The nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation will pay $575,000 to current and former residents of a Skid Row residential hotel to settle a long-running class-action lawsuit over conditions at the facility.
Residents of the Madison Hotel claim the foundation has failed to address widespread problems in the building, including mold, pests, plumbing and electrical issues.
Incident The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2020. The settlement was reached on Monday, the day the trial was scheduled to begin. A series of rulings by Judge William F. Heiberger limited the tenants' claims to conditions in the building's common areas, where most of the century-old studio hotel's roughly 200 residents share bathrooms on each floor.
Jennifer Kramer, an attorney for the tenants, did not respond to a request for comment, and representatives for the foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to the financial settlement, Monday's agreement requires the foundation to consult with experts and receive training on maintenance issues at the Madison. The foundation also agreed to hire a consultant to evaluate the building's elevators.
Last year, the Foundation He paid at least $832,000 to settle another lawsuit. Elderly and disabled residents in Madison claim that elevator malfunctions have left them stranded in their apartments or forced them to sleep in the lobby. The elevator malfunctions have continued since the settlement was reached.
The Madison was the foundation's first property purchased in 2017 as part of its efforts to address homelessness and rising housing prices on Skid Row and across California.
The nonprofit, which brought in $2.5 billion in revenue last year, mostly from its pharmacy chain, has since acquired more than a dozen underused low-income buildings in Los Angeles, renovating them and renting them to tenants.
a A Times investigation last year It found that many of the foundation's more than 1,300 residents live in squalid conditions and dozens are under threat of eviction.
The foundation still faces multiple lawsuits from tenants over conditions at Madison and other facilities.
The foundation is involved with several initiatives on the statewide ballot in November. Proposition 33A bill to expand rent control has been introduced in California after similar bills failed in 2018 and 2020. Proposition 34The bill is sponsored by the California Apartment Association, which opposes foundations in the fight against rent control. If Proposition 34 passes, it would effectively ban foundations from funding political activities or housing campaigns.
