Stand with Mr. Martinez Against Unjust Eviction

Mr. Martinez was kicked out of his home of 35 years in Koreatown by Sky Asset Property Management this past February.

For several months, they refused to accept his rent - he gave them money orders, but they returned them to him. Then, they issued him a three-day notice claiming he hadn't paid, and filed an eviction case on that basis. He never received his court papers and never got a chance to respond. When he learned that there was an eviction case open against him, he went to a company he believed could help. But the company took $800 from him and wrote up extremely low-quality legal documents. When he had the emergency hearing, the judge ruled against him - despite the evidence that he had tried to pay.

Why would Sky Asset Management lie and say that Mr. Martinez owed them rent? His rent had been around $1100. Sky Asset Management was able to re-rent for $1850. A bogus eviction case is one of the cheapest ways to kick someone out of their rent-stabilized home. They were counting on him not being able to navigate the legal process and defend himself. Unfortunately, in this instance, they were right, and they will make nearly $10,000 more per year as a reward for their cruelty.

Mr. Martinez encountered the L.A. Tenants Union after his emergency hearing, when he had already been evicted from his home. He was sleeping outside the building in his car with his two cats. Because of the legal situation, it was too late to do anything in court. Virtually no lawyers will take cases once tenants have already been removed from their homes, even if the process was incredibly unfair. In the opinion of a tenant lawyer we spoke to, there was no legal route to win Mr. Martinez back his home. Normally, a lawyer would have to argue that the judge had made a legally incorrect decision in order to reopen a case. But because the emergency paperwork Mr. Martinez had paid the predatory company to help him with was of such poor quality, that route of argumentation wasn't open - given the documents, the judge had followed the law.

Mr. Martinez has lived in Koreatown for decades. His landlords lied, broke the law, and made him homeless. They have gotten away with it.

Let's support Mr. Martinez so he can get back on his feet.

If this fundraiser raises more than $8,000, any amount over that will go to the L.A. Tenants Union to support other activities and tenants in crisis.