‘I was evicted by the Russians, Romanians, Germans and now the Americans.’ : Renters’ Plight Elicits Reform Plan

The anticipated eviction of a group of Sherman Oaks tenants, most of them elderly or disabled, has prompted a move for more generous relocation aid for renters squeezed out for renovation.

Residents of a 42-unit complex at 14041 Moorpark St. say that the relocation assistance of up to $2,500 provided under the Los Angeles rent-control law is inadequate.

In response to their pleas, City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, whose district was recently changed to include Sherman Oaks, said he will introduce a measure in the council to increase relocation assistance.

A city ordinance entitles tenants evicted due to building rehabilitation, closure or conversion to receive $1,000 towards relocation costs.

Those who are over 62, disabled or have minor children must receive $2,500, said Barbara Zeidman, director of the city’s rent stabilization unit.

Tenants in the complex said developer David Fox told them in October that he had made an offer to buy the complex.

“He was very nice, he brought us chairs, introduced himself, then he dropped a Hiroshima bomb on us,” said 80-year-old Pearl Asch.

According to the tenants, Fox announced at the meeting that he would send eviction notices out when escrow closed, which he said was scheduled for Dec. 22.

In an interview, Fox said this week he does not intend to issue notices before the end of the year. He would not confirm or deny that the building will be demolished, as tenants fear.

“Our intention is to do something with the property,” Fox said. “It may come down and it may not. Some revitalization has got to take place.”

He said the building is in “desperate need of a lot of repairs,” particularly roof and plumbing work.

The brown clapboard and field-stone complex encircles a courtyard with a pool, trimmed shrubs and a manicured lawn.

Although most of the tenants in the complex qualify for the $2,500 relocation assistance, many told Yaroslavsky at a meeting Sunday that they fear it will not be enough to find new housing and move.

Yaroslavsky, who wrote the 1980 law which set the assistance amounts, said “the dollar figure was a good chunk of cash adequate for relocation in 1980, but just as we update our taxes, we ought to update our relocation assistance.”

The councilman said he plans to propose an increase in the amount to the City Council sometime “before Christmas.” He said he does not know what amounts he will recommend.

But the measure, even if approved, will not help the Sherman Oaks tenants if they receive eviction notices before it passes.

Many of the residents, however, are less upset about money than about having to uproot lives established over the past 10 to 20 years.

“I was evicted by the Russians, Romanians, Germans and now the Americans,” said Emmanuel Beutel, 78, a concentration camp survivor who recently underwent open-heart surgery. A relative newcomer to the complex, Beutel has lived in a spacious, two-bedroom apartment with his wife, Jeannette, for six years.

Russian-born Dora Segal, 92, has lived in her apartment for 15 years, said she doesn’t know where she will go next. “With my age they maybe wouldn’t rent me an apartment.”

The current owner of the complex, Jack Berg, said he received an offer from Westwood-based Wurtzel and Fox Investment Company to buy the 30-year-old building earlier this year.

Tenants at the complex, where rents have been regulated under the city’s 8-year-old rent control law, wonder whether they will not be able to find comparable apartments .

Most of the elderly tenants moved in over 10 years ago and are paying less than $500 per month for their units. One-bedroom apartments rent for about $300, and two-bedroom units for about $450.

Many of the tenants, like Josephine Filippi, 78, are retired and receive monthly social security payments. Filippi gets $440. Because her two-bedroom apartment rents for $442 per month, Filippi said she took in a boarder to help with expenses.

Fox said there are “affordable” apartments “just 400-500 feet north” of the complex. His company has two employees available to help any evicted tenants with moving, he said.

“We offer services above and beyond the required relocation benefits,” Fox said. “We offer to take them out and show them units and provide them with letters of recommendation” for future landlords.

“We really do work with tenants. We really do lend a helping hand. Sometimes, we find better deals for them than what they have,” he said.

But Isadore Berman, 75, said a two-bedroom apartment across the street in a similar building rents for $750, a price he cannot afford.

Yaroslavsky has said he plans to serve as a mediator between the new owner and the tenants and apply some “moral pressure” to do more than comply with “the bare minimum of the law.”

“The best thing that can happen, given the law, is that everyone in the building be given a reasonable amount of time and resources to relocate,” he said.

However, what tenants want more than increased time and money is simply to remain in the complex, which is close to bus stops and next door to a large supermarket.

“Everything is here for us. I wish they would just forget this whole thing and leave us alone,” said Isadore Berman. “Everything is serene here and we all get along well. Now, they’re tearing the roof off us.”

Fox, who owns apartment complexes in Sherman Oaks, Studio City and West Los Angeles and is building a shopping center in Sepulveda, said he is puzzled by the angry reaction to the building’s sale.

“We have a very good rapport with tenants. This is a peculiar situation,” he said.