Real estate TV star Tarek El Moussa is coming under fire from residents on a street in North Hollywood, California, after he announced plans to make the “biggest flip ever” there with a massive building.
Residents of Hartsook Street in the NoHo Arts District — which is just over the hill from Hollywood — are the focus of the HGTV star’s new drive to tear down their rent-controlled homes and put up a 138-unit apartment building.
Related: The Internet Reacts Strongly To Lizzo’s Lawsuit Response!
According to DailyMail.com, which was the first to report on residents’ responses to Tarek’s plan, the star is supposedly set to profit as much as $26 million (!) on the project.
Per that outlet, five tenants in three rentals have already been through their prior landlord Arthur Aslanian‘s “reign of terror.” Earlier this summer, Aslanian was convicted of hiring someone to try to BURN DOWN their homes — and seek out someone else in a murder-for-hire plot — in an attempt to avoid paying debts and to remove tenants from the rental properties so he could re-develop.
Well, Aslanian was convicted of all that in July. Now, he faces up to 60 years (!) in federal prison. BUT!!! The drama involving Hartsook Street isn’t over yet. Now that Aslanian is headed to federal prison, tenants there say it’s El Moussa who has taken over the development project. And he wants to put economic pressure on them to drive them out of their homes!
According to that news outlet, five tenants who live in the undeveloped bungalows range in age from 32 to 78. One, 32-year-old Clare Letmon, is five months pregnant and lives in a unit with her 35-year-old husband Jonpaul Rodriguez. She told the outlet that all five tenants are facing Ellis Act eviction notices, allegedly from El Moussa’s company, TEM Capital, and have been given 120 days to vacate the property. They have also received measly offers of $12,000 in compensation per household to do so.
Letmon told the outlet that she doesn’t want to leave her home — and $12,000 in compensation isn’t enough to make them want to move out. She explained:
“We found this place and it was a dream. It’s a 1925 bungalow court – we can walk to the train to go to work, walk to the grocery store. But over the course of the pandemic when we were all here getting to know our neighbors really well, that was when the campaign of terror really began by [Aslanian]. When on day one of his federal trial we got served with these Ellis Act eviction notices, it was a slap in the face.”
And she continued:
“We had just heard in the courtroom about how this man literally paid someone to set our house on fire while we were asleep inside, and they’re just moving forward with the project. In our view, this team is just picking up where Arthur left off — finishing the job. … [El Moussa’s company] will profit immensely from everything [Aslanian] did, very illegally, to vacate these homes and put them in the condition that Tarek is seen on camera promoting.”
Oof…
Calling out both Tarek and Heather El Moussa for their apparent casual disregard of Letmon and Rodriguez while being new parents themselves, the expectant mother said:
“I would hope, that since Tarek and Heather like to use their status as new parents in their public persona, that they would understand why receiving an eviction notice on day one of your criminal landlord’s murder-for-hire trial after you’ve seen this guy sneaking around the property filming promos.”
Letmon also added that the $12,000 compensation offer to move is the “legal-required minimum,” and slammed it, saying:
“It’s not an offer, it’s an insult.”
Now, Letmon and Rodriguez have linked up with fellow tenant Naomi Nektare and others to form the Hartsook Tenants Association. This “organization group” has united for solidarity in trying to find a solution to their housing crisis.
Related: Lizzo’s Former Backup Dancers Hit Back Hard At Her ‘Dismissive’ Reaction To Lawsuit!
Nektare — who has lived on Hartsook Street for 17 years — said she is “very attached” to her home. She added:
“We love our homes, we’d like to stay here, they’re beautiful old homes, they’re charming. We fought to stay here for five years and they’re historic. And it’s the last green space in the neighborhood. We know we don’t own the land. But if you treat us legally and fairly and with respect, we would leave.”
Nektare also appealed to El Moussa personally, asking him to come sit down “on our property” to personally visit with the families he is displacing with this new project:
“Come and sit down with us on our property — not on Zoom, not from the Hamptons — and meet the people and discuss our needs. The amount the city is offering us is a pittance. It doesn’t cover that I built a business, a spiritual community, a family, my whole life here for 20 years, how can you replace that? Until we are spoken to in a respectful manner and have a face-to-face meeting and offered an amount that actually makes sense for us to start our lives over again, we’re not going anywhere.”
Both Nektare and Letmon also confirmed to the outlet that the other tenants in the middle of this dispute are 78-year-old Cathy Livas and her 56-year-old son, who has special needs. Livas has been living in the North Hollywood home for more than four decades, and is apparently paying just $824 per month to rent the bungalow. However, she would be far out-priced by the new development should it go in as El Moussa’s team plans.
Related: Heather Rae Gives ADORABLE Look At Tarek Cuddling Newborn Baby Tristan
Tarek himself actually went to the location back in late June to announce his development and boast about its potential in a video that now has these same tenants angry regarding its boldness:
He also commented on the matter on Instagram over this past weekend once the controversy started picking up.
In a lengthy post there, he said in part:
“Please let me clear something up regarding a new project. I am one of the partners of NoHo 138 working on purchasing the Hartsook property in North Hollywood for redevelopment. Even though I am being dragged for false accusations and misconceptions, my intentions are to do good, and I hope that we can focus on the positive and the facts. Notices to the tenants were served by the current owner, not by me or the partners of NoHo 138. I am not evicting anyone. We did not issue the Ellis Act relocation documents.”
And as for TEM Capital, Tarek’s firm replied:
“The goal is to work closely and respectfully with the current tenants by providing proper move-out compensation and constructing a safe and pristine new apartment complex that will also include 14 low-income units.”
And a statement on the company’s website added:
“An open line of communication was established with the tenants attorney and both sides agreed to handle the move out agreement to ensure the smoothest route possible. The entire process has been and will continue to be handled justly through the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD) and a legal relocation advisor in order to make 100% sure the relocation is performed according to the law, and that the existing tenants are treated respectfully and lawfully. Proper monetary compensation will be offered to interested tenants who would prefer to leave early.”
Wow.
This sounds like quite the real estate rumble. We feel for the tenants who are now feeling the pinch of this new development.
Reactions, Perezcious readers?
[Image via Tarek El Moussa/Instagram/Instagram]
Related Posts
