FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2002
Contact:  Eda Suh, Deputy City Attorney, (310) 458-88327

Mary Brittany Stevenson and Anthony T. Wells, the owners of an apartment building in Santa Monica, have agreed to pay the City of Santa Monica $6,371.00 and other conditions to settle a tenant harassment lawsuit filed by the City. Stevenson and Wells were charged with violations of the Tenant Harassment Ordinance, based on their repeated refusals to accept rent checks from a tenant in a rent-controlled unit.

The tenant had alleged in a sworn complaint that in August 2001, shortly after Stevenson and Wells became the new legal owner of the building, Stevenson sent back the tenant’s August rent check and requested a new one made out to her. When the tenant mailed Stevenson the new check by certified mail, Stevenson refused to sign for the envelope, even after being notified by the tenant what it contained. Rather than accepting the August rent, Stevenson served the tenant with a three-day notice for non-payment of rent. The tenant promptly responded by telephone and by certified mail, explaining that she had paid her August rent by certified mail. Nonetheless, Stevenson filed an unlawful detainer lawsuit against the tenant. 

Hamlin’s controlled rent amount is $758.00 per month. 

Stevenson lost the trial and a subsequent appeal.  The City Attorney’s Office filed the civil lawsuit in  2002. “The owners violated the law and they had no reasonable explanation of their conduct,” said Deputy City Attorney Eda Suh. Terms of the settlement agreement include (1) that the owners pay the City $6,371.00, which will go to reimburse the tenant for her legal costs; (2) until November 2005, if future harassment violations are proved against the owners, the fines will be increased from the usual $1,000 to $2,500 for each violation; and (3) in the event future violations are proved, the owners will pay the City’s investigative costs.

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