Lakewood : Suit Seeks to Block Eviction of Rent-Subsidized Tenants

The Legal Aid Foundation of Long Beach has filed a federal lawsuit to block the eviction of federally subsidized tenants from Lakewood Manor, a large apartment complex in Lakewood.

A U.S. District Court judge in Los Angeles last week issued a restraining order to temporarily stop the evictions while the case is under review. The Legal Aid suit, also filed last week, claims that Win-Max Corp. of Los Angeles, owner of the complex, has not followed proper procedure and is also discriminating against the subsidized tenants.

Saying that it wants to withdraw from the federal rent subsidy program, Win-Max has issued 30-day eviction notices to all of its 69 subsidized tenants. An attorney for the company said Win-Max is simply tired of the hassles associated with the program and wants to charge higher rents for the apartments than permitted under the Section 8 subsidy program.

Legal Aid contends that since the 69 tenants are almost entirely minority women with children, the eviction notices are discriminatory.

I. Donald Weissman, an attorney representing Win-Max, denied any bias, saying that the majority of tenants in the 600-unit complex are black and Latino. He also said the company believes it is adhering to guidelines on withdrawing from the Section 8 program. A Nov. 8 court hearing has been scheduled in the case.