Left to Rot

For people without cars, living at makes sense.

It’s walking distance to two large shopping centers, including Safeway, a major bus hub, and several schools. But the mostly Latino residents who live at the complex, located at Maria Drive and Park Lane, say the convenience comes at a steep price.

In interviews with Petaluma Patch, at least a dozen residents spoke of vermin-infested units, windows that don’t close, gaping holes in walls and ceilings and sagging bathroom floors, problems management simply turns a blind eye to, they say.

“In December, pieces of my kitchen ceiling fell in,” recalled Sylvia Sarate, who has lived at Greenbriar for a year and a half. “I complained to the office, something like 20 or 25 times, and all they said was they were changing owners, so they couldn’t do anything about it.”

Sarate said she grew so frustrated that she eventually moved in with her in-laws, but never received her $1,000 deposit, despite giving management a two-month notice.

“It was disgusting,” said Sarate, who works cleaning houses with several friends. “There was mold in the bathroom and water coming out from underneath the toilet.”

Since last August, the East Side apartment complex has been in foreclosure, the majority of units taken over by U.S. Bank as the federal government investigates $24 million worth of loan defaults by previous owner Bijan Madjlessi, a Marin County real estate developer.

on charges of fraud, in connection with a separate case in which the developer is accused of filing double claims following a fire at a property in Nevada. He has pled not guilty to four counts of insurance fraud.

Investigators are looking into the loan defaults, which are believed to have contributed to the downfall of Sonoma Valley Bank, which has since then been acquired by Westamerica Bank. The bank has taken control over six buildings at the complex.

As for Madjlessi's ownership of Greenbriar, investigators say he split up the complex into various limited liability companies and then used them to apply for loans.

Both U.S. Bank and Westamerica Bank have brought in property managers to handle day-to-day operations of the complex, but so far, this has meant little changes, according to residents.

“Every time we go to the office, they say, ‘yes, yes, we’ll fix it,' but they never come,” said another resident who would only give her name as Claudia, for fear of being retaliated against by the management.

Inside Claudia's two-bedroom apartment which she shares with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, pieces of the carpet have come undone from the floor, exposing sharp nails.

One of the windows in the living room is jammed and doesn’t close, while the bedroom window doesn’t lock, forcing Claudia to put a stick in between the window and wall to make sure no one breaks in.

But at a price of $1,200 a month, Claudia says the family can’t find anything cheaper. At least not an apartment complex that will rent to recent immigrants from Mexico who have no references and little rental history in the United States, she says.

“That’s why we all put up with it,” she said.

Representatives of the two management companies that have been brought in to manage the complex and they accuse each other of problems.

"H&G has been managing that complex for 15 years and they are the ones who ran it into the ground," said Mindy Graham, a spokeswoman for FPI Management Company, which took over 176 units in the complex this April. "The place is that way because they’ve been there so long."

Graham added that since stepping in, the company has been steadily repairing roofs, shaky railings and extensive water damage to apartments. 

"We’re not in the business of being slumlords," she said. "If any of our residents are saying we haven’t addressed their issues, I would be shocked. We have full time maintenance worker out there, while residents of the other units are calling our emergency pager."

Linda Howard, a property manager with H & G Management Company, hired by Westamerica Bank, which manages 44 units, said there were no problems. Asked about a hole in a ceiling of one apartment managed by her company, Howard said that the repair would be done as soon as possible.

“It’s on our list,” Howard said. “We will get it done. They (tenant) wanted to move in right away and we just didn’t get to it…The problem is really with the units owned by the other company.” 

On a recent day at Greenbriar, kids out on summer vacation climbed trees, rode bikes and hung off the fence surrounding the pool in the center of the complex. The thermometer pointed to close to 90 degrees, but the pool remained closed. 

The management company said they were working on it.