Three tenants have filed a lawsuit against affordable housing provider Napa Valley Community Housing over what they call the “dangerous and legally uninhabitable condition” of their units at the Villa de Adobe apartments near downtown Napa.

According to the complaint filed Monday. The single bathroom of a two-bedroom apartment in Napa County Superior Court has experienced plumbing outages and sewer backups since 2020, leading to cockroach and rodent infestations.

They say they were unable to use the toilet in the unit for long periods, sometimes months, and in November 2023 they experienced massive flooding that contaminated their personal belongings.

Despite numerous complaints from tenants and notices from the city, the property owner, Napa Valley Public Housing, failed to effectively resolve the problem, the court filing states.

Now the tenants are seeking more than $35,000 in damages. They are represented by Arpa Rostami and Zhana Aziz of the Southern California firm Metis Law Group. Lawyers were not immediately available for comment.

“I’m glad the tenants are following suit,” said Pablo Zatarain, executive director of Fair Housing Napa Valley, a nonprofit that has worked with them before. “As a result of the housing crisis, tenants are often less likely to raise their voices to raise such issues due to fear of losing their homes.

“We continually work to ensure tenants know their rights and responsibilities and ensure landlords are held accountable if they neglect the need for repairs.”

Requests for comment from Napa Valley Community Housing went unanswered Friday.

What happened?

Maria Padilla, Jazmin Herrera and Yesenia Herrera have lived in the 12-unit Villa de Adobe complex, built in 1969 and renovated in 2001, since 2015. They pay $1,494 in rent each month.

The plumbing and sewage problem began in 2020, which, according to their complaints, led to rising humidity levels and subsequent cockroach infestation.

Despite repeated notification, they say Napa Valley Community Housing only made temporary repairs and the problems persist.

In November 2023, when the apartment was flooded due to a sewer backup, approximately 40 gallons of sewage had to be removed from the unit.

That’s when the City of Napa’s Housing Authority stepped in and conducted an emergency inspection. The city found livability violations, including cockroach infestations and inadequate plumbing drainage systems, and gave the owner until Dec. 31, 2023, to correct the problems, given the “health implications” of the findings.

In a Dec. 28, 2023, email, the Napa Valley Community Housing property manager notified the city that pest control on the unit would begin in January and that a plumbing report was awaited. according to public records.

The property manager reports that a leak has been detected and fixed, and They advised citizens not to use excessive water while mopping. The organization requested a two-week extension to resolve remaining issues.

According to tenants, the problems remain unresolved until 2024.

In March, Sonoma County-based affordable housing nonprofit Burbank Housing took over management of the property. The name of this organization is not included in the case.

Tenants continued to pay rent during these months. Despite violations of the unit’s health and safety rules, he is taking action to court.

“All such rent collections and demands were violations of California law because they were made during the period when the facilities did not have standard features listed in the California Civil Code,” the filing states.

Napa Valley Housing Developments

Founded in 1997, Napa Valley Community Housing is a nonprofit housing provider in Napa County to serve low-income residents.

The organization has more than 500 homes across 19 properties and nearly 1,900 residents, according to its website.

This year, the organization partnered with Burbank Housing to manage its properties so it can “focus on asset management to ensure the long-term sustainability and quality of our housing portfolio.”

Its properties, including Villa de Adobe, are recommended by the city of Napa on its list of affordable housing options in the area.

You can reach Tarini Mehta at 707-521-5337 or [email protected]. @MehtaTarini on X (Twitter).