“Ripped off”: Kuwaiti consulate sues landlord over LA mansion rental 

Even an oil-rich Middle Eastern government can have a horror story renting in L.A. 

In a new lawsuit, the Consulate of Kuwait alleges the manager of a five-bedroom villa in Beverly Grove turned out to be a bad landlord, failing to clean and maintain the property and provide adequate security — and then stiffing the consulate on a hefty security deposit. 

“The consulate felt they were getting ripped off just because they’re Kuwaitis,” said Tarek Shawky, a lawyer with the firm Shawky Law who represents the consulate. 

The suit names Living The Dream, the L.A.-based luxury villa rental company that owns the Beverly Grove home, along with Shalom Gozlan and Rudy Malka, the company’s president and CEO, as well as another entity controlled by Gozlan.  

Gozlan and Malka and Living The Dream did not respond to requests for comment left through the company. 

Living The Dream, which calls itself “a five-star, full-service real estate rental and concierge company,” rents out dozens of Greater L.A. luxe properties, including a blufftop Malibu estate that goes for $79,000 per month, a Beverly Hills villa priced at $65,000 per month and a five-bedroom Hollywood house with a waterfall that’s listed at $35,000 per month. 

In November 2021, the Kuwaiti government, working with a Douglas Elliman agent, leased one of the company’s properties, a 4,300-square-foot villa with a pool and garden at 363 North Sweetzer Avenue in the Beverly Grove neighborhood of L.A. The rental was for a diplomat and his family at $22,000 per month. The consulate paid $264,000, for a full year up front, and also paid a $22,000 security deposit. 

The rental agreement stipulated that throughout the diplomat’s stay, Living The Dream would have the home professionally cleaned, maintain the pool and garden and install a privacy screen. The company also agreed to install security cameras ahead of the move, according to the suit. 

But the security cameras weren’t there by the time the diplomat, Bader Almutairi, moved in, and Almutairi was mugged outside the home by an armed robber. 

“The incident was reported to police,” the suit states, “but law enforcement officers were unable to locate the suspect and no surveillance footage could be provided due the defendant’s failure to timely comply with the agreement to provide surveillance cameras prior to move-in.” 

Throughout the next year, Living The Dream also failed to maintain the landscaping and have the home professionally cleaned or even install the privacy screen and plant the ficus tree, the suit alleges. 

Then last fall, after the consulate gave notice and moved out, the company turned around and hit the consulate with a $22,154 invoice for fees and damages — enough to keep the whole security deposit. 

The charges included exterior and interior painting, a reglazing of the laundry sink, a re-staining of the backyard deck and compensation for a broken outdoor umbrella and allegedly damaged outdoor furniture, the suit alleges.

The charges were bogus, according to the suit and Shawky. Many of the damages Living The Dream claims were just normal wear and tear, and before the diplomat left the home the consulate had requested an inspection that would have given the tenants a chance to rectify any problems, which Living The Dream ignored. The estimate the landlord provided for deck staining and other fees came from a contractor affiliated with Gozlan, the president of Living The Dream, and had no supporting invoices. The landlord also grossly overcharged for minor damage, Shawky said, such as a mark on a piece of artwork. 

According to Shawky, the rental company attempted to take advantage of the Kuwaiti government because of its wealth. 

“They just basically had to wrack up $20,000 worth of fake expenses to take their deposit,” the lawyer said. 

He added that the Kuwaiti government had experienced similar problems from L.A. landlords, and, after an attempt to sort out the matter with Living The Dream failed, decided to file suit to avoid more problems. 

“The Kuwaitis are like, ‘We don’t want this to become a recurring thing,’” he said. 

The consulate alleges negligent maintenance and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The suit seeks statutory damages up to twice the deposit amount and attorneys’ fees, among other relief. 

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