Sleepy Hollow Apartments Red-Tagged by Chino Hills

As reported in today's Champion by Marianne Napoles, a complex of apartments at the east end of Sleepy Hollow were red-tagged by the City of Chino Hills at the end of January and the residents of the eight units evicted.

The declaration by the city that the property was unsafe came because of a lawsuit filed by an unnamed tenant against landlord Leonard Aten, who has apparently owned the site since 2007. The suit concerned a fight over repairs to a unit requested by the tenant and the attorney for the plaintiff then contacted the City. Residents were notified by letter at the beginning of this month from the City's assistant attorney.

In that document, tenants were informed that Aten was required to provide them relocation assistance in events in which evictions are caused by orders like the one the City made because of the health and safety of residents.  Napoles talked to three of the tenants, who told her there was no such assistance offered by Aten.

Aten hired a Chino-based architect to help make the units code-compliant and Shiv Talwar told Napoles that he met with the owner and city officials so that plans could be drawn up to prepare for work that would "rectify the situation."  Specifically, Talwar said that electrical service was substandard and "the plumbing was bootlegged."  Bedroom lack "escape windows," and he noted property line issues, which is a problem throughout Sleepy Hollow because of inaccurate surveying.

Council member and Carbon Canyon resident Ray Marquez, who district includes Sleepy Hollow, told the paper he was surprised by the news and told Napoles he was concerned for the residents and would do what could to assist them.

The property's history goes back to at least 1930, when David Tidwell and his family lived on the site and operated a store as part of what was called "Tidwell Oaks."  The Tidwells were there into the 1940s and perhaps later.  It was said later to have included a bar and a brothel and, in the 1990s, was again a store operated by Fred Gentry.  Online records indicate he sold the property in 2007 and the buyer appears to have been Aten.

Aten tried to sell the property a few years ago, asking $1 million, but there were no takers at such a price and the listing was pulled.  When the realtor was contacted, he said that repairs were badly needed, but the owner did not want to make them, adding that the fleas were so big they "could bark." 

Napoles talked to a few of the residents, including longtime tenants of thirty or more years, one of which has terminal cancer and another having a spinal cord injury.  They talked of the shock of a sudden eviction and the difficulty in leaving.  Mail couldn't be delivered, they reported, because Aten removed the eight mailboxes that were at the front of the old store. 

Brad Walrath, a 35-year resident who has cancer, told Napoles he was "going from house to house, but it's hard to live with someone else when you're dying."  Emma Happ stated that "we were treated like criminals . . . as if we were the public nuisance."  Tom Warner, who lived there 30 years, said he was "emotionally distraught" and "like a zombie in total shock."  The latter two paid $800 and $415 a month in rent, respectively, an indication of the conditions at the property.