Complaint Review: El Rey Apartments-Ramona Burich Robert Talbot Barry Gordon David Adams - Burlingame California

WARNING: If you’re GAY or Middle Eastern, you will be discriminated!! HOMOPHOBIA, Racism & RETALIATION rule here!!! I've rented several apartments in the past 25 years without landlord issues & have always left on good terms & with recommendation letters stating I was a good tenant, always paid rent on-time, & would rent to me again in the future. But here I was discriminated against, humiliated in front of other tenants, & retaliated against due to my sexual orientation/nationality, yelled at, harassed & bullied, threatened with LEGAL ACTION, repairs declined & delayed on purpose... During signing my lease I was asked inappropriate questions by manager Barry Gordon: Marital status, have girlfriend? have boyfriend?, what nationality/country?

Told him there was a large hole in the wall under the kitchen sink, & was told he would repair it before I move-in, but was not repaired, leading to jumbo sized wild spider infestation in my apartment coming inside from that hole, as my apartment is on the top floor & there is an attic & rooftop directly above. Was repaired 1 YEAR LATER after having 30+ jumbo wild outdoor type spiders roaming around in my apartment! Also found out from previous tenant back of the bathroom closet was OPEN to the elements (attic & rooftop) & oversized, wild spiders were coming into my apartment! Brought this to the attention of landlord Ramona Burich, & she told me she was not willing to take care of it & would refund my security deposit right away if I decide to move out immediately!

This was a SERIOUS BUILDING CODE VIOLATION, & if I had notified government agencies she would have received MULTIPLE CITATIONS, but I was a descent (& stupid?) tenant therefore I did not complain to the appropriate authorities. 3 months after moving in, asked Barry if he would install window screens, & I was willing to pay for entire cost. Took him 6 MONTHS to install a basic window screen & it was too small/WRONG SIZE, fell off several times, he would not repair it, & after YELLING at me several times with THREATS OF LEGAL ACTION to be taken against me if he got fired! Replacement screen was reinstalled AFTER ANOTHER 6 MONTHS & AFTER 5 CONSECUTIVE APPOINTMENT CANCELLATIONS (last “cancellation” was actually a NO SHOW!). They did not even have the decency to call me. (TOTAL = 1 YEAR!)

6 weeks after moving in, I was approached in the laundry room by Barry's best friend (& tenant) David Adams telling me Barry had told him about my occupation/where I work, middle name & nationality, asking me more personal questions re: Relationships, homosexuality, religions/hating certain religions!.., I felt very uncomfortable, there was no reason for this tenant (whom by the way I did not know) to hang around me for 20 minutes in the laundry room watching me do my laundry & forcing me to have a weird conversation! I was also quiet upset re: PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ME (FROM MY RENTAL APPLICATION) BEING SHARED WITH OTHER TENANTS!

6 months later this tenant starts YELLING at a friend I had invited over, began a FIGHT with him, FOLLOWING US, almost to the point of assault! Next day as I was leaving the building came across Barry & David talking, David tells me with a HATEFUL look to "STAY AWAY" from him because "WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME LIFESTYLE"!! (he's STRAIGHT & me & my friend=GAY). Then Barry tells me David had a big fight with him because of my friend, & David doesn't want him on the premise (DUE TO MY FRIEND’S/MY SEXUAL ORIENTATION), then Barry tells me NOT TO INVITE MY FRIEND OVER AGAIN!! A 17-YEAR friendship was DESTROYED OVERNIGHT because of these 2 MENTALLY DISTURBED, VIOLENT & RACIST HOMOPHOBES!!!

During my first 6 months' tenancy I was questioned several times by Barry with a SMIRK on his face, in the presence of David while I was doing laundry if I had a GIRLFRIEND, if I had a BOYFRIEND, & David making a DISGUSTED facial expression during BOYFRIEND question! During my 11 months' tenancy, while doing the laundry I was approached by Barry & was YELLED AT FOR OVER 15 MINUTES & ultimately THREATENED WITH LEGAL ACTION/LAWSUIT be taken against me by him if he ever got fired, as I had complained to landlord Ramona Burich about his unresponsiveness, unwillingness & extensive delays for necessary repairs. There came a time I was laid off work & became unemployed, which lasted well over a year, & I started worrying what would happen to me if my unemployment benefits run out, & I decided to relocate to another city to live with a friend & try to find a job there & get back on my feet, so I gave a “30-Day Notice to Vacate” to Management.

A week later, to my surprise, I was contacted by an employer & was hired! Upon telling Barry I will not be moving & to RESCIND my 30-day notice, I was YELLED AT repeatedly in front of the whole building & tenants, SHOUTING "YOU'RE OUT OF HERE!! YOU'RE OUT OF HERE!! YOU GAVE YOUR NOTICE, YOU CAN'T STAY!!! YOU'RE OUT OF HERE!!!!!" I called landlord Ramona Burich that evening asking her to RESCIND my 30-day notice, & she bacame extremely upset/began YELLING at me & REFUSING TO RESCIND my notice, telling me I "MUST LEAVE IN 30 DAYS"!!! Landlord Ramona Burich began a HARASSMENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST ME with constant threatening phone calls, intimidating text messages, threatening e-mails, letters, with THREATS OF LEGAL ACTION to be taken against me if I don't move out within 30 days as I have stated in my Notice. She told me she will be hiring a PRIVATE DETECTIVE TO INVESTIGATE & EXPOSE ME!

I had to take time off from my new job to get legal consultations, which cost me money & lots of time off without pay, & ultimately upset my boss & was FIRED FROM MY NEW JOB!!!!! Ultimately an EVICTION NOTICE was POSTED ON MY DOOR (how humiliating!!!!!) by Ramona Burich’s LAWYER husband Robert Talbot!!! For the first time in my life I was EVICTED, even though I ALWAYS PAID RENT ON TIME & was a good tenant!!! Now I have an EVICTION in my credit report, PERMANENTLY DAMAGING MY REPUTATION/making it EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO RENT AGAIN!!!!! Also, for the first time in my life, I was charged a CLEANING FEE!! $275 was subtracted from my Security Deposit for my studio apartment even though we THOROUGHLY cleaned the entire apartment! No landlord has done the HORRIBLE, FILTHY, SLEAZY, PERMANENTLY DAMAGING things these people have done to me!!!! STAY AWAY FROM EL REY!! STAY AWAY FROM THIS HELL HOLE!!!!! PROTECT YOURSELVES!!! BE SMART!!!! BE SAFE!!!!!