Thread: 'Sanctuary city' mayor exposed as apparent slumlord

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National City mayor's units have made him millions while tenants fight vermin, disrepair

By Leslie Wolf Branscomb
and Tanya Sierra
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS


Nick Inzunza, mayor of National City and candidate for state Assembly, passionately talks about how hard he works to improve the lives of poor people by giving voice to their struggles.

He has publicly taken credit for investing the millions he has made in real estate "to create affordable housing in the inner city."


SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
Nick Inzunza purchased this Barrio Logan duplex in 1995 and transferred one of the properties to his wife Tuesday. Inzunza and his wife own mostly duplexes, many on dead-end streets overlooking freeways. None shows outward signs of renovation or improvements.
What Inzunza never mentions, though, is that nearly all of the properties, with more than 100 rental units, have been the subject of lawsuits, complaints by tenants and code enforcement investigations.

"Excessive rats," one woman wrote to a judge. "Cockroaches ... crawl on bed and on the baby," wrote another. "Toilet broken. My kids had to walk to Burger King to use the public restroom," still another said.

The complaints are similar: no heat, no hot water, no screens, no smoke detectors. Broken windows, broken stove, broken shower, broken toilet. Rats, ants, roaches.

All of those who spoke up were evicted.

Asked recently about the condition of the properties, Inzunza said they belong to his wife, and that he hasn't "stepped foot on them in years." The mayor's name, however, is on all of the deeds except two, one of which he transferred solely to his wife this week, after being told The San Diego Union-Tribune examination of his properties was about to be published.

Political family
Inzunza is part of a politically active family of Democrats with deep roots in South County.

His father, Ralph Sr., was a San Ysidro school board member and National City council member. His brother Ralph was on the San Diego City Council and was chief of staff for Juan Vargas when Vargas was a San Diego councilman. Vargas is in the Assembly and is running for Congress.

Graphic:

Inzunza properties
Nick Inzunza, who is running for Vargas' Assembly seat, worked for state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny when she was an assemblywoman and for county Supervisor Greg Cox. Another brother, Michael Inzunza, also was on Cox's staff and was involved in both of his brothers' campaigns.

Nick Inzunza, 35, bought his first property in 1995 – a Barrio Logan duplex purchased for $50,000 from Richard L. Russell of La Jolla.

Through 2000, he and his wife acquired 13 more properties. Almost all were purchased from Russell with a $5,000 down payment and Russell carrying the loan on each. Russell did not return calls asking to talk about the properties.

The Inzunzas own mostly duplexes, many on dead-end streets overlooking freeways. None shows outward signs of renovation or improvements.

A duplex in Logan Heights on Dewey Street, for example, that Inzunza has owned for seven years has peeling paint of different colors, and the foundation appears to be crumbling. Torn screens hang askew over a dirt yard. New doors were installed after a Union-Tribune reporter asked Nick Inzunza about the property.

Twelve of the Inzunzas' holdings are within the 79th Assembly District, which Inzunza hopes to represent after next year's elections. The district spans the southern portion of San Diego, the western portion of Chula Vista and the cities of Coronado, Imperial Beach and National City.

Most of the Inzunzas' properties are in the city of San Diego, seven in City Council District 8, which Ralph Inzunza represented before he was convicted in July of corruption and sentenced to 21 months in prison. He is free pending appeal.

Family friend Benjamin Hueso is one of two candidates running to fill the District 8 seat in a Jan. 10 special election. The ties between the Hueso and Inzunza families include real estate.


RONI GALGANO / Union-Tribune
National City Mayor Nick Inzunza, shown at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 22, is running for a seat in the state Assembly.
In 1998, the Inzunzas purchased a property on East 16th Street in National City with Angel Hueso, Benjamin's brother. Less than two months later, Angel Hueso quitclaimed his interest in the property to the Inzunzas. It was listed as a gift, which means there was no property-tax increase.

Virginia Hueso Gomez, Benjamin's sister, manages some of the Inzunzas' properties, according to court files. Neither she nor her brother returned calls seeking comment for this story.

In a June 2003 interview with San Diego Metropolitan magazine, Nick Inzunza touted his accumulation of real estate.

"Through a seven-year period of acquiring property, I was able to make acquisitions totaling $3.2 million. I have since been able to reinvest my cash in these properties to rehabilitate them and create affordable housing in the inner city, keeping in mind when I bought these properties, most were abandoned or vacant housing structures. Today, these properties are valued at $9.4 million, 132 units, no single-family units."

Inzunza declined recently to state his worth, but said it is significant. "It's enough to not fear any lawsuits or special interest groups," he said.

In the San Diego Metropolitan article, Inzunza also said, "If you went to our apartments, you'd get the impression they're maintained. But if you went to a duplex and you're not used to being in the barrio, you might ask, 'Why is there a pit bull in the yard? Why is there a car sitting in the yard?' They look fine," he said.

In an interview last month, Inzunza said he could not explain why his tenants have complained.

"Do I have control over everything in my life and especially over what my wife does? No, I don't," he said.

This week, Inzunza had a different response.

"My wife is very concerned in keeping the rents low," he said. "She's in the process of updating all the properties."

His wife, Olga, who changed her last name from Inzunza to Payan, her maiden name, in court Dec. 7, declined to talk about the properties.

On Friday, she sent a letter to a Union-Tribune reporter saying the properties were "personal matters."

In county property records, Inzunza is listed as the owner, either solely or with his wife, of 14 of the couple's real estate holdings. His wife alone purchased a small house in Coronado 14 months ago, which is rented out.

Tax records show the Inzunzas claim the $7,000 property tax exemption for owner-occupied dwellings on the East 16th Street property, though Nick Inzunza has been registered to vote at 916 A Ave. in National City since September 2003.

Inzunza has said he and his family live in the rented Brick Row townhouse on A Avenue to be closer to City Hall.
Eviction lawsuits
Between 2000 and 2004, the Inzunzas filed 19 unlawful detainer cases against 26 of their tenants in San Diego Superior Court. Unlawful detainer suits are a legal tool landlords use against tenants who are evicted but refuse to leave.

Some of the Inzunzas' former tenants challenged their evictions in court, leaving paper trails documenting their disagreements. All the tenants represented themselves and faced an attorney for the Inzunzas.


SEAN M. HAFFEY / Union-Tribune
This duplex on Dewey Street in Logan Heights that National City Mayor Nick Inzunza has owned since 1998 has peeling paint and a foundation that appears to be crumbling. New doors were installed after a reporter asked Inzunza about the property.
Every tenant lost and many were ordered to pay thousands of dollars in back rent and fees for the Inzunzas' lawyer.

Most who fought eviction checked a box on a standard court form saying the landlord "failed to provide habitable premises." Several also checked the box indicating they felt the eviction was in retaliation for their complaints.

Some said they didn't pay rent because repairs weren't done. State law says tenants may be evicted for failing to pay rent.

In the city of San Diego, cause must be stated on an eviction notice if the tenants have lived there longer than two years. In nearly all the Inzunzas' cases, no reason was stated because they involved tenants of less than two years.

One evicted tenant, Angela San Martin, 25, said in a recent interview that she believes she was evicted because she complained about an unusually large electricity bill. San Martin figured she was being unfairly billed for her neighbors' electricity usage.

When the bill was changed from her name to the building owner's name, San Martin found out who the owner was: Nick Inzunza. At first, the name meant nothing to her.

Then she saw a newspaper article about Inzunza and his campaign for mayor.

"I found out his position and it totally demoralized me," she said. "There was no way I could go up against a politician with all his money and all of his attorneys."

She gave up fighting the eviction, and agreed to pay Inzunza $116.62 and waived the return of her $450 security deposit. She signed the documents Nov. 7, 2002 – two days after Inzunza was elected mayor.

San Martin clearly remembers the building on South Francis Street in the Mountain View neighborhood of San Diego, overlooking Interstate 15.

"There was rats – not mice – rats," she said. "I told the management and they never did anything about it. When it would rain, the moisture would come through the walls."

William Cuesta, a former tenant in one of the Inzunzas' City Heights properties, wrote two letters to Olga Inzunza in March 2001, complaining about his living conditions.

The letters, which are in the court file, said the walls were made of particle board and the carpet was only used remnants. Cuesta wrote that the day he asked for blinds to cover his bathroom window, a maintenance man spray-painted the window black.

He wrote an angry letter to the mayor's wife, saying, "Where I come from in Texas, people who own property like 3720 Myrtle Ave. are called slumlords."

An unlawful detainer suit was filed against him three days later.

Cuesta was told to leave by May 20. He asked the court for a reprieve until June 3, so he could get his disability check before having to move. Social Security records show Cuesta's monthly check was $733. His rent, which was $695 when he moved in, had been raised to $725.

In his petition to the court, Cuesta wrote that he was in ill health from AIDS and had no place to go.

"I will literally be on the street," he wrote.

On May 16, Court Commissioner Theodore Weathers denied Cuesta's request. Another commissioner granted the Inzunzas a judgment of $2,122 against Cuesta and on Aug. 31 Olga Inzunza obtained a court order compelling Cuesta to pay.

Cuesta's family members say they've lost touch with him and don't know where he is.

Last week, after being interviewed regarding his properties, Inzunza and his wife deeded the Myrtle Avenue property to Canza LLC. Earlier records for the same property show Nick Inzunza as a "managing mem ber" of Canza, along with real estate agent Lori J. Canales and her husband, Michael Canales. The mailing address for Canza was listed on the most recent document as the same post office box in Coronado the Inzunzas have been using for the past year and a half.

A woman whose home on Quail Street in Mount Hope lacked a toilet complained to San Diego's Neighborhood Code Compliance Department. She was evicted four days after the city opened its case in 1999. The file was finally closed in 2003 after the city determined the problems had been fixed.

The city's investigation found the Quail Street property had faulty electrical wiring, no toilet, a clogged bathtub, a hole in the wall, broken windows, no heater, no smoke detectors and a heavy infestation of rats.

The tenant who complained about the Quail Street duplex said in court filings that she was told by the landlord she wouldn't have to pay rent until the house was up to code. The woman, a mother of four, was ordered by a judge to pay more than $2,000 in back rent.

Court files on evictions at the Inzunzas' other properties document similar problems:

"Landlord has refused to fix hot water in bathroom sink. (No hot water) No screens on window. Problem with rats and ants. Failed to fix yard despite promises made when defendants moved in. Front door is missing," wrote the occupant of a unit on 17th Street in Barrio Logan. She was evicted in August 2003 and ordered to pay Inzunza $2,310 in back rent and fees for the Inzunzas' attorney.

Nine months later, the Inzunzas evicted another couple from the same property. They fought it and complained in court, "The keys don't work in the doors. There are excessive rats." The Inzunzas were awarded a judgment of $3,340, and the tenants were locked out two days later, according to court files.
Tenants 'will lose'
Attorney Steven Kellman, director of the Tenants' Legal Center of San Diego, said tenants who fight eviction should get a lawyer rather than attempt to represent themselves.

"About 95 percent of them will lose their cases, regardless of how good a case they have," he said.

Unlawful detainer laws are complex and hard for an untrained person to understand, Kellman said. It's a legal specialty for some lawyers, including Theodore Smith, the attorney who represented the Inzunzas in all of their cases. Smith has one of two law firms that handle most of the evictions for landlords in San Diego, Kellman said.

Kellman estimates more than 1,000 unlawful detainer suits are filed in the county each month. Word of eviction usually gets out among tenants.

"They're scared to complain, and that allows things to go unrepaired," Kellman said.

Some of the current tenants in the Inzunzas' properties said they live with problems, such as holes in the walls and rats. Some said they made improvements at their own expense.

Court Commissioner James Duchnick, who heard one of the Inzunzas' cases, said tenants sometimes think they can withhold rent to force the landlord to make repairs, but that doesn't work.

"A better way to do it is to pay their rent, then sue the landlord for breach of contract," Duchnick said.

That's what Norberto Guerrero did, a former tenant who beat Inzunza in court. Guerrero, who lived on South Francis Street, filed a small-claims case in July 2004. He claimed the dwelling was "untenable" and sought $3,500 from Nick Inzunza.

Guerrero didn't get that much, but a court commissioner awarded him the return of his security deposit. Inzunza was ordered to pay $397.71.

The court documents were addressed to Inzunza at 2660 Imperial Ave., the business address of California Paratransit Services, owned by Alfredo Hueso, Benjamin Hueso's brother.

The documents were signed by Virginia Hueso Gomez. Responding to the court's request for Inzunza's signature, Hueso faxed a letter to the court that said: "Enclosed please find request to pay judgment to court with my husbands (sic) signature Nicolas (sic) Inzunza. You needed original defendant's signature. Here it is!"

The Inzunzas have two properties outside the county. One is a tiny, dilapidated wooden house with a collapsing porch on Maple Lane in Big Bear, which they purchased in 2001 for $19,000 from Huntington Beach real estate brokers Susan and Clement Lombardi.

The other is the Hotel Mayan in El Centro, which at first glance appears abandoned.

Paint is peeling, most windows have no coverings and there is little sign of life. Soiled mattresses are stacked against a window.

On closer inspection, though, Hotel Mayan is very much open. Just not for typical overnight stays.

The single, unfurnished rooms are rented monthly like apartments. They go for $380 a month for a room with a toilet, $350 without. The rooms have no kitchens. Some residents have been living there for years.

A sign at the entrance says: "Warning no trespassing. This is private property. No visitors at any time. Owner or occupant only."

Already well into his Assembly campaign, Inzunza is rarely at City Hall, other than Tuesdays when the City Council or the Community Development Commission meets, according to council members.

National City mayor is a full-time position that pays $53,264 a year, plus benefits, a car allowance and expenses. Nick Inzunza was elected mayor in 2002 after serving one term on the City Council.

Inzunza said his opponent, former Chula Vista City Councilwoman Mary Salas, is not in touch with the community he hopes to represent.

In the spring, he criticized Salas for dressing up and attending "chicken dinners."

"Her brand of Latina," he said, "discredits people like me who fight for the voiceless."

Salas dismissed Inzunza's comments.

"I have a history of working with the community probably before Nick was born," she said. "I don't want to compare my work in the community with his."

The voiceless people Inzunza referred to include the single mothers of National City, Inzunza has said publicly on several occasions.

San Martin, who was a single mother when she lived in the mayor's South Francis Street studio, said she never felt he was looking out for her when he allowed her power to be shut off for five days.

She finds his political sales pitch ludicrous.

"I don't care about million-dollar deals and whether someone is going to get $7 million or $8 million for their property," Inzunza said in September about a property dispute on the Mile of Cars. "I care about the single mothers in this city making $22,000 a year."

Well, the chickens are coming home to roost. He certainly qualifies as a slumlord in my book.

What a lyin' slime that man is!!!

The judge is obviously ruling in the favor of the politician. This does not surprise me.

Why am I not surprised?

D.W.

This whole thing reminds me of a conversation I had this evening on corrupt politicians. I guess this politician did not learn the 11th commandment: Don't get caught!