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Day One was a good day.
On Wednesday, tenants faced with being displace at the 712-unit rent controlled Barrington Plaza Apartments, traveled to the Santa Monica Courthouse to fight the evictions, packing the court room.
Hundreds of residents at the complex on Wilshire Boulevard are facing eviction.
“I wanted to make sure I’m represented in this fight for tenants in Los Angeles,” said Barrington tenant Chuck Martinez, who has lived in the building since 2021. “To lose this affordable housing is a step backward for L.A.”
In her opening remarks, Fran Campbell, the tenant’s attorney, said evidence presented during the trial would show that the company for years had plans to “transform and upgrade” the complex and to re-rent the apartments “at a new market rate.”
Campbell, delivering a masterpiece opening statement, said the law requires owners who invoke the Ellis Act to remove the units permanently from the rental market.
"My rent will go up. I will have to find another place," said Miki Goral, who has lived at Barrington Plaza for more than three decades.
"This is our home, this is our community ... to be forced out is devastating," said resident Andrew Rahm.
In response to the media’s question about what it will mean if the landlord prevails, "It opens the door for every tenant throughout the state in a rent control jurisdiction to be at risk of their landlord using the Ellis Act for mere renovations and not going out of the rental business," explained Larry Gross with the Coalition for Economic Survival.
The trial is expected to go on for several days, maybe weeks.
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