Squalid Santa Ana Units Condemned
After 10 years of living in squalor in an apartment with leaky faucets and waterlogged walls, Jose Vera is glad Santa Ana officials are evicting him.
The city has condemned the apartment building where Vera lives at 1113 S. Standard Ave., and other adjoining apartments. Officials have told about 20 families they have to leave by Sept. 21.
While Vera and some other residents are happy the city is taking action, they fear they will not be able to afford apartments elsewhere.
Vera, his wife and three children are squeezed into a one-bedroom apartment where faucets in the kitchen and bathroom sinks gush continuously.
“It’s been like this for several months. Every month, I tell the landlord when he comes to collect the rent, and every month he says he’ll get it fixed,” said Vera, who pays $455 a month in rent. “At night I have to shut the water off because it keeps us awake.”
On Sunday, the walk-in closet between the kitchen and bathroom in Vera’s apartment was damp and smelly. Vera said the bathroom sink had backed up two days ago and flooded the closet and bedroom. He used three bottles of drain cleaner to unclog the sink.
The new green carpet, which he had bought and installed, was ruined.
Other apartments had broken windows, broken sinks and cracked walls. Some were unpainted, had a terrible smell and were filled with trash.
Residents said the vacant apartments were used by transients and drug users who relieved themselves inside.
Upstairs walkways sagged and did not look safe.
Property records show the apartments are owned by James R. Talley of Santa Ana. He could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Vera and other residents said rent payments were made in cash.
“We were told that Talley is supposed to pay our moving costs,” said Vera, a day laborer. “But I need to find an apartment that I can afford.”
Other residents had the same fear of not being able to find affordable housing. Some, who live in one-bedroom apartments shared by two or more families who split the rent, said they may wind up homeless.
Juan Ortega Cipriano, his wife and two young children share an apartment with another couple and their two young children.
“My share of the rent is $200,” Ortega said. “I probably couldn’t find a place that cheap in Tijuana.”
Ortega said the landlord has a history of ignoring tenants’ complaints about a host of problems. He said he has lived in Talley’s apartment building nine years and was evicted by a county marshal from his previous apartment when he refused to pay Talley two months’ rent.
“I lived in a downstairs unit that leaked. When it rained, the water would leak from the balcony upstairs into our living room. We had to wake up every morning and sweep it out. The carpet in the living room was ruined. I told Talley I wouldn’t pay rent until he fixed the problem. He went to court and got my family and me evicted. The authorities never gave me a chance to explain why I was refusing to pay rent,” he said.
Tenants said the rents range from $450 to $550 per month. Faustino Moreno, who was visiting friends, said he rented one of the higher-priced apartments for eight months and paid $500 per month. According to Moreno, the unit had holes in the walls and the plumbing did not work.
“I fixed it up myself. I patched the holes, painted the walls and bought carpet. I asked him to deduct the cost of the carpet from the rent, but he told me that if I didn’t pay the full amount I could leave and take my carpet with me,” said Moreno, who moved to another apartment several blocks away.
Assistant City Manager Debra Kurita said Talley owns four apartment buildings totaling 40 units at Standard and McFadden avenues that were condemned.
“This has been a problem property . . . tenants conducted a rent strike 10 years ago,” she said. “This has been going on for an extended period of time, but officially, he was given notice July 31 to either improve the buildings or vacate them.”
Kurita said city building inspectors found the units “unlivable and very dangerous.”
“The stairwells are in dangerous condition. There is deterioration and decay throughout. All in all, the living conditions were terrible,” she said.
