Residents, city unite against religious sect
NORTH OF MONTANA A non-profit religious institution that sought to evict residents from a recently landmarked apartment complex and replace them with Jewish refugees from the Middle East is being sued by both the tenants and City Hall for housing discrimination.
In complaints filed in both federal and state court, tenants and the City Attorney’s Office claim Or Khaim Hashalom engaged in a housing discrimination scheme after it purchased the Teriton — located at 130-142 San VIcente Blvd. — in a plan to demolish the building and replace it with high-end condominiums that would be sold only to Jewish refugees, a clear violation of federal and state fair housing laws.
Plaintiffs hope to prevent Or Khaim Hashalom from evicting tenants, something which could occur later this month. A judge is expected to meet with attorneys for the tenants and Or Khaim on Monday to discuss the evictions.
Tenants are asking the court to award compensatory damages in the amount of $5 million per tenant, as well as punitive damages and attorney fees. 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 a violation occurred. City Hall is also asking for additional civil penalties for each violation against a senior citizen, along with punitive damages and attorney’s fees.
“In a housing discrimination scheme with transparency unusual for the post-Civil Rights Era act, landlord Or Khaim Hashalom … not only committed one of the most egregious types of discrimination against its tenants — terminating their tenancies because of race, religion and national original — but the corporation also repeatedly informed the tenants that it was forcing them out to make room for Jewish persons from the Middle East,” Deputy City Attorney Gary Rhoades wrote in a complaint filed with the California Superior Court on July 23.
“Along with blatant housing discrimination, (Or Khaim) also used sham claims under California’s Ellis Act to defraud tenants, many of whom are elderly and disabled,” Rhoades wrote.
The lawsuits challenge Or Khaim’s status as a religious institution.
Or Khaim has filed its own lawsuit against City Hall challenging the landmark designation, which prevents them from demolishing the 28-unit apartment building, which was built in 1949 and designed by architect Stanford Kent.
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 as bungalows and Spanish Colonial Revival homes. 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 a 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.
Rosario Perry, a Santa Monica land use attorney who is named in the suits because he serves as the chief executive officer of Or Khaim, said the Teriton does not meet the proper criteria to be considered a landmark, and that even if it was, City Hall cannot prevent a religious institution from executing its mission. By keeping the apartment as is, Or Khaim is facing a serious financial hardship and, therefore, should be exempt from landmark restrictions.
The non-profit no longer plans to house Jewish refugees, Perry added. That plan was abandoned back in January after the group learned that the plan was being opposed by City Hall.
Instead, the group plans to house the poor by providing housing for free. Perry said City Hall’s suit is a “desperate” act that was only done once attorneys learned that Or Khaim was moving forward with evictions so that it could provide housing for low-income tenants, much like other non-profit housing providers operating in the city.
“The city has gone back on their word,” Perry said, referring to a settlement agreement reached between City Hall and Or Khaim in January. “We thought we resolved all their issues back in January to avoid litigation. We did everything they asked of us.”
Perry said Or Khaim would like to provide transitional housing to help poor people get back on their feet and, eventually, move out to make room for others who are struggling.
Residents and City Hall aren’t buying it, especially since one apartment is already being occupied by a mother and her two children who were chosen by Or Khaim in “pursuit of its ‘religious mission’ and as such the ethnic and religious cleansing has already begun,” City Hall’s suit states.
Residents said they have seen the woman, whom they describe as a Jew of Middle Eastern descent.
Perry said he hopes to work out a settlement, but it not, Or Khaim is prepared to go to court and fight. Or Khaim has offered to delay evictions for two weeks so that tenants can find alternative places to stay.
Some tenants have already left, not wanting to deal with the uncertainty. Others, including longtime resident Kit Snedaker, plan to fight.
“This is my home,” said Snedaker, a former food and travel editor who is in her 80s. “I don’t want to have to pick up and move. Where would I go? I don’t think I could afford any other place.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 3, 2007. Read the original PDF.