

Invited speakers for the press conference include city officials, Fresno Inn tenants, and tenant advocates. Speakers will describe the steps being taken to prevent residents from being homeless and to hold the landlord accountable, including an update from attorney Heather Rozzo regarding the pending lawsuit against the owners. ***

www.tenantstogether.org




Just incase you want to call the Mayor of Fresno and ask her why it took the City of Fresno so long to do something.

Ashley Swearengin, Mayor
2600 Fresno Street
Room 2075
Fresno, CA 93721
[phone]

[Niceguy1]

1. because

The tea party is in charge there.

I try to limit my exposure to the area.

[Peace Patriot]

2. It is wonderful to see people getting together, organizing...

...and demanding change!

Kudos and laurel wreaths to Tenants Together!

[The Wizard]

3. It's where FreeRepublic

is headquartered, mostly depraved males who drool on their keyboards in their parents' basements. Normal people leave Fresno in short order.

[grilled onions]

4. Slumlords Don't Live Where They Make Their Money

They should be forced to live in their dangerous,bug ridden,fire trapped hovels. The other problem is when corporations took over it became much harder to track them down. Lawyers and Wall Streeters took "ownership" but when you had a renters complaint you couldn't find anyone in charge to fix it. At a time when affordable housing is at a premium(even if the housing was not up to par) renters often fear being a pest for fear of eviction. Where can they go for help? Where can they, how can they go when their minimum wage jobs keep them "busy" with schedules that never allow for visiting City Hall? City Hall is never in the renters district and many lack transportation to even get there.
Meanwhile the money making slum lords continue making money. The city might be moving in on them(at a snails pace) but the one's responsible are busy shifting their assets into "places" where the city may not be ever able to find them.

[freebrew]

5. The city should condemn the property,

take it by Eminent Domain, fix it and rent it to the tenants at a price that would ultimately pay itself off.

Then give the title to the tenants.

[shebornik]

6. That ain't gonna happen

The city of fresno is carefully gerrymandered so the wealthy white minority population on the north side have the majority on the city council. Mayor swearengen is a textbook republican, privatize the sanitation department even though it was the only department that was actually turning a profit for the city.

[freebrew]

7. Same thing going on here...

there was talk of privatizing the water co., etc. So far, the local repubs aren't the brighter sort, but new ones keep moving here. This used to be a Dem area.

I was just dreaming when I posted, the only time Eminent Domain is used seems to be to kick out the poor for a shopping mall or sports arena.