Why are those whiny tenants getting all upset about a whole bunch of nothing?:Landlord sued by city, tenants: 'Nothing wrong'
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Mike Kepka / The Chronicle
To say that landlord James P. Quinn is unapologetic about conditions in his Tenderloin apartments is an understatement.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed suit against him, and the San Francisco building and health departments have filed more than a dozen notices of violation and orders of abatement. Tenants have had issues of their own - cockroach and bedbug infestations - and have filed a civil lawsuit, claiming that some residents with medical problems have been trapped in their apartments for more than a month because the elevator doesn't work. But Quinn insists he's the victim.
"There is nothing wrong with this building," sputtered Quinn. "This is a game being played by the tenants. They are just deadbeats who are getting evicted. I don't know what you are getting so excited about."
What about the city attorney and the Building Inspection and Public Health departments?
"Don't believe what you get from those people," Quinn said. "This is just a phony, make-work thing. They're all afraid of losing their jobs. It's a regular WPA over there."
I'd defy anyone to pay a visit to 850 Geary and say there's nothing wrong. Karen Lynch, who is in a wheelchair, has a broken toilet that is flushed by pulling a string. If it catches, the toilet overflows. Her floor is warped, and she says her oven is full of cockroaches. (The city attorney's suit lists "a severe cockroach problem" in the building.) Her monthly rent is $1,203.
Her neighbors, Renee and John Valentine, say they have such a severe bedbug problem that they've sealed off their 8-year-old daughter's room in hopes of containing them. They've had it even tougher since John underwent two separate hip surgeries, one in January and one in March.
The day after his January surgery he came back to find that the elevator was broken - again. He had to scoot up five flights of stairs on his backside.
"It took about 45 minutes, maybe an hour," John said. "And I still had my sutures in my side."
The Valentines' rent is $1,193 a month.
The complaints bounce off Quinn. Court records show he's been named in dozens of lawsuits going back to 1996. Those who have dealt with him say he generally represents himself, and his defense is almost always the same - it is the tenants' fault, the claims are bogus or city agencies are making it all up. He says city officials were prowling the halls, asking if anyone had complaints, to drum up business.
"That's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous," said attorney Scott Weaver, who is representing 11 tenants in a civil suit against Quinn. "I've interacted with the building department a fair amount, and they don't need to look for work. They're plenty busy."
The deeper you dig into the situation at the five-story, 24-unit building, the worse it sounds. The building maintenance manager, Steve Knittle, is a registered sex offender who is listed on the California Department of Justice's Megan's Law Web site. His offenses the Web site lists are rape and oral copulation with a person under 14. The San Francisco Police Department said Knittle is not violating the terms of his probation. But because Lynch, Valentine and tenant David Perdue all have young daughters, they are concerned about having Knittle in the building.
Quinn says the Department of Justice's information is incorrect.
"That was a mistake that was made 20 years ago that never got straightened out," he explains.
As for Lynch's complaint that she's been trapped in her apartment for more than a month because she's in a wheelchair and the elevator is broken, Quinn says she has only herself to blame.
"She weighs over 200 pounds," he said. "With that wheelchair, she's overloading it."
Quinn says Lynch is just a "troublemaking tenant." Clearly, this is not going to be settled with a chat over coffee. At this point, the city is making Quinn a focus of attention. Quinn obviously doesn't understand that these violations are his violations to correct.
"We are holding these owners accountable every step of the way until all the problems are solved," Herrera said.
That will almost certainly mean a brass-knuckles court case. As one attorney said, "trials happen when one side has unrealistic expectations." That sounds like Quinn.
"This better not be in the paper," he told me as we concluded our interview. "I'll sue."
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Mike Kepka / The Chronicle
To say that landlord James P. Quinn is unapologetic about conditions in his Tenderloin apartments is an understatement.
City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed suit against him, and the San Francisco building and health departments have filed more than a dozen notices of violation and orders of abatement. Tenants have had issues of their own - cockroach and bedbug infestations - and have filed a civil lawsuit, claiming that some residents with medical problems have been trapped in their apartments for more than a month because the elevator doesn't work. But Quinn insists he's the victim.
"There is nothing wrong with this building," sputtered Quinn. "This is a game being played by the tenants. They are just deadbeats who are getting evicted. I don't know what you are getting so excited about."
What about the city attorney and the Building Inspection and Public Health departments?
"Don't believe what you get from those people," Quinn said. "This is just a phony, make-work thing. They're all afraid of losing their jobs. It's a regular WPA over there."
I'd defy anyone to pay a visit to 850 Geary and say there's nothing wrong. Karen Lynch, who is in a wheelchair, has a broken toilet that is flushed by pulling a string. If it catches, the toilet overflows. Her floor is warped, and she says her oven is full of cockroaches. (The city attorney's suit lists "a severe cockroach problem" in the building.) Her monthly rent is $1,203.
Her neighbors, Renee and John Valentine, say they have such a severe bedbug problem that they've sealed off their 8-year-old daughter's room in hopes of containing them. They've had it even tougher since John underwent two separate hip surgeries, one in January and one in March.
The day after his January surgery he came back to find that the elevator was broken - again. He had to scoot up five flights of stairs on his backside.
"It took about 45 minutes, maybe an hour," John said. "And I still had my sutures in my side."
The Valentines' rent is $1,193 a month.
The complaints bounce off Quinn. Court records show he's been named in dozens of lawsuits going back to 1996. Those who have dealt with him say he generally represents himself, and his defense is almost always the same - it is the tenants' fault, the claims are bogus or city agencies are making it all up. He says city officials were prowling the halls, asking if anyone had complaints, to drum up business.
"That's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous," said attorney Scott Weaver, who is representing 11 tenants in a civil suit against Quinn. "I've interacted with the building department a fair amount, and they don't need to look for work. They're plenty busy."
The deeper you dig into the situation at the five-story, 24-unit building, the worse it sounds. The building maintenance manager, Steve Knittle, is a registered sex offender who is listed on the California Department of Justice's Megan's Law Web site. His offenses the Web site lists are rape and oral copulation with a person under 14. The San Francisco Police Department said Knittle is not violating the terms of his probation. But because Lynch, Valentine and tenant David Perdue all have young daughters, they are concerned about having Knittle in the building.
Quinn says the Department of Justice's information is incorrect.
"That was a mistake that was made 20 years ago that never got straightened out," he explains.
As for Lynch's complaint that she's been trapped in her apartment for more than a month because she's in a wheelchair and the elevator is broken, Quinn says she has only herself to blame.
"She weighs over 200 pounds," he said. "With that wheelchair, she's overloading it."
Quinn says Lynch is just a "troublemaking tenant." Clearly, this is not going to be settled with a chat over coffee. At this point, the city is making Quinn a focus of attention. Quinn obviously doesn't understand that these violations are his violations to correct.
"We are holding these owners accountable every step of the way until all the problems are solved," Herrera said.
That will almost certainly mean a brass-knuckles court case. As one attorney said, "trials happen when one side has unrealistic expectations." That sounds like Quinn.
"This better not be in the paper," he told me as we concluded our interview. "I'll sue."
Boy, he's got an answer for everything!
ReplyDeleteI'd really like to know which part of his record as a sex offender is a "mistake"!
ReplyDelete