How we won safe mailboxes at my old apartment complex

It was 2022. My neighbors were complaining that our rent-controlled apartment had a landlord that was stealing our mail and stealing amazon deliveries. We asked over and over again for someone to fix the issue. There were lots of complaints. But nothing was done.

Two young women cornered me in the elevator and complained of packages stolen by the building manager. I was conscripted to action.

 There had been a rent freeze due to the pandemic and the apartment was rent controlled. The landlord I found out had a history of flipping rent-controlled units on Los Angeles’ west side and jacking up the rent for new tenants. We suspected that certain people were targeted by having their rent and social security checks stolen, and others had their Amazon and other packages stolen. This was a harassing tactic to kick certain elderly and younger neighbors out of the building. While this was going on, an elderly neighbor was forced out of her apartment when her sister, who was the primary lease holder, died. She could not afford market rent. Several of us neighbors pitched in to help her pack and move to a much smaller unit she was using as storage.

So, what did I do? Well, people weren’t paying much rent, so we didn’t have real leverage there. I didn’t try to organize the building completely, though I joined the Los Angeles Tenants Union. We sent complaints in writing. Some days people left their mailboxes unlocked and opened in protest. But these actions weren’t working. Instead, I called upon the state for help against a law-breaking landlord preying on the vulnerable to kick them out of our homes.

I called the city building department and they sent a housing inspector. They came by to see if people were breaking into the foyer where our mailboxes were or if it was an inside job. I wrote to my congress person Adam Schiff, famous for leading the Trump impeachment proceedings, now Senator for California. I called the city councilperson, a self-described protector of renters, progressive social democrat Nithya Raman. Her staff were very responsive. I sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, prodded by my lobbying of congressional and local elected officials. They came by and saw that the mailboxes were easily pried open. The machinery of Democratic Party of California state power began to come down on our thief landlord in defense of renters.

It took a few months. But we got new mailboxes; they fixed the door, and before I moved out, we finally got an Amazon lockbox. Victory!

It may not have been a bottom-up radical grassroots campaign. But we won! And though I left for a different apartment across town after getting a new job with a new assignment, I left with tangible improvements in my neighbors’ lives.

We can do it! We have to vote for renter protections and not be afraid to call upon the progressive state to crack down on corporate criminals.

Armida Reyes, Case Manager, at the Office of Nithya Raman helped connect us to the housing inspector.

Mike Aguilera-Gaudette of Congress person Adam Schiff’s office helped us fill out a constituent complaint form.

Complaining about potential identity theft and mail theft to the U.S. Postal Service, and rumors of a potential criminal investigation of mail tampering at multiple Jerome Nash properties in the area led to the landlord finally taking action.

More on the effort to save rent controlled units spanning decades:

https://smdp.com/news/rent-control-tenants-sue-landlord-to-stop-alleged-harassment/