San Francisco plans to issue a fine to a landlord who allegedly illegally turned a single-family home into an apartment-style slum area.
City Attorney David Chiu was on the verge of filing a lawsuit against Rafael Garcia Sanchez for illegally converting a three-bedroom house at 1465 Oakdale Avenue in the Bayview District into five apartments with “deplorable” living conditions, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The lawsuit alleges that Sanchez collected $9,300 a month in rent by cramming 15 people into the one-story home.
The city’s lawsuit alleges that the property owner “caused public nuisance and profited by collecting rent from tenants living in illegal and unsafe housing.” The city alleges that Sanchez violated state housing law, several municipal ordinances and California’s unfair competition law.
The city is seeking unspecified penalties, fees and injunctive relief to correct the violations on the property.
In the past ten years, the building authority has received 19 complaints about the house, 13 of which are still open, according to the Chronicle.
According to the city attorney and public records obtained by the newspaper, city inspectors found unapproved and dangerous electrical wiring, missing required smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, pest infestations and droppings, mold and mildew in bedrooms and bathrooms, blocked fire exits, improperly installed appliances, missing required lighting and ventilation, unapproved kitchens and bathrooms and a general state of disrepair.
The tenants, including 12 adults and three children, pay between $800 and $2,000 a month to rent the unauthorized rooms, according to Chiu.
“In this situation, greed has overcome human decency at the expense of tenants,” Chiu told the Chronicle. “Landlords have a responsibility to provide safe and healthy housing for their tenants.”
“But this landowner has created conditions that are illegal, dangerous and absolutely reprehensible.”
Sanchez could not be reached for comment and a resident who entered the home declined to comment.
In May of last year, the Building Inspectorate received a complaint about black mold in a bedroom, a rotting floor and a spider and cockroach infestation on the Sanchez property.
This led to a series of inspections that culminated in a joint task force inspection of the property in July, which found 12 violations. After two hearings on the violations, the Planning Board declared the property a “public nuisance.”
Sanchez bought the property in 2015 for $599,000, at which point he was already facing charges of unlawful occupancy and health code violations.
— Dana Bartholomew
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