HUD Chips In : Canoga Park Residents Win Eviction Battle

Clutching her cane, 84-year-old Susan Repasky hoisted her champagne glass and declared she would be dancing if it weren’t for her arthritic hip.

Her 71-year-old neighbor, Pat Johnson, said she felt like she had “taken off a heavy coat in this heat.”

Repasky, Johnson and nine elderly Canoga Park neighbors were celebrating good news Monday. They need no longer worry about being evicted from their longtime home, or about a lengthy court battle, thanks to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which agreed to grant an unusual special rate increase to their landlord.

The tenants, all of whom receive federal housing subsidies, panicked when they received eviction notices in May from Dusablon & Chase Investments, the Woodland Hills company that bought their 29-unit apartment complex in the 7300 block of Variel Street early this year.

Dusablon & Chase said it sought the evictions because the city’s Housing Authority had failed to make more than $10,000 in federal subsidy payments for the 11 tenants since the building was purchased.

Housing Authority officials maintained that they had not paid the subsidies because the building’s new owners failed to register the building. The building’s owners denied that, accusing the Housing Authority of dragging its feet in making payments.

Caught in the middle were the tenants, age 70 to 90, who have health problems ranging from cancer to heart ailments. Many have lived in the two-story white building for more than 20 years.

But HUD agreed to grant a special rent increase covering the 11 tenants, based on a recommendation from the Housing Authority, which passes the subsidies along to landlords. The process was expedited because of concern for the elderly tenants, officials said.

“It’s an extremely unusual situation,” said Steven Renahan, head of the Housing Authority’s subsidized housing program.

Increases were put into effect Monday, raising the rents on 10 one- and two-bedroom units to $480. Before the increase, rents ranged from $284 to $350, Renahan said. The rent for a studio apartment unit was raised from $275 to $425.

Under the program, senior citizens pay one-third of their gross income in rent and HUD pays the rest. The newly authorized increase does not affect the amount the tenants pay.

The unusual rate increase was granted because the new owners “had greatly increased insurance and mortgage costs and taxes over the previous owners,” Renahan said.

Renahan said officials agreed to the increase after a survey found that the building’s rents were as much as 100% below market value.

Ellen Michiel, a volunteer advocate for the tenants, brought the champagne to celebrate what she called a “victory for justice.”

Michiel enlisted the help of the San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services, which had planned to represent the tenants in the eviction proceedings. But Dusablon & Chase dropped the lawsuit pending negotiations with HUD and the Housing Authority.

The happy tenants plan to celebrate their victory Aug. 22 at a party to which they have invited Housing Authority and HUD officials, Legal Aid authorities and Councilwoman Joy Picus, who pressured the Housing Authority to take action.

The happy tenants even decided Monday night to invite Dusablon & Chase.