The Abuse of Ocean Beach Tenants on Saratoga

Mark in front of his unit on Saratoga.

By Frank Gormlie

Mark has lived in his small unit on the 4900 block of Saratoga Avenue in Ocean Beach for 14 years. His is one of the front units in the 8-plex, where a sidewalk and a narrow space separate the two buildings that make up a narrow courtyard. A row of garages that face the alley forms a “T” with the buildings.

Mark’s longevity as a tenant is not the only one. A woman neighbor has been there for 17 years and a buddy in one of the back units has been there for ten years.

The units from across Saratoga.

Everyone got along in his courtyard neighborhood. Everything seemed fine, until about six months ago when the property changed hands. And a new property management team appeared. It was the Torrey Pines Property Management company that took over, as it was one of their clients that had purchased the units.

Mark recounted to me, that after Torrey Pines took over, they initiated a series of upgrades and renovations – both interior and exterior – of the units. That’s when the troubles began.

First, in January and February, the landscaping was all ripped out. Then the roof on the garages was replaced. Mark and the other tenants were fine with all of this. But when the teams doing spray-painting were out in the alley doing the garage doors and exterior walls, no protections were taped up on the gaps, and Mark’s motorcycle and other things were sprayed.  This pissed him off. When he complained to the company, the response was : ‘that’s what we have insurance for’.

Then in mid-April, the contractor came in and began power-washing the exterior walls of all the units. The contractor is actually Torrey Pines’ own construction crew. When they were finished, the grounds were covered with paint chips.  And the chips just stayed there – through the two big rains our region had in May. The painters, Mark said, had left a large heap of old paint, cans, tarps and other trash at the back of the units. Mark estimates it stayed there for 7 to 8 weeks. It wasn’t cleaned up until things got hot and heavy.

Another time, the painters left the premises at the end of the work day, but left all the front doors of the units open and unlocked. Several people were home – but several weren’t – so Mark, being the good Samaritan he is, called his neighbors to let them know that their places were wide open.

As more and more renovation on the units progressed, Mark got the sense that this all could be part and parcel of the gentrification of Ocean Beach. As the units were vacated, they were renovated and the rent was increased by up to a third. It seemed to him, that the strategy was to harass and annoy the tenants so much that they would move out on their own.  At one point, two units were empty, another recently rented – under the new amount – and 5 were occupied.

Then there was all the abrupt entries by the crews – who without notice – would barge in during the day and tell the tenants they had to fix this or that. Mark and a few other tenants were really bothered about these, and considered the entries illegal. Landlords have to give 24 hours written notice to tenants before they can come in and do repairs (unless it’s an emergency). But the tenants weren’t being given notice. An email had been sent out earlier, giving them general notice that work crews would be about – with one specific date mentioned.  That was it.

But the property management group seemed to think that the general notice was all they had to do to inform the peasants, uh, tenants.

On top of everything else, Mark found what he believed to be black mold in at least 2 places in his unit. He complained – but when Torrey Pines responded, they snarkily asked him what lab he had sent the samples to.  Then he noticed that the work crew simply painted over what he suspected was the black mold. There were other things, too, Mark said. The work crews left gas lines bare – in open trenches around the buildings.

Then in early May, a plumber hired by Torrey Pines came out to Mark’s unit to check his interior water pipes. Astounded, the plumber told Mark not to drink his water. Mark was stunned. The guy said, “Do not consume the water,” Mark told me, as it was the old rust from the old iron pipes had polluted the water, and when the faucet was turned on, the water looked brown.  The plumber called Torrey Pines right then and there but got no response from them.

A closer look at the front yard – June 26, 2015.

Mark recounted how four more plumbers came out – and they all agreed with the first. The water problem also occurred in another unit as well. This was, again, in early May. Of course Mark complained numerous times and never really received an adequate response. So, in essence, he was without potable water for nearly 6 weeks. He had to go out and lug in large gallons for his kitchen. His neighbor had to as well.

This was pretty much the last straw for Mark. The over-spraying, having his bike painted, the illegal entries, the constant noise, the black mold, the gas lines, the units left open, and now this – no drinking water. He had had it. He talked about it with his buddy in the rear unit – and they both decided they would just simply stop paying rent until things were fixed.

Mark was thinking to  himself, why didn’t they just move him into one of the empty units so they could fix his up. But no offer ever came.  He was a long-term tenant, and he was being treated like dirt. So was his neighbor who had been there even longer.

City’s Notice of Violation and stop-work order.

Naturally, not paying rent got the management company’s attention.  They immediately initiated eviction proceedings against him and his buddy.

Both Mark and his buddy obtained lawyers and went to court. The parties settled – right? Mark’s attorney had plenty of ammunition. So Mark agreed to move out in mid-July and received 2 and a half months free of rent.

Yet he still had concerns. Mark was concerned about his neighbors, several were friends, and what was happening to them, as they continued to pay the rent. And one continued to have to haul drinking water into her unit.  Sadly, many of the remaining tenants expected to be evicted within 60 days.

This is astounding. Tenants pressured to move out and then their former units are renovated and rents are jacked up by a third.

Mark’s other big concern was all the paint chips left on the ground all around the front of the buildings, down the sidewalks, in the back – all over. His concern was – what if all these paint chips have lead in them? This was a very big deal for him. He began doing research on the internet and grew even more alarmed at the potential dangers that the lead paint represented.

He also started reaching out. He contacted the EPA with his concerns. Their eyebrows went up. He also contacted the City and its Environmental Services.

Actually, the city got serious and sent out an inspector. The inspector came out, was appalled, and posted a ‘stop work order’ on Mark’s unit, ordering all work to be halted until further testing. The inspector also scheduled a testing for lead paint for today, Thursday, July 2nd.

In the meantime, Torrey Pines got wind of the city’s move, and sent out their own certified inspection team. They came out Tuesday, June 30th. They reported to Torrey Pines that everything was fine.

Meantime, I contacted the management company. It’s owned by Lawrence “Chip” Crandall, and of course he has underlings. I ended up speaking with Andy Parashos, who very politely took my questions and then denied everything. When I would raise issues that had been recounted, like the over-spraying, the black mold, the doors being left open – Parashos just said no, didn’t happen.

I asked about the stop-work order and he responded it was all a result of “some disgruntled tenants”. He even denied Mark’s water problems and dismissed him and his issues. His case is settled, was his attitude. He’s moving out.  He said that any problems were “inherited” from the previous owner and acted like that absolved him and his firm.

Andy said the units vacated were all “under-priced” anyhow, and he confirmed that the rents were going up. Then he got snarky. “We’re trying to make the best rentals in OB and now we’re being punished.” I told him thanks and moved on.

Then this morning, Jessica Weslogel from the City’s Environmental Services came out to do lead paint testing. She’s titled as a “Lead Safety and Healthy Homes Inspector” and appeared at Mark’s door and began testing. “It was like CSI,” Mark said, “she had gloves and some kind of instrument.” She tested 3 other units as well as his, he said.

On the phone with Mark this morning, he recounted that Weslogel had told him that she had found 3 areas within his unit with elevated readings of lead. She’s continuing the testing and also went outside for more readings. She is sending the samples to their lab for confirmations.

Mark laughed. A plumber had also shown up this morning to do work on another unit but when he found out what the city inspector was doing – he refused to do any work – saying something to the effect, ‘I’m not bringing this stuff back to my kids at home.’

And then Andy showed up, Mark told me, and created “a shitstorm” with the city inspector. He demanded that she do testing for 6 blocks around – but of course this was not going to happen.  At one point, Andy torn the stop-work order off the pole in front of Mark’s apartment, “like a little 6 year old,” Mark said.

This is indeed a story of the abuse of tenants by a property management company. No considerations were given for the long-term renters who had made the complex their homes for years and years. Even though the abuse appeared to be on the hands of Torrey Pines, the new owner is responsible for they hired them.

If this is the pattern, where tenants are made to feel so uncomfortable by renovations that they move out, and where their units are upgraded with higher rents, then Mark’s right. This is part and parcel of the gentrification of Ocean Beach.

The city inspector will be contacting Mark soon with the results of her tests. We will follow this report up with an update in the near future.

This is not how we treat people. These tenants on the 4900 block of Saratoga have been made to go through a hellish nightmare – and some are still hanging on – and those like Mark – have to go find a new home for themselves. But he didn’t take it lying down. He stood up for his rights as a tenant – and in doing so, demonstrated for us what at times we need to do. And he also put a human face on gentrification of OB.