By TRILBY BERESFORD | Reporter
Dozens of Latina families arrived at the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market on Sunday, May 20, to protest a threatened eviction from apartments represented by a Palisadian attorney. The families came from the Burlington apartment complex in Westlake, near Koreatown. Their target was Highlands attorney Lisa Ehrlich-Chupack, whose home in a gated community has already been subjected to two protests.
The tenants handed out flyers about Ehrlich-Chupack’s alleged disregard for their concerns over rising rent increases—which could leave families traumatically displaced as the area gentrifies—and poor living conditions. Among their complaints: moldy carpet, raw sewage, insufficient plumbing and outrage over being illegally billed for fumigations and routine maintenance.
“Lisa Ehrlich evicts children,” the most aggressive flyer said. Among the 200 people affected, 50 of them are children who attend Union Avenue Elementary School which is located directly across the street from the complex. The group is aiming to recruit supporters who will then follow up with Ehrlich-Chupack to demand that she negotiates with tenants.
Ehrlich-Chupack told the Palisadian-Post that defendants had been due to appear in court on Monday May 21 with a list of grievances.
They have been inspired by the Mariachis of Boyle Heights rent strike, which took nine months to win a 5 percent annual cap on rent hikes.
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