Tenants sue Napa Valley Community Housing over sewage problem, cockroach infestation

Three tenants have filed a lawsuit against affordable housing provider Napa Valley Community Housing over what they call the “dangerous and legally uninhabitable condition” of their unit at Adobe’s Villa Apartments near downtown Napa.

According to the complaint filed Monday In Napa County Superior Court, the only bathroom in the two-bedroom apartment has had plumbing outages and sewage backups since 2020, leading to a cockroach and rodent infestation.

For extended periods, sometimes months, they were unable to use the unit’s bathroom, they say, and in November 2023 they suffered extensive flooding that contaminated their personal property.

Despite numerous tenant complaints and notices from the city, the Napa Valley Community Housing landlord failed to effectively address the problem, according to the court filing.

Now, the tenants are demanding more than $35,000 in damages. They are represented by Arpa Rostami and Zhana Azziz of the Southern California firm Metis Law Group. Lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

“I’m glad the tenants are moving forward with the case,” said Pablo Zatarain, executive director of Fair Housing Napa Valley, a nonprofit that previously worked with them. “As a result of the housing crisis, the likelihood of tenants speaking out to address these issues is often low due to fear of losing their housing.

“We are constantly trying to ensure that tenants know their rights and responsibilities, and that landlords are held accountable if they neglect the need to make repairs.”

Requests for comment from Napa Valley Community Housing went unanswered Friday.

What happened?

María Padilla, Jazmín Herrera and Yesenia Herrera have lived in Villa de Adobe, a 12-unit complex built in 1969 and renovated in 2001, since 2015. They pay $1,494 each month in rent.

The plumbing and sewage problem, which led to high humidity levels and then a cockroach infestation, began in 2020, according to her complaint.

Despite repeated notifications, Napa Valley Community Housing only made temporary repairs and the problems persisted, they say.

In November 2023, when the apartment flooded as a result of a sewage backup, about 40 gallons of sewage had to be removed from his unit.

That’s when the City of Napa Housing Authority stepped in and conducted an emergency inspection. The city identified habitability violations, including cockroach infestation and inadequate drainage systems, and gave the owner until December 31, 2023 to fix the problems given the “health implications” of the findings.

In a Dec. 28, 2023, email, a Napa Valley Community Housing property manager informed the city that pest control at the unit would begin in January and that a plumbing report was pending. according to public records.

A leak had been detected and fixed, the property manager said, and They advised residents not to use too much water when mopping. The organization requested a two-week extension to address outstanding issues.

The problems remained unresolved, according to the tenants, until 2024.

In March, Burbank Housing, a Sonoma County-based affordable housing nonprofit, took over management of the property. This organization is not named in the lawsuit.

Throughout these months, the tenants continued to pay the rent, according to the court filing, despite violations of the unit’s health and safety code.

“All such rent collections and demands violated California law, as they were granted during the time when the facilities lacked the standard features enumerated in the California Civil Code,” the document says.

Napa Valley Community Housing

Napa Valley Community Housing, established in 1997, is a nonprofit housing provider in Napa County with the goal of serving low-income residents.

The organization owns more than 500 homes on 19 properties with nearly 1,900 residents, according to its website.

This year, the organization partnered with Burbank Housing to manage its properties so it could “focus on asset management to ensure the long-term sustainability and quality of our housing portfolio.”

Their properties, including Villa de Adobe, are recommended by the City of Napa on its list of affordable housing options in the region.

You can contact Tarini Mehta at 707-521-5337 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @MehtaTarini.