NEWS ARTICLE RE CHRISTOPHER BRAINARD, Santa Monica Daily Press

Judge temporarily blocks owner’s intentions to the relief of tenants
By Kevin Herrera
Santa Monica Daily Press Staff Writer
August 8, 2007

DOWNTOWN LA The embattled tenants of The Teriton apartments can breathe easy ... for now.

A federal judge believes tenants of the San Vicente Boulevard complex have enough evidence to move forward with a housing discrimination lawsuit against their landlord and has granted them a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking any attempts to evict them.

Central District Court Judge George Wu ruled Monday that there was a “probability of success” and that there may have been a violation of the Fair Housing Act when the apartments’ landlord, Or Khaim Hashalom, repeatedly informed tenants and city officials that it had plans to evict those living at The Teriton and replace them with Jewish refugees from the Middle East.

A representative from the alleged religious organization said it no longer has plans to house Jewish refugees at the North of Montana site, but rather low-income families of all backgrounds.

Tenants have been served with eviction notices under a state law allowing landlords to remove them when getting out of the rental business, and could have received unlawful detainers as early as Tuesday, according to Christopher Brainard, an attorney representing the tenants.

“This is big,” Brainard said. “This means that, for now, my clients don’t have to go anywhere. Or Khaim Hashalom had a right to commence unlawful detainer actions (Tuesday) and everyone would have been kicked out. But now, that is stopped.

“They can’t evict anyone until a further order of the court.”

Rosario Perry, the chief executive officer of Or Khaim Hashalom, could not be reached for comment. In a previous interview, however, Perry said the organization had no plans to file an unlawful detainer for at least two weeks after Aug. 7, as part of an agreement with City Hall, which was planning to ask for its own injunction.

Or Khaim Hashalom, which formed in January 2006, is being sued by both tenants and City Hall in federal and state court, respectively, for housing discrimination because of previous statements made by Or Khaim’s executive officers that they planned to demolish the since-landmarked structure and replace it with condos for sale to Jewish refugees persecuted in Iraq and Iran.

Teriton residents are asking the court to award compensatory damages in the amount of $5 million per tenant, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees, for the alleged discrimination based on the tenants’ race, national origin, religion and disability.

The City Attorney’s Office is requesting that the court order civil penalties be paid in the amount of $2,500 per violation for each day an infraction occurred. City Hall is also asking for additional civil penalties for each violation against a senior citizen, along with punitive damages and attorneys’ fees.

Or Khaim has filed its own lawsuit against City Hall, challenging the Teriton’s landmark designation, which prevents them from demolishing the 28-unit apartment building, which was built in 1949 and designed by architect Stanford Kent.

The organization charges that the building does not meet the necessary criteriato be a landmark, and also that the landmark status creates an unfair financial hardship on a religious institution.

The lawsuits filed by City Hall and the Teriton tenants challenge Or Khaim Hashalom’s status as a religious institution.

The City Council approved the landmark status last month after finding that the low-rise structure, designed in the vernacular Modern/International style, was a rare representation of the somewhat luxury housing for the working class that became as emblematic of early 20th Century Los Angeles. The building is situated in a potential historic district known as the San Vicente Courtyard Apartment Historic District.

The building has been surveyed by City Hall three times in the last 25 years, and at first was deemed not significant on its own, but as part of an historic district, according to city staff reports.

However, during the last survey, the building was found to be individually significant because of a lack of such buildings in the area, and because little is known about the type of building and period of development in Santa Monica.

Judge Wu has ordered parties on both sides to return to court for a status conference later this month, Brainard said. Attorneys for Or Khaim told the court that they will file for reconsideration regarding the preliminary injunction.

Christie Savage, a former tenant of the Teriton who recently moved out due to fear of being evicted, leaving without a place to live, attended the hearing and was pleased with the judge’s decision. Still, she’s concerned about her former neighbors’ future.

“I couldn’t really understand all of what the judge was saying but it sounded like he wants more information, so that’s good,” Savage said. “But I feel like we are sort of on hold once again, waiting to see what happens.”

kevinh@smdp.com
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