From: Fabian Sanchez To: Jessie Baker Cc: Victor Ramirez; Patricia
Torres; Jason Tarricone; Abisai Moreno Subject: Re: FW: Courtyard
at Bay Road Apartments -- Recent Tenant Concerns Date: Tuesday,
November 19, 2019 12:00:26 PM Attachments: image001.png
CY Recertification Notice - 11.1 - 11.3.pdf
Mr. Ramirez, thanks for connecting us with Mr. Baker at FPI
Management.
Mr. Baker,
Thanks for your response. The letter forwarded to you by Mr.
Ramirez was placed in the mail on November 6th and addressed to Ms.
Patricia Torres and FPI Management. Ms. Patricia Torres's departure
on November 8th could explain why no one was at Courtyard to
receive the letter and share it with you since it likely arrived
after that date.
With regards to the set of notices issued for unit to unit
inspections, maintenance repairs, and CTCA visits, the fact that
these notices are being served on all 77 units in the building
while few are actually being inspected remains an issue that must
be addressed. As you've acknowledged, your current practices
expecting all tenants to clear their schedule for large blocks of
time over multiple days is hugely inconvenient. More to the point
and as our letter states, these practices appear to violate state
law which requires that said notices specify an "approximate time"
for inspections. Cal. Civ. Code § 1954(d). Asking all units to make
themselves available during "business hours" arguably does not
satisfy this requirement. The burden on your team of having to
reissue a new notice in the event an inspection planned for a
specific time falls through is slight compared to the strain you
are placing on all tenants by asking them to free up their schedule
for days at a time just in case they receive a visit.
Further, as our letter explains regarding the notices asking
tenants to stop by the office and complete recertification, our
clients reported they received less than 24 hours notice as
required by law. They stated these notices--asking tenants to come
to the office beginning at 10am on Friday, November 1st--were
served around 3pm on Thursday, October 31st. Ms. Patricia Torres
acknowledged during our call on November 1st that she could have
asked tenants to start coming in beginning Saturday, November 2nd,
rather than the morning of the 1st. A copy of the note attached to
that notice telling tenants "your housing may be in jeopardy if you
fail to comply" is attached.
In terms of staffing at Courtyard, it's necessary that these
changes are communicated to the tenants in the building quickly so
they know who to reach out to if needed. I spoke with a member of
the Valiant Courtyard Tenants' Association ("VCTA") yesterday
afternoon and she informed me tenants had not been appraised on who
the go-to onsite staff were since Ms. Patricia Torres' departure.
This tenant also mentioned that she had walked by the management
office twice yesterday during business hours and the lights were
off, as if no one was there. I'll reiterate that another member of
the VCTA informed me last week that folks had been attempting to
pay rent then, but were unable to because no one was in the
management office. Though you may have worked out staffing for the
building on your end, it appears these changes have not been
communicated to the tenants yet. This presents an opportunity where
it would actually be appropriate to serve a notice on all 77 units
in the building informing tenants of personnel changes.
Typewritten Text
ATTACHMENT 7
Our letter explains in more detail our concerns regarding FPI's
current practices around the issuing of notices and the effect this
is having on tenants. During our meeting on November 1, VCTA
members also expressed concern with FPI's attention to maintenance
and repairs, building safety, file-keeping, and potential blowback
for speaking up about the recent rent increases. Moving forward, it
would be wise to keep tenants appraised of important changes in the
building and ensure FPI's practices comply with what is legally
required.
Please let us know when you've secured a date for the meeting
between Ms. Maria Torres and the tenants at Courtyard so we may
attend. Again, if there is an attorney representing FPI Management
in landlord-tenant matters related to the Courtyard at Bay Road
Apartments, please forward them this e-mail and have them connect
with us. Thank you.
Regards,
Fabián S. C.
On Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 1:26 PM Jessie Baker
<
[email protected]> wrote: Victor and Fabian
I hope this email finds you well.
I would like to apologize in that this is the first that I am
reading this letter from Fabian.
I am going to address this email and the letter as one
response.
24 hour notices sent out during this time period were for the
annual unit to unit inspection, access units to complete the
maintenance findings during the inspection and for the California
Tax Credit Allocation inspection that occurred on November 5th. All
this happened to be during the same 10 day period. Regarding the
time frame we do not know what time entry will be made. If we were
to place a specific time other than business hours and that time
was not met, we would have to issue and additional notice to make
entry.
Notice to complete signatures on recertifications were sent out.
The signing of the final paperwork does complete the
recertification. As referred to in your letter that tenants
received notices to come to the office to sign the "annual
recertification".
With residents waiting all day for the November 5th inspection. As
with all regulatory agreements ALL residents are required to have
received a 24hour notice to enter. The day of the inspection is
when we find out which units CTCAC will be entering. We understand
that this is a huge inconvenience to the residents. This
inspection
we went into 15 units throughout the property. Some residents were
home and some were not.
In regards to the increase Fair Market Rents are published annually
by the Housing Authority, landlords are able to generally ask for
the fair market rent for those households currently under a Housing
Authority contract. Any adjustments to the Housing Authority rents
follow a specific request and approval process. Increases are only
given upon approval from the Housing Authority. Management does not
calculate the tenant portions of any Housing Authority contracts at
this community as this is completed by the Housing Authority, and
is communicated to the resident and landlord in a written letter by
that agency. All residents at this community on the Housing
Authority program are given information in regards to the process
of rent adjustments to their lease during their tenancy.
The emails refer to the staffing of the property. Patricia last day
at Courtyard at Bay Rd was on November 8th. George who has been in
the office as an interim staff member to collect rents ( if any)
and work orders. His first day was November 8th and will continue
through today. Monday morning Maria Torres will be the permanent
manager and is moving on the property over this weekend. During
this week I have kept in contact with George regarding rents and
work orders. As of this writing not one person has come in during
8:00am and 5:00pm M-F to pay rent or attempted to pay rent. Work
Orders have been received and completed. Some are being completed
today.
With this miscommunication occuring I will be distributing and
placing near the office and escalation and grievance notice with
the following phone numbers so residents can contact not only the
site, but myself and my supervisor. 1. Site office - 650-289-9637
2. PM - Jessie Baker 916-719-0357 3. Director - Kim Wolcott
209-210-0113
One of the first tasks that Maria will be completing is setting up
a monthly meeting with the residents. I will be in attendance and
would like to hear what has happened and how we can better
communicate to achieve a cohesive environment for all.
Please send me the copy you received from the resident regarding
the notice to come to the office. As you referred the statement "
your tenancy may be at jeopardy if you fail to comply" is NOT the
way of communication that we want to promote.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at
916-719-0357
Jessie Baker
On Fri, Nov 15, 2019 at 11:06 AM Victor Ramirez
<
[email protected]> wrote:
Dear Ms. Baker and Ms. Torres,
I am forwarding you this email communication which my office
received this morning from attorneys at Community Legal Services
who represent the Courtyard Tenant Association and whom I am also
copying in this request.
We are greatly concerned about the new issues now being raised by
your tenants at Courtyard at Bay Road Apartments which are
described in the attached letter which Community Legal Services
reports they sent to your offices on November 6 but have not
received a response from FPI Management yet. We are also greatly
concerned about Courtyard at Bay Road apparently not having an
on-site manager since Friday, November 8 and very concerned about
the serious issues that this may cause.
We request that you promptly provide us with a response to the
issues your tenants are now raising and confirm whether you
currently have an on-site manager at the apartment complex.
Respectfully,
(650) 853-3157
From: Fabian Sanchez <
[email protected]> Sent: Friday,
November 15, 2019 8:21 AM To: Victor Ramirez
<
[email protected]> Cc: Jason Tarricone
<
[email protected]> Subject: Courtyard at Bay Road Apartments
-- Recent Tenant Concerns
Hello Mr. Ramirez,
I hope you are doing well. I'm reaching out on behalf of the
Valiant Courtyard Tenants Association ("VCTA") to share their
concerns with the building's management in light of recent
events.
I met with a group of 6 tenants from the VCTA on November 1, 2019
to discuss a series of notices they had received that week from
property management. They informed me that on Monday, October 28,
all units in the building received a "Notice to Inspect/Enter"
asking tenants to make themselves available from October 29 through
October 31, between 9am and 5pm, for a "random" inspection
(Attached). Some tenants reported having received a visit, while
others said no one stopped by their apartment.
They also reported that all units in the building received another
notice on Thursday afternoon, October 31, asking all adults in the
household to come to the management office as early as Friday,
November 1 at 10am through Sunday, November 3, in order to
recertify their household income (Attached). Several tenants
present at our meeting informed me they had just recertified their
income in recent weeks. Additionally, they shared that the
management office is closed on the weekends, so complying with
those notices would be difficult.
Regarding a third notice for an inspection taking place on November
5, 2019, a VCTA member informed me the week after our meeting that
tenants waited all day for someone to stop by, but no one
visited.
All in all, members of the VCTA expressed that tenants in the
building were feeling harassed and frustrated by the number of
notices they had been receiving. They shared experiencing stress
and anxiety about having to reschedule doctor's appointments,
errands, or having to take time off from work in order to comply
with these notices. Tenants also described feeling that their time
was not being respected, that there was no consideration from
management, and felt uneasy in their own homes. Although the bulk
of our November 1st meeting focused on the notices, tenants also
raised concerns with
management's attention to maintenance requests, building safety,
and file-keeping.
In response to the concerns shared about the notices, I called Ms.
Patricia Torres--the then onsite manager--in the afternoon on
November 1. During our brief call, she confirmed that all units in
the building had received the various notices. She also
acknowledged that although not all units were visited and several
households had already recertified their income, it was necessary
to serve the notices on all units because serving them on specific
tenants would not be a good look, essentially. The following week,
on November 6, our office mailed Patricia Torres and FPI Management
a letter regarding the notices (Attached). To date, we have not
received a response.
Further, and more importantly, one of our clients from the VCTA
informed me earlier today that Patricia Torres is no longer working
as the on-site manager at Courtyard Apartments. This client
informed me that Ms. Torres's last day as manager was last Friday,
November 8, and that the building has been operating without an
onsite manager since then. This has already been creating problems
for tenants, she reports, as folks have been attempting to pay
their rent throughout this week but have been unsuccessful because
no one is at the office to receive it. It is my understanding that
no tenants have received 3 Day Notices to Pay Rent or Quit as a
result at this time, but our client shared tenants were
concerned.
I share the above given the VCTA's wishes to make City staff aware
of the issues they are currently facing, issues which they feel
have been exacerbated--to an extent--by their participation at city
council meetings in recent months protesting management's
practices. Their hope is that management of their building will
improve and that, moving forward, they can create a healthy and
sustainable relationship with the folks in charge of tending to
their homes.
If you have any questions, or would like to connect with members of
the VCTA directly, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank
you.
Best Regards,
pronouns: he / him / his
1861 Bay Road, East Palo Alto, CA 94303
www.clsepa.org
Jessie Baker/Portfolio Manager C.P.M., A.R.M. www.fpimgt.com/
Direct 916-357-5300 / Cell 916-719-0357 800 Iron Point Road,
Folsom, CA 95630
-- FABIAN SANCHEZ CORONADO | HOUSING RIGHTS FELLOW pronouns: he /
him / his Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto 1861 Bay Road,
East Palo Alto, CA 94303 www.clsepa.org Phone: (650)
422-2890| Fax: (866) 688-5204
