2 Landlords Ordered to Repay Deposits : Injunction May Affect 4,000 Former Tenants of Anaheim Partners

Two Anaheim landlords must repay as many as 4,000 former tenants for security deposits they kept in alleged violation of state law under a preliminary injunction obtained Thursday by Orange County prosecutors.

The injunction requires partners Baldemar V. Rodriguez and Thomas F. Jones to establish a $90,000 account to repay tenants who the district attorney contends were defrauded.

According to Deputy Dist. Atty. Gay Geiser-Sandoval, the firm Rodriguez, Jones & Co., which owns 11 apartment complexes in Orange and Los Angeles counties, routinely kept security deposits, calling them a non-refundable “move-in charge.”

Prosecutors also charged that the landlords violated state civil rights laws by refusing to rent to families with young boys.

No Guilt Admitted

Rodriguez and Jones did not admit any guilt under the injunction. Prosecutors said that they will pursue the case and seek large civil penalties.

Under state law, landlords are required to refund security deposits within two weeks of a tenant’s departure, Geiser-Sandoval said. Landlords are allowed to use the deposit to pay for rent owed, to clean the apartment or to pay for damages beyond ordinary wear and tear, she said, but they must then provide the tenant with an itemized list of deductions within two weeks of his departure.

Prosecutors charged that the company illegally kept the deposits and failed to provide tenants with the itemized list of deductions from the deposits. Tenants often were forced to sue in Small Claims Court to recover their deposits, prosecutors charged.

Tenants who believe they were victims of the landlords have been urged to call the district attorney’s office at (714) 541-7628 to apply for a refund.

Tenants who may be eligible for refunds must have lived in Rodriguez, Jones buildings between Aug. 1, 1983, and Dec. 31, 1986. The buildings in question are:

The Anaheim Gardens Apartments, 2229-2283 W. Colchester Drive, Anaheim; the Bristol Villa Apartments, 2801 N. Bristol St., Santa Ana; the Brookwood Manor, 16851 Nichols St., Huntington Beach; the Crystal Wells Apartments, 13061 Lampson Ave., Garden Grove, and the Four Oaks Apartments, 465 Orangewood Ave., Anaheim.

Also affected are the French Quarters Apartments, Phases I, II and III, 2001 and 2045 S. Haster St., Anaheim; the Huntington Gardens Apartments, 4901 Heil Ave., Huntington Beach; the Huntington West Apartments, 6401 Warner Ave., Huntington Beach; the Mediterranean Apartments, 11555 S. Santa Gertrude Ave., Whittier, and the Villa Marseilles Apartments, 3101 S. Bristol St., Santa Ana.