Governor’s Promises at Regency Court Made Official
By Bill Peters
Published: Monday, September 21st, 2009
Today Michelle Uzeta, Litigation Director of the Housing Rights Center–Los Angeles, announced that she had received a letter from Craig Diamond, the attorney representing Star Holdings of Illinois, owners of Regency Court Apartments in Monrovia, confirming what Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had promised the disabled residents last Friday at his press conference.
In an email to the residents, families, and supporters Uzeta stated that she had received a fax this morning from Diamond confirming all four of the terms set out in her demand letter of September 18th including the reinstatement of all the developmentally disabled individuals purged from Regency Court’s waiting list.
Uzeta stated in her message to the residents that the only point yet to be resolved is whether Regency Court will assert senior status to refuse admission or placement on the waitlist of people with disabilities in the future. She confirmed that the Housing Rights Center will continue to pursue its discrimination complaint with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing until it is clarified and confirmed that Regency Court cannot exclude prospective residents on the basis of age under state and federal fair housing laws.
Uzeta’s September 18th demand letter to Diamond is printed below in its entirety.
Letter to Craig A. Diamond – VIA U.S. MAIL AND E-MAIL
Dated: Friday, September 18, 2009
FROM: Housing Rights Center
520 S. Virgil Ave., Suite 400
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 387-8400 • Fax (213) 381-8555TO: Craig A. Diamond
Diamond Baker, LLP
Post Office Box 1147
Cedar Ridge, California 95924
cdiamond@diamondbaker.comRE: Regency Court Apartments, Monrovia
Dear Mr. Diamond:
It is my understanding that the Governor has spoken directly with your client Star Holdings, LLC and that Star Holdings has agreed to allow the non-senior disabled residents of Regency Court to continue their tenancies.
Accordingly, I once again demand that you confirm, in writing, the following:
* That the notices terminating and/or refusing to renew the leases of the current non-senior disabled residents were in error and have been formally rescinded;
* That Regency Court will not terminate or refuse to renew the leases of any non-senior, disabled residents in the future based on age or disability (i.e. confirm that that the current residents will be “grandfathered in” to Regency Court should it convert to solely senior housing in the future); and
* That the individuals whose names were wrongfully purged from the waiting list (I believe there were four) be offered the opportunity to have their names put back on the list.
* That you will instruct your clients to fully process my clients’ income re-certification paperwork, and fully cooperate with their annual Section 8 re-certifications. It is my understanding that since August, they have refused to do so.
Please provide confirmation of the above in writing to my office by no later than end of business on Monday September 21, 2009.
We also demand that you issue a letter to all the non-senior disabled residents notifying them of the formal rescission of the notices terminating (or failing to renew) their leases and apologizing for the inconvenience and stress created by those notices. We demand that these resident letters be issued no later than Friday, September 25, 2009, and further demand that copies of each letter be sent to my office (electronic versions are sufficient).
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation.
Sincerely,
Michelle Uzeta
Litigation DirectorCC: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Via e-mail: governor@governor.ca.gov
Via Fax: (213) 897-0319
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