Three residents at the Sea Haven Apartments filed lawsuits against People's Self-Help Housing for negligence 

People's Self-Help Housing is battling multiple civil complaints, as three residents filed separate lawsuits against the affordable housing nonprofit over general negligence.

The lawsuits, filed in November 2022, alleged a lack of proper maintenance at People's Self-Help Housing's Sea Haven Apartments in Pismo Beach from 1997 to 2019.

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• Photo by Samantha Herrera
• HEALTH PROBLEMS Two current residents and one former resident of the People's Self-Help Housing Sea Haven Apartments in Pismo Beach are suing the nonprofit for alleged negligence that resulted in long-term health problems.

People's Self-Help Housing is a nonprofit housing organization that builds affordable housing for families, seniors, veterans, those living with disabilities, and those transitioning out of homelessness, according to its website.

Steven Duke, Rose Salitore, and Gregory Hood were all residents at the apartment complex who alleged a decline in their health due to that lack of maintenance. Failure of timely and proper inspections, maintenance, management, and repair caused an "unsafe level of mold spores, mycotoxins, endotoxins, bacteria, MVOCs, viral compounds, asbestos, lead, dust mites, and other toxic or allergenic contaminants, which caused his residence to become uninhabitable," Duke's lawsuit states.

Microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) are a variety of compounds formed in the metabolism of fungi and bacteria.

According to Hood's lawsuit, he began living in the Sea Haven Apartments in 1992, a few years before People's Self-Help Housing purchased the building in 1997. During the time that People's Self-Help Housing and the Duncan Group managed the property, Hood believed that they were aware that the apartment building had been plagued with water intrusion, bacteria, mold, lead, and asbestos and didn't perform proper testing to ensure that they cleaned and removed the toxins.

Around a decade later, Hood's daughter Anasuya Jasmine Hood was born on Dec. 2, 2014, and shortly after being taken home from the hospital began experiencing health complications.

"After moving into the property, plaintiff discovered water leaking thru the ceiling and subsequently discovered mold and began to suffer adverse health symptoms, including kidney failure," Hood's lawsuit reads.

Salitore and Duke reported similar property damage and health effects.

The separate lawsuits were eventually consolidated into one, and the residents' lawyer, John Richards, told New Times that People's Self-Help Housing and the Duncan Group didn't remove all the water intrusion, which caused mold to grow and spread.

"They don't really call the plumber, they call their maintenance people who we think aren't properly trained and don't have the requisite experience to be able to handle the water intrusion," he said.

Richards said that People's Self-Help Housing and the Duncan Group didn't remediate water moisture properly and ended up leaving some of it behind in the property.

Salitore, who moved into the apartment building in 2019, reported repeated flooding, mold, and asbestos, which left her with her respiratory problems, rashes, fatigue, cognitive impairment, and gastrointestinal problems, according to her lawsuit.

Duke reported experiencing similar health problems.

"Two things happen with water on building materials: It could be bacteria that forms and people can be allergic to the mold spores themselves and have allergic respiratory [symptoms] and begin coughing or wheezing. Then there are waste products called mycotoxins that are toxic," Richards said. "They can have a toxic genetic effect on a person and their organs because they are breathing them in. So, with mold, you either have an allergic response to the spores or you have a toxic genetic response to the mycotoxin."

Richards said the effects mold can have on the human body and the fact that his plaintiffs have been living in these conditions for years is concerning.

"This is causing long-term health problems," he said.

According to Salitore's lawsuit, People's Self-Help Housing and the Duncan Group caused harm by concealing that the property wasn't safe to live in. Salitore alleged that if she'd known the truth, then she wouldn't have moved herself and her child into the property.

"In addition, plaintiffs contend that defendant's statements that the property was safe/habitable to live in were reckless, unfounded, and intentionally fraudulent misrepresentations made with the intent to induce plaintiffs to rely on the misrepresentations and thereby enter into a lease agreement with the defendants," the combined lawsuit states. "These statements were false."

People's Self-Help Housing's Public Affairs Director Gillian Cole-Andrews told New Times that since this is an ongoing legal matter, the nonprofit is unable to provide a comment.

While Hood and Duke are still residents of the apartment complex, Richards said Salitore moved out after claiming she was being harassed over this lawsuit.

"My plaintiffs are members of a somewhat lower economic class, which is why they qualify for this type of housing, and they face a tough situation because they want their housing, and it's not easy to get on the list," he said. "You know, coming forward in a lawsuit, there's always a concern that there could be some retaliation of some kind."

Richards said that it's difficult for people to have fewer economic resources and be at the mercy of an organization that caters to people in a lower economic class and coming forward with a lawsuit shows a certain amount of fortitude and courage.

"That retaliation could be getting kicked out or having a mark against my record so that they won't lease to me in the future," he said. "It just makes for some tough choices."

While Richards said he's expecting a mediation in May to see if they can find a resolution, a jury trial hearing is currently scheduled for Aug. 19. Δ

Reach Staff Writer Samantha Herrera at [email protected].