Wrongful mass eviction case settled by Oakland Housing Authority

Wrongful mass eviction case settled by Oakland Housing Authority

A case of fraud & corruption in the OHA reaches conclusion

By Lynda Carson August 11, 2007

Oakland, CA - After 34 families were falsely accused of being unlawful occupants (squatters), and paying bribes to a housing authority clerk to obtain their public housing units, tenants at Lockwood Gardens public housing complex can rest a little easier since the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) dropped all attempts to evict, and recently negotiated settlements for all of those cleared of any wrong doing.

The Lockwood Gardens mass eviction case began in early 2006, after a partial investigation into corruption taking place at the OHA's East District Office, led to events in which 34 families faced eviction after being falsely accused of wrong doing to obtain their housing units.

According to the attorney's representing the tenants, "The Oakland Housing Authority instituted the lawsuits more than a year ago, alleging these tenants used false identities and paid bribes to a Housing Authority employee to gain access to apartments they were not entitled to."

Evidence provided to the courts on behalf of the accused revealed that the tenants had all signed leases, payed rents, gave security deposits, received keys to their units, and had provided birth certificates, photo ID's, income verification and Social Security cards to the OHA before moving into their housing units.

Finding that the tenants were not unlawful occupants as alleged by the OHA and innocent of any wrong doing, the courts repeatedly blocked the eviction attempts, and no charges have ever been filed against any of the tenants at Lockwood Gardens by the District Attorney's office regarding allegations of fraud or bribery.

However, charges were filed against a former OHA clerk, and during July 2006 Carolyn Wilson was arrested near New Orleans and charged with 65 felony counts. She served less than one year in jail, after being convicted of one count of computer fraud and one count of misappropriation of public funds.

As a result of the settlement agreement reached between the OHA and the wrongfully accused, nineteen families are being allowed to remain in their housing while receiving two years free rent. They also received new rental contracts, all past rental payments have been refunded back to the tenants, and the tenants do not have to start paying rent again until June 1, 2008. Attorney's involved in the mass eviction case believe that the other 15 families alleged to have been unlawful occupants may have fled in fear of their safety after receiving a number of late night visits by the OHA police, who pounded on doors and demanded that the tenants must move within a five day period or face future eviction proceedings.

Lockwood Garden's tenant Ira Turner says she is very grateful that her housing situation has finally been resolved. "This has been a big ordeal for me. Before moving in, I received a call from someone in the OHA asking me if I could use a one bedroom unit, and eventually moved into my current housing on December 3, 2005 after giving up $309.00 as a security deposit, and signing OHA documents and submitting all the paperwork asked of me by the OHA."

"During April 2006, two policemen from the OHA came by late at night and told me I had to get out. The OHA police told me I had to get out in 10 days. It was Officer Jerold Coates who treated me real bad, and told me I had to get out of here. I believe that Officer Coates still owes me an apology for all the stress he put me through which had me thinking of committing suicide at times. It was a real struggle to fight against this eviction because I'm a cancer patient, and a senior citizen on disability," she said. "It was Jorge Aguilar of the Eviction Defense Center who kept checking in on me at times, and he was the one that really helped me get through this mess."

In a similiar OHA Police incident during April 2006, Lockwood Garden's tenant Ms. Kelly stated, "I am a 41-year-old woman with an 11-year-old child, and I am very frightened by the way the OHA has been treating me," she said. "I was terrified recently when the OHA Police showed up at my door around 10 p.m. at night, accusing my family of committing fraud to move into this townhouse; and they served me a five-day notice to surrender my home to the OHA, or else."

The above experiences described by Ira Turner and Ms. Kelly in regards to the OHA Police coming by late at night to frighten them out of their housing, matches similiar stories described by other tenants at Lockwood Gardens.

Eviction Defense Center attorney Jorge Aguilar says, "This is a huge victory for the tenants who fought against their evictions, and I'm very happy for the families. The tenants were all vindicated, and the proof is in the difference between the allegations originally made by the OHA and the recent results of the settlement negotiated with the tenants. All the families get to remain rent free in their housing units, and that speaks for itself. The OHA wanted to go down a one way street the wrong way in this mass eviction proceeding, and it was wrong. They tried to force a conclusion that was not factual in the final conclusion."

A joint statement from the attorney's who represented the public housing tenants says, "First and foremost, the public should try to keep in mind that cases are tried in courtrooms, not in the press. While the press is undoubtedly fundamental on a number of levels in our society, it is not a substitute for the legal process, which is designed to ferret out the truth. For our clients, we are happy to report that the legal system unearthed the facts and these tenants can move forward with their lives."

In disagreement with the courts findings, OHA spokesperson Bronwyn Hogan said, "The OHA disagrees with the rulings of the court. However, it was sensible to the OHA to settle this case, especially when considering that it involved 19 lawsuits which would end up being very expensive to litigate any further in the courts. We have made internal fixes to make sure this does'nt happen again, including the installation of a new computer system that will alert us to problems in the waiting list."

When asked if the OHA has offered an apology to the tenants, Hogan said, "We are not contending that the tenants were involved in any wrong doing, and the settlement shows that. We are treating the defendants like tenants now, and hopefully our settlement to the tenants is a message that the tenants will find acceptable."

East Bay Community Law Center attorney Mark Janowitz said, "I think the OHA tried everything possible to evict the tenants from their housing in this case, despite the overwhelming evidence confirming the tenants innocence. The OHA came to their senses and finally settled with all the families they wrongfully tried to evict. When tenants are able to obtain legal representation, they can fight the worst sort of accusations being thrown at them such as what the OHA did to these tenants. I believe the entire community benefits from such organizations as the East Bay Community Law Center, the Eviction Defense Center, and attorneys like Bob Salinas who are willing to offer legal representation to those in need."

According to attorney Bob Salinas, "The Hardest thing to understand about this case was knowing that the OHA had enough information to know the tenants were innocent of wrong doing, but they pressed forward with their evictions anyway. I can't understand why they would do that. The settlement actually occurred last May, but we waited until early August to go public with the news because the OHA Board of Commissioners had to approve it, and that whole process took some time. I thought the resolution reached was fair for the tenants and attorneys involved in the case."

According to a press release from the attorneys involved, it says, "Because of the inherent public interest in such proceedings the Eviction Defense Center, East Bay Community Law Center, and private law firm of Sundeen Salinas and Pyle received $110,000 for the attorney time spent defending these cases, including at the First Appellate District."

While faithfully serving the housing needs of many thousands of low-income families in Oakland, in recent years this much needed agency has repeatedly been caught up into lawsuits and scandals during past years.

As recent as February 15, 2007 the City of Oakland sued the OHA accusing it of being Oakland's biggest slumlord, while claiming the OHA failed to properly maintain it's properties.

During April 2006, 34 families at Oakland's Lockwood Gardens public housing complex faced eviction after being accused of fraud and bribery by the OHA, to obtain their public housing units.

During July 2006, former OHA clerk Carolyn Wilson gained national media attention after being arrested near New Orleans and charged with 65 felony counts, as a result of fraud and corruption that occurred in an East Oakland OHA office.

During 1998 through 2002, the OHA received national media attention over it's use of the "One Strike Policy," while trying to evict four elderly public housing residents all over 60 years of age, for the suspected drug related activities of a caregiver and younger relatives accused of drug activity outside the homes of the innocent elderly public housing residents.

During 1999 through 2000, then Tribune reporter Chauncey Bailey wrote a series of articles exposing rent scams in the OHA's Section 8 housing program, detailing how some landlords were forcing tenants to pay more than their Section 8 contracts required.

During 1997, 41 public housing residents filed suit against the OHA because rats, roaches and maggots roamed an apartment complex that was poorly maintained by the OHA.

During 1994, an OHA clerk and four accomplices were under investigation and suspected of selling over $3000 worth of housing voucher certificates, including 76 fraudulent vouchers for around $350 to $600 each. Around 47 families may have been subsidized by use of the vouchers alleged to have been sold by the clerk.

During April 1992, nearly a quarter of the OHA's maintenance workers staged a sickout while protesting the firing of an employee who accused the OHA of mismanagement.

During April 1991, four ex-OHA police officers named Daniel Broussard, Scott Dwyer, Larry Houston and Juan Reese, were all convicted of violating the civil rights of two undercover officers, including 12 other individuals at public housing properties, after originally being indicted for robbing people, beating them up, and faking evidence for false arrests.

During May 1991, the OHA announced that it would get rid of it's then scandal plagued police force, and replace it with a new police force supervised by the Oakland Police Department, after a third of it's officers were indicted in a brutality case during 1990.

During 1990, the OHA settled out of court with 42 people who claimed to be victims of beatings and false arrests by the OHA Police, in a settlement that was around $500,000, according to sources.

During August 1990, six OHA police officers were indicted by a federal grand jury and charged with robbing public housing tenants, beating them up, falsely accusing them of possessing drugs and arresting them, lying under oath, and the 19-count indictment also accused the officers of conspiring to violate the civil rights of those falsely accused.

During 1989, a $1 million lawsuit was filed by a man who claimed he was searched and detained without reason by the OHA police.

During December 1989, several undercover investigators posing as drug dealers at OHA's public housing properties were brutally beaten and robbed of $900 in cash by OHA police during nine seperate run-ins at Oakland's public housing projects, according to a 396-page affadavid filed in court.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com