The horrific treatment by slumlords of the disadvantaged in their own home is a deplorable act that there are legal consequences for, but not enforced. 

Slumlords are allowed to charge outrageous prices for property that is subpar. Rarely are the rental units up to code. The units have rodent issues, bug infestations, black mold, non-working appliances, no heat or air conditioning, etc. 

There is an endless list of repairs that could be created to bring the rentals up to living conditions. Due to the circumstances of life, people find themselves in disadvantaged situations that are continuously taken advantage of. 

Tenants have the option of calling code enforcement and filing a complaint with fair housing or other California agencies. It is illegal for the landlord to harass the tenant or evict the tenant. A landlord may not give a 30-day notice without giving a three-day notice. 

I lived in the same apartment for 13 years. The rent went up every opportunity the landlord was given to raise it. 

Something would stop working and he would not fix it. Electrical outlets needed to be replaced. He brought over the outlets in a bag and told me to replace them myself. 

Nothing in the complex worked correctly, including the laundry room. The landlord put a full-size washer and dryer in his apartment but wouldn’t fix the broken machines in the laundry room. Yet the rent still went up.

The landlord would have tenants falsify documents that were supposed to be signed, saying smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors had been replaced. If we refused the landlord would tell us, we would be in trouble and could lose our home. This is just one of many forms that we were made to sign. 

Here is the most difficult part: a slumlord will file an eviction without giving a three-day notice. A slumlord will retaliate for a tenant calling a California agency for the conditions they are living in. There are no real legal consequences for the slumlord or owner. 

After going two and a half months without a working toilet. I said I would not pay rent until it got fixed. The landlord filed a 30-day eviction notice on me. Legally, he has to give a three-day pay or quit before he can give an eviction notice. The landlord told the courts he did. I was never given a three-day pay or quit. 

I got a lawyer and won the case. I no longer live there, but there are several things he did that I am not mentioning. It’s too humiliating. I am out of there, but awareness needs to be brought to this. 

Rhonda Mefford was a property manager of government-assisted apartment units around the Sacramento vicinity. In her time as manager, she had properties that she had to bring up to live able conditions. 

“Sometimes people are living in a situation that is worse than living on the streets,” Mefford said. “They will live in these conditions just to have a roof over their head.”

Until there are legal consequences for these behaviors the actions are going to continue, the unhoused situation is going to get worse. It is unfair for society to expect the disadvantaged to live in these horrific conditions because they no longer earn an income due to the difficulties in their lives. 

When do we as a society say this will happen no more? When do we stand up for those that cannot stand up for themselves?

People who are disadvantaged do not have a lot of options when it comes to where they can live. Rent varies from area to area. Unfortunately, so does the moral and ethics of property management. 

Apartment rent runs between $2,815 in Sacramento to $1,600 in Del Paso Heights. Slumlords are charging up to $2,000 to live in run down apartments without repairs. 

The California Supplemental Security Income rate is between $943 for an individual to $1,415 for a couple. According to the Social Security Administration, individuals qualify for these benefits if they are 65 or older, blind or have a qualified disability. 

Disabled veterans income depends on the disability rating. If an individual is 70% disabled and has a spouse, they will receive $1,861.28. If there are two adults and a dependent child, the income then increases to $2,202.28 according to the U.S. department of Veteran Affairs. 

The amount you paid for rent used to mean what part of town you lived in, next to the river, beautiful parks or downtown Sacramento. Now it is the treatment one must endure and the unsafe living conditions an individual is forced to live in within the walls of their home. 

“It doesn’t matter the neighborhood or the income of the people,” Mefford said. “They still have the right to have a place to live.”

The data proves that there are very few options for our neighbors. Each one of these numbers are attached to faces and real lives. Being healthy voters, is it not our job to take care of our neighbors in ways that we are perfectly capable of? You must ask yourself: is this somewhere I would want to live or have my loved one to live?

“If people are paying the rent, they deserve to live in a place where it is clean, functioning and well maintained,” Mefford said.

Giving money or building more property is not going to fix what slumlords are criminally doing to humanity. There are plenty of lower income apartments in the vicinity of Sacramento. What needs to happen is these apartments need to be brought to code and have a realistic rent attached to them. 

Make sure Congress applies some real laws that all owners and management must follow. This would be a step in the right direction. 

It obviously does not fix the whole issue, but we must start taking scoops out of the whole to start reaching a goal of cleaning up the mess.