Residents Protest Security Deposit Hikes : Oxnard: The Housing Authority will vote today on a proposal to raise fees for federally subsidized renters an average of 134%.

A new proposal before the Oxnard Housing Authority to raise security deposits an average of 134% sparked complaints Monday from low-income residents of the city’s housing projects who say they cannot afford the increases.

“Nobody I’ve talked to agrees with this,” said Esther Lara, president of Colonia Village Tenants Assn., which represents the largest housing project targeted by the proposed increase. “The residents feel they are getting ripped off, that the city is preying on the poor and the weak.”

The new fees, ranging from $100 for a studio to $360 for a five-bedroom apartment, would affect new tenants and residents already living in the city’s 780 federally subsidized units.

Tenants now pay a onetime security deposit of between $50 for a studio apartment to $150 for a five-bedroom dwelling. Under the city proposal, old tenants would have to increase security deposits to match what the new tenants would have to pay.

Old tenants would have their extra deposit payments spread over two years, city officials said.

The Housing Authority, made up of five City Council members and two tenant representatives, is scheduled to consider the proposal at today’s council meeting. If the plan receives preliminary approval, there will be a 30-day period for written and oral public comment before a final vote by the authority.

City officials say they need the money to recover unpaid rent and the cost of repairing units after tenants leave. Last year, the Housing Authority spent $22,557 from its reserves to cover these costs, said Bernard Carn, the city’s housing program manager.

“We think it’s fair,” he said. “This is not an attempt to make money off our tenants.”

In addition to Colonia Village’s 430 units, the federal government subsidizes Pleasant Valley Apartments’ 100 units and several other smaller projects citywide. Under the federal program managed by the Housing Authority, tenants pay 30% of their income in rent. The least paid is $28 a month and the most $859, Carn said. In the past two years, the Housing Authority has borrowed more than $270,000 to cover operating deficits, said Patrick Rudolph, the authority’s accountant.

The city proposal reflects the council’s policy of recovering all expenses, Carn said. It is the first time that the city has raised security deposits since 1983, he added.

But Colonia Village residents said the city wants to charge the wrong people. Tenants who pay their rent and do not trash their apartments should not be held accountable for the city’s inability to recover outstanding debts from other tenants, they say.

“Why should I have to pay money because some guy left town without paying his rent? Why does the city hit on the people who can least afford it?” asked Francisco Ruelas, 68, after Lara informed him of the Housing Authority’s proposal.

Ruelas said he barely squeaks by on his monthly Social Security check of $630. He said he also supports his sister and her granddaughter. The security deposit on his two-bedroom apartment would go up from $90 to $210.

Lara, who met with city housing officials Monday morning, spent the rest of the day knocking on neighbors’ doors to inform them of the city’s plans and to encourage them to attend today’s meeting.

Renters were distraught that the fees may increase, she said.

“This is totally unfair, the city has no conscience,” said Crecencio Garcia, 93. “I have to pay $90 a month for ulcer pills alone.

“I might as well swallow venom and get it over with,” he added.

“I don’t care if they spread out the deposit payments over two years. A buck is still a buck, and they’re taking away what little money we have to spend on food,” said Lorenzo Moreno, who has been confined to a wheelchair for more than 50 years. He and his wife receive a total of $630 in Social Security benefits, he said.

Manuel Avila, gardening outside his Colonia Village apartment while on on vacation from his job at a fruit-packing plant, winced when he heard the news. “There’s lot of people who can’t afford the increase,” he said.