Two disabled Altadena women had the water shut off in their new apartments, but their headaches may just be beginning.
by Timothy Rutt
On Monday, Jan. 9, Marjorie McNary and Mary O’Conner’s water was shut off. On Wednesday, Jan. 12, it was turned on again. If they can’t come up with $500 by Tuesday, Jan. 17, it’ll be shut off again.
McNary lives in the house in the front of the property at 2817 Casitas Ave., and O’Connor in a guest house in the back. Both women are disabled and living on Social Security, so coming up with that kind of cash that quickly is out of the question.
PIctured: Marjorie McNary bought water in plastic jugs to use while her water was shut off.
“I do not have the money,” O’Connor said.
During her almost three days without water, O’Connor said she was using cola to wash with. The toilet? Best not to ask.
But the reason they’re living in danger of having their water shut off again may be tied into another question: are they supposed to be living there at all?
Property assumed vacant
McNary, who is in a wheelchair and has diabetes, lives with her grandson, who acts as her caretaker. McNary said that a woman she’s known for over 20 years set her up in the house after McNary had to move from her former home on Fair Oaks Avenue. McNary said that she moved into the house in November, and O’Connor says she moved from her MacArthur Park-area apartment in December.
McNary can produce a signed lease, on letterhead of The Management Consultants of Santa Ana, although it doesn't mention the address of the property on the document.
O’Connor says she was told to pay McNary her share of the rent. McNary said that she was told to pay the rent directly to the owner’s agent "Mike," whom she described as a “tall, dark-skinned man in a suit.” According to McNary, the two women and the occupant of a third rental property on the site -- which is being renovated and is presently vacant -- were to share paying utilities, but to date they haven't been given any bills.
And then the water was shut off.
According to Bob Hayward of the Lincoln Avenue Water Company, The Peace Officers Professional Association credit union is the property owner of record, and ordered the water company to shut off the service immediately. Hayward says that, when Lincoln Avenue shut off the water, “we didn’t know the property was occupied.” It was only after phone calls from “politicians” that he says they turned the water back on.
O’Connor and Altadena Town Councilman Tecumseh Shackelford, who has been helping the women, confirmed that the offices of several elected officials -- including Congressman Adam Schiff and Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich -- had been called about the shutoff.
However, after turning it back on Jan. 11, the water company sent a letter to the women the same day over Hayward's signature, requesting a $500 deposit by Tues., Jan. 17, or face shutoff again.
Who's renting the property?
The water problem is the latest wrinkle in a situation that has been going on since shortly after McNary moved in. The situation being: maybe they're not supposed to be there.
Pictured: the house at 2817 Casitas, which was being re-roofed earlier this week.
McNary showed us a large collection of papers that she’s accumulated since she moved in:
- One is the lease from The Management Consultants, which is dated Nov. 1.
- A letter from a Valley Village law firm, dated Nov. 28, ordering them to vacate in five days;
- A “Notice to Occupant” from Prudential California Realty, undated but requesting “occupants” to stop paying the previous rental company and prepare to vacate;
- A court filing, requesting an order to vacate the property.
- A notice from Altadena Sheriff Deputy Daniel Bruemmer dated Nov. 18, 2011. Bruemmer said that he had visited McNary on Nov. 18 because somebody “illegally rented to the people who lived there.”
Lt. Duane D. Allen of the Altadena Sheriff’s Station said that the situation was the subject of an ongoing investigation, that the women may be victims of a rental scam.
Lincoln Avenue’s Hayward said that they’ve run into several situations where people without any tie to a vacant property "rented" it out to unsuspecting tenants. “We’ve had three of them in the past month,” Hayward said.
Hayward is on the January agenda of the Altadena Town Council to discuss the situation.
That will be the day the water is supposed to be shut off again. In the meantime, McNary and O’Connor continue to live in their units. They still have electricity and gas, although both women complained that their heaters were broken. Even if they come up with $500, whether they can continue to live there is an open question.
Lt. Allen of the Sheriff's Department said that they might be able to say more about the case soon.
