Landlord, Rent Rebels Begin Talks : Owner of Struck Apartment Houses Promises Repairs

Landlord Carmine Esposito, meeting for the first time with leaders of a renters’ rebellion in Santa Ana, promised Monday night that he would make “immediate” repairs to six blighted buildings as soon as he receives city approval to do the work.

“I’m going to make every repair necessary and repair (the buildings) better than what the city requires,” Esposito told about 20 tenant leaders who met in a hall at Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church, Santa Ana.

Esposito also partially agreed to six of eight demands presented by leaders representing about 300 tenants living in 70 apartments Esposito owns.

The renters’ strike, which began Feb. 4, is one of Southern California’s first large-scale organizing efforts involving Latino residents, many of whom are in the United States illegally.

‘Superficial Victory’

“I think he wants to fix up the buildings,” said Raul Hernandez, one of the leaders. “But we’re not sure he’s acting in good faith because he didn’t agree to all our demands.

“We’re not feeling happy because we still have to wait a long time until the buildings are repaired. It’s a victory, but a superficial victory.”

The unusual meeting went peacefully. Tenants and landlord shook hands before and after, although some tenants raised their voices in Spanish to punctuate what they said was Esposito’s sluggish reaction to orders from the city to repair the buildings.

Tenants sat on one side of a long table with two attorneys--Richard L. Spix, of Legal Aid, and a volunteer, Sal Sarmiento, of Santa Ana--acting on the tenants’ behalf. Esposito sat opposite them with his son, Randy, 28, who also manages apartments, and his attorney, Terrence L. Calder, of Santa Ana.

Esposito agreed, in part, to provide better supervision of the property, improve management and manager-tenant relations, install outside lighting to deter street crime and pave pothole-ridden driveways and parking areas.

Refunds Rejected

“Hopefully, once we get the city’s approval, we can start (repairs) by next week,” Esposito said after the meeting.

The landlord rejected a demand for a rent rollback that would allow tenants to be refunded any amount paid above $150 a month--the “true value” of the apartments, according to an estimate made by tenant leaders--retroactive to the time Esposito bought the buildings several years ago. Rents in the six buildings range from $375 to $500 a month.

Calder said that, given the condition of the buildings, his client realized that many tenants feel rents are too high. “But $150 is too little to pay,” he said.

“It’s a point that we can sit down with and talk about, and perhaps enter some kind of arbitration,” Calder said.

A demand for dismissal of a manager and maintenance workers who were accused of entering locked apartments without notifying occupants was put aside until the claims can be investigated, Esposito said.

Esposito, a Villa Park resident with substantial holdings in apartment buildings throughout Orange County, said he estimates he is losing about $28,000 a month in rents because of the strike. A Superior Court commissioner has ruled that renters must pay their rents to a trust fund established by Legal Aid Society of Orange County until arguments are presented in a court hearing set for March 11.

Repair Plans Turned in

Esposito said he has submitted repair plans to the city on four of his six buildings in the 1200 block of Brook Street. None of the plans have been approved by the city, however, said Rita Hardin, who is in charge of Santa Ana’s code-enforcement program.

Hardin said city housing inspectors posted notices on Esposito’s buildings as early as Oct. 3, 1984. The city gave Esposito 60 days in which to submit plans to bring the buildings into compliance with the building and fire codes, and another 60 days to complete repairs, Hardin said.

“Usually they (landlords) contact us to bring in their plans within 60 days. Mr. Esposito didn’t even come in within the first 60 days,” Hardin said, adding that the landlord missed a deadline for repairs on four buildings.

Esposito said Monday that he had allowed the notices to lapse because he had no money at the time to pay for repairs.

He said he paid $300,000 about 4 1/2 years ago for an interest in the buildings with an option to buy them outright later. The idea, Esposito said, was that he and his partners--he said he now has 70% interest--would later find financing for an additional $400,000 for the full purchase price.

“However, Mr. Esposito couldn’t obtain financing because of the problem of redlining in the neighborhood,” Calder said, “and so, he had to use his own $400,000.”

The final payment was made June, 1984, Calder said.

Complains of ‘Overcrowding’

“What wasn’t discussed here was the overcrowding issue,” Esposito said out of the tenants’ earshot and after the meeting.

He said that as many as 10 or more people occupy some apartments, and the crowding eventually adds to a building’s deterioration.

“For example, with 10 occupants, that’s 10, maybe 20 showers a day. Maybe there’s a lot of water, but they’re just not going to have enough hot water with that load.”