Jaroslava Liska will serve probation and pay more than $5,000 in fines
An eastside Santa Monica landlord was convicted last week of discrimination and intimidation after she tried to force one of her longtime Mexican-American tenants out of the rent-controlled apartment she owns.
Jaroslava Liska pleaded no contest last week to two of five criminal charges that alleged she discriminated against the Vivanco family, who has lived in the apartment building located at 1711 Delaware Ave. for 17 years.
The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office filed the charges against Liska in May, alleging she tried to force the family out so she could raise their $654 monthly rent.
As part of a plea agreement that dropped three other counts against her, Liska must serve three years of probation and pay $5,530 in fines.
“The landlord’s pattern of behavior was clear... and it was completely against the law,” said Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky, who added that the plea offer had been available to Liska for months.
As part of her plea, Liska was convicted of one count of discrimination based on occupancy by a minor child and one count of intimidating or coercing a tenant. Both charges are misdemeanors. Liska also must pay City Hall $500 to take a course in fair housing practices and pay for an advertisement that promotes them.
Liska was charged under the city’s tenant harassment ordinance, which was passed by the City Council in 1995 to protect tenants from landlords seeking to profit illegally from vacancy decontrol, which allows landlords to raise the rent on rent-controlled units when tenants move out. Hundreds of complaints have been filed under the ordinance and the vast majority have been resolved out of court, Radinsky said.
City Hall’s criminal charges followed a civil lawsuit filed in January by the Vivancos and Aricka Traylor, an African- American mother of five, who claim Liska discriminated against and harassed them based on their race.
Traylor said she wanted to rent an apartment in the building but was told by Liska that she doesn’t rent to families with children, the lawsuit alleges.
The Vivancos, who still occupy their two-bedroom unit with their four kids, allege Liska has repeatedly overcharged them, yelled at their children and didn’t allow them to play outside. The suit also alleges that Liska threatened to evict them if they had any more children.
The Vivancos occupy the last rent-controlled apartment in the six-unit building and are the last Latino family to live there, according to the lawsuit.
Liska sent the Vivancos a 30-day notice in December ordering the family to move out of the apartment. The eviction notice alleged that the family is disruptive to their neighbors because their children play outside, kick balls against the apartment walls and play loud music.
Liska and Eric Meller, her attorney, couldn’t be reached for comment. They have previously declined to comment on the case.
Dario Navarro, an attorney in the civil case, said the families are pleased that Liska didn’t fight the criminal charges.
“They’re elated, they’re extremely happy,” he said. “They feel partially vindicated, but of course they haven’t been paid damages.”
Radinsky said City Hall didn’t pursue restitution for the families because of the pending civil suit. With the criminal charges now resolved, the lawsuit — which was put on hold in July — is expected to resume sometime next month.
The civil suit seeks an unspecified amount of money. However, the Vivancos ask for the return of overpaid rent, punitive and exemplary damages and a stop to Liska’s eviction effort. Based on what’s allowed under rent control laws, the Vivancos claim that they have been overcharged rent by as much as $200 each month for the past 17 years.
The criminal plea can’t technically be used in the civil case because Liska pleaded no contest, which is not an admission of guilt. However, both Navarro and co-counsel Denise McGranahan, who works for the non-profit Legal Aid Foundation, said Liska’s plea agreement puts their case in a much better position, partly because the threshold for proving guilt in a civil lawsuit is lower than in criminal courts, where defendants must be proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It’s too soon to say at this point what it’s all going to come down to,” McGranahan said. “It’s good to know that she has been convicted... but it’s not like that will make it a clear-cut winner for us.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 3, 2003. Read the original PDF.