Pomona : Tenant Lawsuit Is Settled

The city has agreed to settle a lawsuit that claimed Pomona code enforcement officials were being too lax on landlords who refuse to repair their substandard rental property.

The suit, filed in April on behalf of Ernest and Anna Knox, two residents of a substandard apartment complex in Pomona, sought to compel the city to enforce a state law that prohibits recalcitrant landlords from claiming tax deductions for rental property expenses. The suit claimed the city was not adequately reporting such landlords to the state Franchise Tax Board.

In the settlement, filed last month in Pomona Superior Court, the city agreed to stringently enforce the law and provide evidence of its compliance to the plaintiffs. Each party in the suit agreed to bear its own legal costs, and both agreed not to say anything publicly about the settlement that would “depict or portray the other party in a negative manner.”

Christopher Brancart, an attorney with Legal Services, the nonprofit agency that filed the suit, declined to comment specifically on the settlement, but said it was satisfactory.