Oakland apartment fire that displaced 200 residents still unresolved
Oakland apartment fire that displaced 200 residents still unresolved
The tenants of an downtown Oakland apartment building are asking for city mandated pay related to relocation fees after their building burned in January and displaced 200 residents. Residents and a tenants rights organization say they are owed the money because there were existing code violations. The landlord denies this.
OAKLAND, Calif. - A massive fire on January 19 that consumed 47 apartment units close to downtown Oakland, forcing 200 people into homelessness remains unresolved. Tenants say, even as the building was still smoking, the owner illegally evicted them and demanded a signed a waiver of liability if they wanted to retrieve their personal belongings.
Argument over code violations
On Monday, there was a City of Oakland hearing where the long-suffering tenants of 1770 Broadway pleaded for an official to order the landlord, Ted Dang, to make city law-mandated relocation payments to the tenants when there are code violations.
Tenant and Neighborhood Councils representative Daniel Tuft read directly from the hearing officer's initial findings that Mr. Dang is responsible for relocation payments and concluded by saying, "Multiple tenants had made multiple complaints about the activity outside unit 211 up to and immediately prior to the fire. The owner was aware of existing dangers and had control over it but failed to take reasonable measures to address the conditions or prevent foreseeable similar activities," said Tuft.
The tenants wholeheartedly agree. "During the hearing, Ted mentioned that he was there, you know, once a week or so. I never saw him during that time. There was so evident, with break-ins frequently to the doors to public areas and private areas; the mailboxes were frequently torn off the walls openly and left that way for weeks and weeks," said 13-year resident Jay Lind.
"The earliest record I have to the building manager about the issues with this tenant from the unit where the fire started was back in November 2022 and, after that, over the course of the years, I have expressed many concerns about not only that tenant but the other people who came in and out of the building," said tenant Rachel Arrocha.
The other side:
KTVU spoke to Ted Dang by phone, who refused to do a Zoom interview. He later called our reporter back, still refusing a Zoom, claiming many of the tenants are making things up. He said he does not owe tenants relocation money because he says there were no code violations.
He says the Tenant and Neighborhood Councils are folks who think tenants should pay no rent at all. Nonetheless, he talked about a previous fire by a non-tenant, who may be the same person who started the most recent one.
"I strongly believe that he is liable for the events that led up to the fire, and he was made aware more than once as to what was going on in the building and how unsafe the building was," said resident Keisha Bigbee.
A final decision on the matter will be out in a few days.
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