LaSalle Apartments Photo: Francisco Da Costa

The work being done on the apartments is substandard and not at all what they stated it would be when they applied. The project is now at a standstill with people having been boxed up to move for months and/or displaced in hotel units. I was asked several times to sign off units and take them back into operation with work not done or not satisfactory. I was told by Kevin Lee that it was not in the matrix for the contractors to put the units back in the condition that they were in.

A lot of the units have weak front porches and ceiling and wall damage. A lot of the cabinets and vanities have not been replaced and are worn. AIMCO ran out of money after the first phase and people have been living with their things boxed up around them for months at a time. I personally had my things boxed up from April to November of 2007 and finally got moved into the "manager's" unit on Nov. 16, only to be let go on Dec. 11, with my things still half-packed.

I had also been requested on numerous occasions to sign and date tax credit information. That was before my start date of May 10, 2007. I consistently had to remind them that I wasn't comfortable with this type of request.

There was a subsequent MOR (Management Occupancy Review) that took place on my watch. They knew without me having to tell them that the office and the files were in horrific shape. I however told them months before we got notice of the MOR, scheduled for Oct. 31, 2007, of the condition.

The auditor, Phil from CAHI (California Affordable Housing Initiatives), had been there no more than 20 to 30 minutes when he told my immediate supervisor, Senior Property Manager Crystal Ivy, "I don't have to tell you - you have been in this business long enough to know - it looks like someone tried to do a self audit," he told her, which we'd had with the compliance division out of Los Angeles. It was awful.

Some residents had two to three file folders. We were told by compliance staff at AIMCO to take Megan's Law out of the files and other necessary paperwork that should have remained in the files. Now the way the senior property manager put it to Phil was, "Go easy on Kathy; this is her first review." He told her that he had given the previous manager, Tonia Anderson, a break the last time. I knew it was another attempt to use me as a scapegoat.

They have so royally messed up with the rehab and the daily management of the properties, I believe it is imperative that they be removed from these properties as the management agent.

According to its website, aimco.com, "Apartment Investment and Management Co. (AIMCO) is the nation's largest owner and operator of apartment communities, with nearly 1,194 communities that include approximately 206,217 units." Among those are the Lasalle, Shoreview, All Hollows and Bay View complexes in Hunters Point, San Francisco. Kathy Ash-Henderson can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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