Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Rental Habitability topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Magistrate orders owner to fix unsafe conditions at El Prado rental within 30 days or face daily fines
Summary
Special Magistrate Amity Barnard required the owner of a rental property at 11611 El Prado to correct multiple tenant‑reported safety and habitability issues within 30 days or incur a $200 daily fine.
Special Magistrate Amity Barnard on Sept. 3 ordered the owner of a rental property at 11611 El Prado to fix a list of structural and habitability defects within 30 days or face a $200 daily fine.
The city’s code compliance officer, Officer Forrest Deere, told the magistrate that inspectors found multiple defects during an inspection that followed tenant complaints. "The windows do not open," Deere said, and inspectors also found a nonfunctioning air‑conditioning unit, shower walls with exposed pipes and a toilet not fastened properly. The officer told the magistrate that photos and reinspection evidence were in the case file.
Tenant testimony at the hearing confirmed the occupants had been dealing with the problems. Tenant Alice Dushner said the landlord was aware of the hearing. "The landlord was aware of this hearing," she told the magistrate when asked if the landlord had been notified.
Barnard ordered the property owner to come into compliance with the cited code sections — which the city grouped under structure‑condition and public‑health provisions — within 30 days. "I'll require respondent to comply with those code sections within 30 days or a $200 per day fine will be assessed for each day that the violations continue thereafter," Barnard said in her ruling.
City staff said certified mail was posted to the owner and that the property posting and affidavit of posting were in the file. The city asked for 30 days because the property owner had been nonresponsive and tenants reported ongoing water and other service issues.
The order requires the property owner to either apply for any necessary permits and complete repairs or demonstrate compliance to the code enforcement officer within the 30‑day period. The magistrate noted that if the owner requests extra time after beginning the permitting process, code staff could consider that request, but the immediate compliance deadline stands.
The magistrate entered the city's evidentiary case file and photographic evidence into the record and advised tenants to stay in contact with code staff if problems continue.
