Westlake Tenants File Lawsuit Alleging Landlord Neglect

Decro and Trillium Property Management are facing a lawsuit involving some allegedly poor living conditions at one of their buildings in Westlake.

Residents of 7th & Witmer, located at 697 Witmer Street, claim the six-story building is plagued with roach infestations, mold contamination, frequent power outages, a lack of hot water, and nauseating blights like drug paraphernalia and human feces, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The 76-unit building, completed in 2020, serves as permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people. It’s funded by a combination of tenant rents and public subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Los Angeles Department of Health Services.

Culver City-based Decro took over the property’s business operations last August at the same time the new owner, Woodland Hills-based Trillium, began managing the property. The building is operated under a partnership including Brook Financial Group and the now-defunct Deep Green Housing and Community Development.

Decro CEO Ted Handel told the Times he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t respond to specific claims.

“If they’re alleging activities prior to September 2024, it was not under our watch,” he said.

Handel said the building was already neglected when Decro took over and his company has been trying to rectify some of the pressing issues in the months since then.

Residents also allege a lack of security on the property, which has led to apartment break-ins and drug use and fires in the stairwells. And because elevators are frequently out of service, disabled residents have been forced to take the stairs daily or have others run errands for them.

Handel said Decro has installed security cameras and hired a new security firm but is awaiting city approval to implement more changes.

“We’re taking a number of proactive measures to ensure the safety and security and well-being of the residents, and that is paramount to what we do,” he said.

Such decay in a five-year-old building should be unacceptable, according to Josh Nuni of the People’s Law Project, which is jointly representing the tenants with Capstone Law APC.

“The way this property has been run is not only immoral, it’s also a complete betrayal of the public trust,” Nuni told the Times. “The defendants here received millions in public money for a brand-new building and then let it completely fall apart.”

“Permanent supportive housing is critical, and we need a lot more of it,” Nuni said, “but no one should be forced to live like this. I hope this case puts other permanent supportive housing operators on notice: If you don’t take your basic obligations as a landlord seriously, you are opening yourself up to significant liability.”

Founded in 1989, Decro is a nonprofit affordable housing developer with properties across California and Florida. In L.A. alone, Decro has built new permanent supportive housing facilities in North Hollywood, Watts and Lincoln Heights.

Trillium’s property portfolio is spread across Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange Counties.

— Chris Malone Méndez