Days after the Consulate of Kuwait filed a lawsuit against a luxury Los Angeles property rental company, the Persian Gulf government agency has dropped its case because of factual inaccuracies in its allegations.
In the lawsuit, the consulate claimed that Living The Dream, a company that rents some of L.A.’s choicest mansions for short- and long-term stays, had been a bad landlord for a diplomat and his family who stayed at a five-bedroom villa in Beverly Grove while the diplomat worked at the country’s L.A. consulate.
Among other allegations, the suit claimed that the rental company had failed to provide adequate security and regular cleaning and that, when the diplomat and his family moved out, Living The Dream then fleeced the consulate with dubious charges for items such as a laundry room sink reglazing and exterior painting. The suit named as defendants Living The Dream as well as Shalom Gozlan, the rental company’s president; Rudy Malka, its CEO; and another entity tied to Gozlan.
But the lawsuit contained factual inaccuracies, the lawyer representing the consulate said, and the consulate decided to dismiss its suit with prejudice on Friday, a day after TRD published a story on the allegations.
“I and the consulate appreciate the professionalism of Living The Dream during the duration of the lease, as well as in all dealings after the end of our lease,” Tarek Shawky with the firm Shawky Law wrote in a statement to the rental company. “Our firm publicly apologizes to Living The Dream, as well as Mr. Gozlan, Mr. Malka and New Horizon Development, for any factual inaccuracies or misunderstandings in the complaint, and further apologize for any harm the filing of the complaint and this process may have caused.”
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In a phone call with TRD, Malka and Gozlan emphasized that the company had gone to great lengths to accommodate the diplomat and his family, including providing new furniture that cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“We literally redid the whole house just for him,” Malka said.
Malka also provided TRD an itemized breakdown of the security deposit charges that had prompted the allegations and photos of inspections, including a pre-move out inspection that had also figured in the lawsuit.
“We’re very organized with how we run the business,” he said. “Everything is documented.”