Pasadena : City Sues King’s Villages
The city and its redevelopment agency are suing the owners and managers of King’s Villages, a 313-unit apartment complex, charging that officials have systematically sought to evict single black women.
The lawsuit filed in Pasadena Superior Court last week also charged that owners Goldrich & Kest and the management firm, the Thomas Pottmeyer Co., spied on tenants involved in a tenants rights group and enforced “English only” rules on Latino tenants to keep them from complaining about housing violations.
The complex was built with the assistance of the city’s redevelopment agency and the federal government.
At a news conference announcing the suit, City Council members said the defendants hoped to get rid of low-income tenants and convert the apartments to condominiums.
A spokesmen for Goldrich & Kest referred calls to Pottmeyer, which also owns a percentage of the project. Pottmeyer denied the charges.
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