Apartment Dwellers Seek Help : Renters Fight Mass Anaheim Evictions

Residents of an Anaheim apartment building, after narrowly avoiding an eviction order Thursday evening, said they would attempt to organize a renters’ association and report several complaints about the order to the Legal Aid Society of Orange County.

“Three or four” people have been arrested this week on trespassing charges at the Casa Cordova Apartments, 3360 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim Police Sgt. Larry Kurtz said. Residents, many having withheld their rent for several weeks in an effort to have the landlord make repairs, said about 18 people have already been evicted and about 50 have received eviction notices.

Neither the building manager nor Anaheim city attorneys could be reached for comment Thursday.

Diane Davis, 29, said apartment security guards, accompanied by Anaheim police officers, entered several apartments Thursday afternoon and told tenants to move out before they returned at 6 p.m. However, Legal Aid attorney Jeanne Blackwell said she secured a promise from Capt. Randall Gaston, the acting police chief, that no arrests would be made that evening.

Seeking Time

“I’m just trying to buy some more time, to prevent a situation before it escalates and causes problems,” said Blackwell.

She said the eviction notices appear to be illegal since there is no evidence that any residents were given three days’ notice and no court order was issued. “From what I can see, there have been no court proceedings at all in this case,” she said.

Davis and her husband, Roger, 26, said they have withheld the rent for about seven weeks while awaiting repairs to rotting wood, a short-circuited stove and a waterlogged bathroom ceiling. “One day the guy upstairs is going to step into his tub and find himself in our bathroom,” she said, adding that daily late penalties are now more than $500.

She pointed out one apartment with broken windows and ankle-high trash and added that the now-drained pool used to be a breeding ground for insects.

Michelle Yoguez said she was given an eviction order “but I’ve paid my rent through Friday.” She believes she was included because she signed a petition asking that repairs be made.

Attorney Blackwell listened to some of the complaints in the building’s yard Thursday and said she suspected that many of the conditions in the apartments violate health and safety codes. “This place appears to violate several habitation laws,” she said.

Kurtz stressed that Anaheim officers did not participate in the evictions and were only there to respond to a citizen complaint about trespassers. He said department policy precludes public comment on any complaints. “Tell them to come down and file a report and we’ll investigate it fully,” he said.