Owners of care home sued over conditions

City attorney’s lawsuit says elderly, disabled tenants live in squalor

OAKLAND >> Alleging that elderly and disabled renters are living in squalor, surrounded by mold, cockroaches, rats and bedbugs, the Oakland city attorney has filed an emergency tenant protection lawsuit against the owners of an independent living center.

City Attorney Barbara J. Parker filed the lawsuit Thursday against the Oakside Independent Living facility, on International Boulevard in East Oakland.

The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit the owners and operators of the facility from retaliating against the tenants, forcing them to relocate to another facility and illegally evicting them by locking them out.

The lawsuit also intends to protect the tenants from unsafe and unhealthy conditions at the facility, according to the city attorney’s office.

About 18 tenants live at the facility.

Parker also requested an emergency restraining order against the owners and operators for “exploiting and threatening their elderly and disabled tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Tenants have been illegally evicted, in the midst of the pandemic, and left homeless with little or no notice, the lawsuit alleges.

One tenant who had been evicted described his time at the living facility as “the worst experience of my entire life,” according to the city attorney’s office.

The lawsuit alleges that the facility rents out $900-a-month converted storage spaces as units, although they are not fit for human habitation and the space is so small, people can’t stand up straight in them. The suit alleges that

if tenants complain of poor treatment, they are threatened with being transferred to another care home managed by the same owners and operators.

“The abuse of the elderly and disabled tenants at Oakside Independent Living shocks the conscience,” Parker said in a statement. “I will fight to ensure these tenants live in dignity rather than continue to be subjected

to unsafe and unconscionable conditions.”

Independent living facilities are mostly unregulated boarding-type homes for seniors who may need assistance with daily activities such as making meals or housekeeping. They were the subject of an Alameda County Civil Grand Jury 2019 report, which found there was a growing demand for affordable housing for seniors,

yet these independent living centers lack oversight and therefore can take advantage of vulnerable adults.

Parker also is asking for a third party to take over the day-to-day control of the property. The lawsuit also asks for an unspecified amount of penalties and attorney’s fees.

Contact information for the Oakside Independent Living could not be found.