Media Contact: Steve Arredondo, Esq.

Telephone: 323-980-3500

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 16, 2007

MEDIA ADVISORY

TENANTS ALSO AFFECTED BY RISE OF FORECLOSURES

The impact of the rising tide of foreclosures affects homeowners as well as tenants living in rental apartments and homes whose owners have defaulted on their mortgage. Unlike owners living in foreclosed properties, who are only entitled to a three-day notice, tenants living in cities with no local rent control ordinances are entitled to a 30-day notice. Tenants living in the City of Los Angeles in housing that is subject to the Los Angeles Rent Control Ordinance, are entitled to the protection of Rent Control, even after the property has been sold in a foreclosure sale.

Under a 1985 California Court of Appeals decision (Gross v. Superior Court, 171 Cal. App. 3rd. 265), the bank or new owner steps into the shoes of the former owner, and must comply with local eviction laws that limit the grounds for eviction. The 30-day notice requirement for evicting a residential tenant after a foreclosure sale in an unlawful detainer action does not preempt local rent control ordinances. Consequently, a tenant protected under the rent control ordinance cannot be evicted by the new landlord without cause. If a new owner wishes to remove tenants they generally must provide the tenant with relocation assistance under the Los Angeles Rent Control Ordinance.

Tenants living in single family homes built before 1978 that have been subdivided into two or more rental units may also qualify for protection under the Los Angeles Rent Control Ordinance.

As the foreclosure crisis continues to impact our communities, the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice’s Housing Unit is assisting the increasing number of families that are being erroneously evicted and denied their housing rights as a result of foreclosure. Tenants needing assistance with landlord-tenant issues or an eviction can come to the Center’s Eastside Housing Rights Clinic held every Wednesday from 2:00 pm to 6:30 pm at the Center’s Boyle Heights office located at 1241 S. Soto Street, Suite 102.

Naomi Kobayashi received the prestigious Association of Corporate Counsel of America’s Southern California Pro Bono Award on March 7, 2008. Photo: From left to right: Juliet Arganaraz, Hellen Hong, Naomi Kobayashi, Suma Mathai, and Vincent Gonzalez.

Yungsuhn Park, (213) 977-7500 x245

KOREATOWN TENANTS VICTORIOUS IN SUIT AGAINST LANDLORD
FOR UNINHABITABLE AND UNLAWFUL CONDITIONS

LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2008—Nearly a year after filing a lawsuit in California Superior Court, four Koreatown tenants won a jury verdict of $96,000 against their landlords. Yesterday, the jury decided that tenants have the right to live in healthy and safe homes, free from interference from their landlords, and that landlords that abuse tenants’ rights will be held
accountable.

The tenants, as the prevailing parties, are entitled to an award of attorney’s fees as well as costs that will be paid by the losing parties, landlords Bo Nam Shin and Kwang Ja Shin. The tenants’ motion for attorney’s fees and costs is pending before the same court. If the motion is granted, the landlords will have to pay additional, significant amounts.

The original complaint was filed in July 2007 by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (“APALC”), the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP working pro bono, and the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice (“LACLJ”) on behalf of two couples, Brian and Kyoung Suk Kim, and Hyon Su and Ko Soon Yu, all of whom lived at the landlords’ apartments for over ten years.

The action was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Bo Nam Shin and his wife Mrs. Kwang Ja Shin, for subjecting their tenants to unsafe, unhealthy and unlawful conditions. Landlords Bo Nam Shin and Kwang Ja Shin sought to make money from the “condo boom” by converting their 12-unit apartments to condominiums. In 2006, without providing advance notice, the landlords started major construction work in their tenants’ apartments, while the tenants continued to live in them. Despite the tenants’ complaints to the landlords, workers tore out ceilings, walls and doors, and removed bathroom and kitchen fixtures, without replacing them. During over seven months, the landlords entered the tenants’ apartments at any time of day, on weekends and holidays, without warning and without knocking. Despite subjecting their tenants to horrible conditions, the landlords took full rent from the tenants. The landlords only stopped their unlawful acts when inspectors from the Los Angeles Housing Department and Department of Building and Safety ordered the Landlords to immediately halt their illegal construction. The landlords should not have performed the construction with their tenants living in the apartments. By law, the Landlords also should have offered relocation assistance to their tenants so that the tenants could move to livable apartments.

Instead of doing the right thing, the landlords Bo Nam Shin and Kwang Ja Shin refused to compensate their tenants, and the tenants were forced to file a lawsuit to enforce their rights. After a one-week trial before a 12-member jury, the jury returned a verdict of $76,000 for the Kim family and $20,000 for the Yu family. The jury found that both Mr. and Mrs. Shin were
liable for failing to provide their tenants with safe and habitable homes that were free from defects. Specifically, the jury found that the landlords negligently breached the warranty of habitability, breached the covenant of quiet enjoyment, created a nuisance, and negligently inflicted emotional distress upon the tenants.

Plaintiffs Brian Kim and Kyoung Suk Kim, who lived in a two-bedroom, were forced to live without a usable kitchen because there was no stove, running water, countertop, or cabinets for over seven months. “At first, I didn’t know my rights and I suffered in the horrible conditions caused by the construction. Then I found help at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center and the Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice, two non-profit organizations that helped me to enforce my rights. I hope that this victory will raise awareness about all tenants’ rights to safe and livable apartment conditions at all times,” said Mrs. Kim.
“The jury’s verdict demonstrates that landlords cannot simply ignore the rights of their tenants in order to make a profit. With this verdict, Mr. and Mrs. Shin were held accountable for the suffering they caused their tenants after the Shins illegally started construction in their homes,” said Yungsuhn Park, APALC Staff Attorney, one of the attorneys that represented the tenants at trial. “We hope that this verdict sends a message to tenants and landlords that no one should be forced to live in dangerous apartments and all landlords must ensure that the units are safe and habitable. The verdict also sends a message that low-income and immigrant tenants can fight back and win.” “The law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf represented these four tenants on a pro bono basis because it is critical that all Angelenos have access to justice and can enforce their right to habitable homes. These landlords flouted Los Angeles condo conversion laws by forcing the tenants to live in dangerous construction zones for several months and failing to provide the tenants with relocation assistance required by local law,” commented Dean Hansell, Partner of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, who also represented the tenants at trial.