Oakland tenants sue landlord after fire leaves them without power

(KRON) — Tenants of an Oakland apartment building are suing their landlord after a fire in the building left residents without power for a month.

Ana Bolanos is among dozens of tenants on 26th Avenue in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood suing the landlord after an electrical fire in January.

“I don’t want to buy hundreds of dollars of food only to have it go to waste again, like in January,” she said.

“Mold, cockroaches, holes in the walls, weeks of electrical problems that many tenants have faced,” said attorney Jackie Zaneri, who represents the tenants.

“They left the tenants to fend for themselves for weeks,” Zaneri said. “They left them without utilities or real housing. »

According to Zaneri, the owner, who does not live in Oakland, purchased the property in hopes of making a profit by “not making repairs.”

“I think the owners should be put on notice that it’s not going to happen here,” Zaneri said. “There are real consequences for someone who does this.”

Bolanos said power has been restored to most homes, but four homes have yet to be repaired and are powered by a generator outside his window, making his family sick from the fumes.

“We have now been temporarily under light for more than four months. We don’t know when this building will be out of power again,” Bolanos said.

Tenants are also seeking help from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a nonprofit tenant rights organization that works with tenants across California, including in Oakland.

Valarie Bachelor is the general manager.

“This fire started in the basement of this building,” Bachelor said. “No one lives there, no one would have known this fire was going to happen. None of the fire alarms even went off. This in itself is very alarming.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for thousands of dollars spent due to lack of electricity and heat, including for food, medicine, clothing, blankets and hotel stays.

“There are several families with several children and these children have had to live without electricity, without hot water, without a refrigerator where they can store not only their food, but also their medicines, and this has profoundly impacted the children's education. these children.

KRON4.com reached out to the building owner, but we have not yet received a response.