Hundreds evicted from high-rise apartment complex in Brentwood
Hundreds of people will be scrambling to find a new place to live after they were served eviction notices at their high-rise apartment complex near Brentwood.
Since 2006, 94-year-old Emma Schmole has called her rent-stabilized studio apartment in Barrington Plaza home. However, on Monday, Schmole and 577 of her neighbors were served eviction notices.
"Yesterday, I got all these papers and I said 'Oh my god, I had no idea that this was happening,' " said Schmole.
According to the property manager Douglas Emmett, the real estate investment company plans to implement $300 million worth of safety upgrades to the old buildings over the next several years such as a fire sprinkler system. Two devastating fires ripped through the buildings within a seven-year span — one of which killed a man in 2020. The deadly fire red-tagged eight floors and the landlord has not leased out any units in the past three years.
The city said Barrington Plaza is one of 55 residential high-rises in Los Angles lacking fire sprinkler systems.
"I just changed a country. I don't want to change my apartment again," said Inna Simonovskaia, who recently moved from Russia.
Councilwoman Traci Park introduced a motion Tuesday to ensure tenants are getting the help and support they need. Additionally, it calls for the Housing Department to report every 30 days on the status of the relocation.
"The timing couldn't be worse and I am certainly sensitive to where we are with the housing crisis," she said.
Some residents could receive more than $22,000 in financial assistance for relocation. Park said when these buildings come back into the market, she expects the units will still fall under the rent stabilization ordinance as they are now. The legislation is a rent-raising restriction.
Schmole said she's moved many times in her life and already has an appointment with a relocation specialist on Wednesday.
"I'm not really worried because I have my son behind me who will guide me and he'll take me in," said Schmole.
Most tenants have a 120-day deadline and will have to move out by September.