The nonprofit AIDS Foundation is paying $575,000 to current and former tenants of the Skid Row hotel to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit over the property’s conditions.
Residents of the Madison Hotel say there are widespread problems inside the building, including mold, vermin, plumbing and electrical issues, which they say the foundation has failed to fix.
the event filed in 2020 in Los Angeles County Superior Court and the settlement was reached Monday, when the trial was set to begin. A series of decisions by Judge William F. Heiberger limited the tenants’ claims to the conditions of the building’s common areas. Most of the roughly 200 residents of this one-room hotel have bathrooms on each floor.
Jennifer Kramer, an attorney representing the tenants, did not respond to a request for comment. Representatives for the foundation could not immediately be reached for comment.
In addition to the financial settlement, Monday’s agreement requires the foundation to consult with experts and receive training on maintenance and management issues in Madison. The foundation also agreed to hire a consultant to evaluate the building’s elevator.
Fund last year paid at least $832,000 to settle a separate lawsuit of elderly and disabled tenants in Madison who feel trapped in their homes or forced to sleep in the lobby due to malfunctioning elevators. There is no elevator from the residential area.
Madison was the first property the foundation purchased in 2017 as part of its efforts to address homelessness and housing affordability on Skid Row and throughout California.
The nonprofit, which generated $2.5 billion in revenue last year primarily from its pharmacy chain, has since acquired more than a dozen low-income buildings in Los Angeles, working to renovate them and rent them to tenants.
TO The Times investigation last year It found that many residents of more than 1,300 buildings are living in poor conditions and dozens are under threat of eviction.
The foundation still faces multiple lawsuits from tenants over conditions in Madison and elsewhere.
The foundation is involved in numerous initiatives on the November state ballot. Sponsors Proposition 33That would expand rent control in California after two similar initiatives failed in 2018 and 2020. It also protects Proposition 34a measure sponsored by the California Apartment Association, building opponents fighting rent control. If passed, Proposition 34 effectively bans funding for political and housing campaigns.
