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The Sea Air Apartments SK Management Co, Crystal Hartley, Claudio Gomez (323)-930-2300 (310)-372-4740 Slum lords, bad business, ripp off, clueless managers, mold, water damage, they take your money and deposits and then try to evict you. Beware do not rent! Redondo Beach, California
My daughter was forced out of her apartment after just three months of living there. The managers had changed and some clueless bimbo, Crystal Hartley and SK Management Company LLC had taken over. Long story short, the manager made her so uncomfortable that she had to call me (Her Father) to come move her out. They refused to refund her deposit, and I have tried to call the office as well as stop by numerous times and the manager is never in the office. Researching I found many complaints about this complex, and also a class action lawsuit RE: Another property so this is not a new thing to them. Mr. Herb Rosenkrantz (818)-225-9309 was served a letter from me on 03/21/2011 to his address of 22924 Bluebird Drive, Calabasas, CA 91302 (The owner) and he refused to answer or contact me. Searching more on the internet I found his son is a felon, currently incarcerated for murder. Maybe bad blood just runs in the family. Their M.O. seems to be "move 'em in get the deposits and move 'em out". I have contacted the BBB (Which they have declined to be a member), as well as the Attny. Gen. office. While nothing can be done in my Daughters case, I hope that no one else get's taken by this scam. My email address is attached and I welcome comments.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Paul
Redondo Beach,California,
Former Manager, may shed light on problem
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, May 22, 2013
Herb Rosenkrantz was a very well known lawyer for many years. I'm unsure if it's directly related but he did spend about 17 years in and out of court after his kid, Robert Rosenkrantz shot a 17 year old classmate to death when he was just 18. I bring this up because the excuse Mr. Rosenkrantz seemed to give in his sons defense is that the son was gay and called the "F-word" by the other kid. This turned both Herb and Robert into some level, albeit small, of freedom fighters for gays fighting back against the cruelty they experience.
I'm unsure if this is why very few attorneys will take a case against Mr. Rosenkrantz. However the fact is no matter what the cost your daughter is so much safer out of there than sbeing in there.
I was in and out of the ER 17 different times and it was discovered that the place had a mold problem. Not just a regular mold problem but one that I can tell you the parking garage (missing doors) has many spots that are soaking wet and proven and tested with Stachybotrys. that's the one that makes Trichothescene aka t2 mycotoxin. (research Iraq / Saddam and that word.)
When I was there all the windows on the west wall were single pane windows.
The sidewalk in the back / west wall had been slanted (possibly over time) toward the building. Water was entering apartments 6,7,8,9,10. Possibly as far down to apartment four but I never tested conditions that far down.
My first ""dead guy" was the gentleman in Apartment 3. That's where I first became exposed to molds. The unit was filthy, and the bathroom had water leaking in from the upstairs unit.
Apartment 10 also had water pouring in fromt the upstairs unit like 3 as a result of a defective trap / overflow. The family living in Apartment 10 when I got there obviously had taken the access panel down from the celing to let the water just pour from upstairs into their tub downstairs.
It took months and months and months to get SK Management (who was the said to be the first management company for Mr. Rosenkrantz) and Herb to authorize a repair to stop water leaking into apartment 3 AFTER the new tenant moved in.
I found out that a woman had died that lived in my apartment prior to tenants before me. The whole unit below mine (below the managers unit) had to be gutted, floors, walls and ceiling as a result of so much water and mold. This was due to aging roofing and a trim along the edges of the property that had a gap in it that let water trickle right in there as the water clings to the side of the building.
My best guess numbers say that the mold remediation was about $150,000 from some of the receipts I saw as well as trying to calculate other expenses in my head.
Apartments 7 and 8 had to have the back walls cut out, apartment 7 had the kitchen gutted and on the bottom of the kitchen counter there was mold as well, think i remember it being more of a greenish, but I do have photos. Anyway, the contractor was asked to use that same countertop and put back in there.
7 also had a broken trap under the tub and that was causing alot of humidity and a horrible odor in that unit as the water also pooled under the tub and became stagnant. It was obvious when you ran water that the smell would fill up the rooms.
Apartment 7 also had a problem with the sinks stopping up and water that exits from the upstiars untit would just pour out in the sink in 7 all over the floors. This led to the tenant moving out which is when we could get in and really address the problems.
Apartment 2 was inspected by the mold contractor (Serve Un-Pro) and found that the whole front living room area was wet and two walls spanning about 10 feet each need to be removed and replaced. There was also water damage in the bedroom showing up the walls in the bedroom closet. this was due also to backups in the tub because of clogs and water from all units backing up. AND that unit experiend toilet backups when rooting needed to be done that led to her toilet overflowing and satuating her apartment a few feet from the bathroom.
This woman in apartment 2 suffered migraines all day long. The best I was able to get done in her unit was that the carpet got extracted and rinsed by the carpet contractor. No replacement, no mold work in her unit. All that was done for mold was her window was cleaned and the window sill was painted.
I'd be surprised if she's still alive now.
The place had so much water damage that the termites loved it. in fact one guy moved out because the termites, like many units don't start swarming outside, but from the inside. you come home one day and your apartment is filled with termites. Also there was people who frekaed out that there were termite droppings on their bed alot.
The pest control guy was under contract to come shoot spray into the closest hole you could find and told me that he's recommended to Herb that the place be tented but herb refuses to do that.
It took 3 years to get SK management and Herb to authorize tub replacement in apartment 27 because water was pouring out under that into the garage. It was fixed long before I got there with a fibreglass insert and that was cracked and had mold under it that smelled. It was only when I informed Herb personally in an email that the woman's oncologist (yes she had cancer, hmm wonder why) told her not to take baths because she could expose herself to it, that he agreed to have the tub replaced.
the tub in apartment 30 also leaked out to the garage and it wasn't much long after I was able to get that fixed as well, but we're talking 3 years as manager trying to get the owner to stop water from either leaking on cars or on families. Apartment 30 was found to have had a patch over the overflow. a small fibreglass patch covering the rusted out hole that was about an inch wider than the overflow should have been. maybe 2 inches wider.
I noticed after moving into apartment 25 from 28 that I could smell what I called a gym socks smell with a slight rotten egg smell coming through the crevace on my tub. And the caulkin would break when water was in the tub because it was flex.
the apartment also had a lower spot in the floor that was found to be a bowing row of 2x4's in the unit below. It was obvious the wall was bowed out but it wasn't until the gutting that let me see exactly why.
Mold was remediated in 1A, 25, 9, 8, 7, storage room 6. Mold remediation was ALSO supposed to take place in apartment 2, and 24 that the contractor listed as his plan. Wet walls were painted in apartment 10. apartment 2's problems already listed. The fridge in apartment 25 was never removed during mold remediation and later I believe it was the one moved to apartment 9. Apartment 24 had the most moldy and rusted window and I was given the task of making it look like new, and THAT was probably the incident that really got my mold health issues started.
Gettin supplies was next to impossible and it wasn't until i was in and out of the hospital that I knew I should even waer a mask. The mask I have in one of the videos about my epxerience is one given to me by a guy from apt 22 who used to work for an industrial safety company.
it wasn't until I got there that any of the units I worked on got the frist GFI outlets installed. the switches were of a type no longer manufactured and one blew sparks.
the panel boxes were aluminum bus bar type and the contact points between the copper and aluminum would start to seperate. These boxes were said to have caused fires in many properties nationwide and you could often get complaints of tenants claiming they're hearing a buzzing noize. that's the arking of the bar to the breaker. Also the insides of all the breaker boxes had paint splatter. they weren't covered when the place was painted, and any of the buss bars that I saw had paint spots.
This had Zinsco breakers and they were much like Federal Pacific who were known for causing fires. I was only successful at getting a FEW of them replaced and this was only because I had to convince Herb that it could catch fire.
the tenant that had his property in storage 6 J.T. couldn't SK management or Herb Rosenkrants to replace the damaged personal posessions.
Herb is a lawyer and he's known for being smart enough not to respond to letters which would obligate himself. Also many judges own properties and it's hard to get judges to side against someone that could get their own buildings tested.
word of advice SEND CERTIFIED this gives you something you can show in court that he failed to respond the same way if he can't produce a receipt.
4 people dead in 7 years and not all elderly, for a building with only 30 units is pretty shocking. And the one tenant that had a heart condition develop in the same amount of time that her husband developed dibilitating sicknesses and his feet turned totally crusty up above his ankles. Their unit also had mold in it. and her doctor for open heart surgury said she was just a few days away from death herself.
as a mater of fact the building got a citation for having to clean stuff off the windows. Not to mention many of the windows were broken. this was due to the metal frames of the windows getting wet and rusting, the rust would expand and crack the glass.
I could keep going, but I'll leave it with this. Your daughter is safe and the lost deposit is probably well worth the price of her health and her life in that building.
go to youtube and type in ugotstyle and apartment problems and watch the video list. I believe that building will look familliar to you. Especially look at the video called open holes and broken windows. and mold leaking from tub under apartment. email me there and I'll provide you a link to photographs to see the wonderful place your daughter has left behind.
The last thing... Herb was actually a nice guy. I can't see why he didn't want to spend the money on his property.