City and County of San Francisco, People of the State of California, by and through City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera v. Sheila H. Chooey Tsang
Published: Sep. 30, 2003 | Result Date: Apr. 4, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: CGC01401856 Bench Decision – $500,000
Judge
Court
San Francisco Superior
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Neli N. Palma
(Office of the Attorney General)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Ronald H. Blumberg
(Blumberg Law Group LLP)
(technical)
Michael D. Cohen
(technical)
Defendant
Bartholomew Murphy
(technical)
Vincent Malta
(technical)
Leslie Stansfield
(technical)
Facts
Despite the fact that the city of San Francisco had previously cited Sheila Tsang for maintaining up to four illegal basement apartments in her 41-unit building, she continued to rent the units. The city and county of San Francisco and the People of the State of California sued Tsang.
Damages
San Francisco sought injunctive relief requiring defendant to maintain her property in compliance with all residential building and housing codes. According to the defendant: According to the plaintiff's trial brief, the city sought $29,216,000 in monetary civil penalties, but the court only awarded plaintiff $500,000 in penalties.
Result
The court awarded the plaintiffs $500,000 in civil penalties, plus fees and costs of $161,000. The defendant was found 100 percent at fault.
Other Information
According to the plaintiffs' counsel the two critical factors in the case were that: (1) Tsang rented up to eight illegal units for up to 10 years despite repeated city notices and orders to remove the units, and (2) the judge viewed the premises and saw the space was substandard.
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