Judge Blocks Efforts to Halt Latino Rent Strike

A Superior Court judge on Monday rejected efforts by landlords to halt a prolonged rent strike by Latinos throughout Orange County but did move toward requiring the tenants group to give a detailed accounting of the rent collections it has been withholding.

Over the last 3 years, Latino residents in several hundred housing units in Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Costa Mesa and elsewhere have withheld their rent payments as part of a campaign to pressure landlords to make repairs.

Instead of paying rent, some have given money to a tenants’ rights organization, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, to be held in escrow until the repairs are made.

Attorneys for one group of landlords on Monday sought to halt the tenants’ organization from collecting or retaining the rent payments, a move that could have effectively ended the rent strike.

Trial to Be Held

But Richard L. Spix, attorney for the group, implored the court to uphold the tenants’ right to withhold their rent “as one way . . . to spur repairs.”

Judge William F. Rylaarsdam agreed, refusing to grant the order requested by the landlords. He said such issues would be better settled during a coming civil trial on the tenant-landlord dispute.

At the same time, however, the judge did express concern about the tenant group’s method of ensuring proper accounting for the rent money it has collected. Tenant attorneys could not say how much money is involved.

“How do we know that someone in one of these organizations isn’t taking off with the money?” Rylaarsdam asked. “What protection do the tenants have?”

Rylaarsdam suggested that the tenants’ group “needs supervision” from the court to account for the collected payments. He set a hearing for Dec. 5 in the Santa Ana court to explore the issue further.