Former tenants to receive settlement

By Kelly Rayburn
Daily Bruin Contributor

UCLA students and other former tenants of R.W. Selby & Co.
apartments may finally be getting back money that was improperly
withheld.

The office of California Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced
Tuesday that R.W. Selby & Co. will have to pay back $450,000
because of improper security deposit deductions.

The Los Angeles-based property management firm has apartments in
Westwood and other parts of L.A. County, as well as Orange and
Riverside Counties.

Recently, the firm came to an L.A. County Superior
court-approved settlement with the attorney general, according to a
statement released Tuesday.

Deputy Attorney General Jerry Smilowitz said perhaps hundreds of
UCLA students living in Selby apartments in Westwood will be
affected by the settlement.

“We believe that many of the apartments managed by R.W.
Selby contain a large number of UCLA students,” he said.

“If they have previously rented a unit they will be
receiving back a set portion of their security deposit,” he
continued.

Selby could not be reached for comment despite repeated phone
calls. But according to the statement, by agreeing to the
settlement Selby does not admit wrongdoing.

The amount each former tenant will receive will be determined at
a later date.

The settlement will also benefit students because Selby must now
operate under a court order requiring them to act in a fair manner
when it comes to security deposits, Smilowitz said.

Selby will hire the Better Business Bureau of the Southland to
conduct apartment inspections and to act as an arbitrator in case
of disputes.

“For a period of a year, we’ll be randomly
inspecting some of the apartments,” said the bureau’s
general manager, Gary Almond. “We’re here to ensure
everyone is keeping with the spirit of the judgment.”

The Better Business Bureau will be able to make quick and
impartial decisions if a tenant comes to them with a security
deposit concern, Almond said.

Selby was accused of taking money from security deposits for
ordinary wear and tear, failure to provide tenants with an itemized
list explaining deposit deductions, charging tenants more than
market price for repairs and for having leases which deemed
portions of deposits non-refundable.

Selby also violated other parts of California’s
landlord-tenant law, according to a statement from the attorney
general’s office.

There is evidence that Selby did not pay back interest acquired
over the course of a year on security deposits, Smilowitz said.

“In Los Angeles rent-control areas, he needs to pay that
interest back. We believe Selby just did not do so,”
Smilowitz said.

Selby manages two apartment complexes on Midvale Avenue,
commonly know as Midvale I and II.

Neither of the Westwood managers had heard anything about the
settlement.

Bill DuBrowa, a senior vice president at the Westwood branch of
Grubb & Ellis, a commercial real estate company, had not heard
anything about the settlement either but said, “It
couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy,” speaking of
Rick Selby, the firm’s namesake.

In addition to the $450,000, Selby will have to pay $138,000 in
legal costs and civil penalties.

Selby manages 17 apartment complexes and 6,000 units in Southern
California.