Tenants at Crenshaw building allege slum conditions, ask officials to help

Activists with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment joined tenants Thursday to call on the California attorney general to intervene and hold a landlord accountable for allegedly allowing slum conditions and endangering the health and safety of residents.

Residents of the apartment building on Obama Boulevard in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area say they live with black mold, faulty heaters and broken pipes that spew raw sewage.

“These conditions cannot continue to go on like this. People are going to the hospital,” said Zerita Jones, who lives at the property, in a statement provided by ACCE.

The tenants allege they have complained about the conditions but the landlord, Pama V Properties, has not addressed it. They’re seeking help from the city, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Pama V Properties did not immediately respond to a request for a response to the allegations.

The tenants’ effort Thursday drew attention from mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, who said:

“Los Angeles is the second largest city in the richest country in the history of the world. No one should be living in squalor. No one should be forced to live on our streets, or in crowded apartments with broken sewage pipes and black mold. It’s unhealthy, it’s unsafe and it’s exploitative. The landlords responsible must make capital improvements to their units immediately — and their tenants should receive support for temporary housing in the meantime. When the repairs are completed, tenants should be provided with first right of return. The people of Los Angeles deserve better.”