A San Francisco property owner is accused of acting as a slumlord in a lawsuit filed by the city, alleging unsanitary and unlicensed occupancy of a property in the Bayview District.
Rafael Garcia Sanchez is accused of failing to correct a litany of violations since purchasing the property at 1465 Oakdale Ave. in 2015. These include a rodent and cockroach infestation, unsafe conditions, unauthorized occupancy and other violations.
According to the lawsuit filed by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu, Sanchez allegedly continued to collect rent ranging from $800 to $2,000 a month from tenants totaling $9,300 a month, despite warnings and fines from the city over the past decade that most of the units in the single-family building were illegal and various fire safety violations put tenants at risk.
“In this situation, greed has overcome human decency at the expense of tenants,” Chiu said in a statement. “Landlords have a responsibility to provide their tenants with a safe and healthy place to live. But this property owner has created conditions that are illegal, dangerous and absolutely reprehensible. We are filing this lawsuit to take responsibility and fix the many health and safety issues on this property.”
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from a representative called to testify for Sanchez at building inspection hearings.
When Sanchez bought the property in May 2015, numerous violations were already in place. Some of these were fixed, but others were piling up. They included decaying walls, a lack of fire protection and escape routes, the absence of smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, and unapproved kitchens and construction.
Inspections found unsafe electrical wiring, mold, trash, and signs of rodents and cockroaches, and instructions to prevent future problems were ignored, the lawsuit says.
A total of 13 violations were still outstanding as of Thursday.
According to Chiu, 15 people, including three minors, live in the 220-square-meter, three-bedroom property.
The lawsuit seeks penalties, fees and an injunction to compel a resolution of the violations. It also names five unidentified co-defendants whose names the city could not confirm, according to Chiu.
