16 months after fire razed Thousand Oaks condo building, frustrated residents await repairs

Residents of a Thousand Oaks condominium complex are deeply frustrated that 16 months after a fire ravaged a four-unit building there, it has yet to be repaired.

"It has become extremely difficult for me and the other residents here," said Mary Troness, who has lived at the approximately 200-unit Wildwood Township community at the corner of Avenida de Los Arboles and La Paloma Circle for close to 40 years.

Her unit is not in the burned building, but about a block away.

"It's an eyesore, and it has to be affecting the sale prices of our condos," Troness, 81, who was president of the complex's homeowners association at the time of the March 10, 2021 fire, said Wednesday.

The complex is comprised of two sections – Wildwood One and Wildwood Two. The fire occurred in Wildwood One but the building sits on the corner of the entrance to both.

"We need something done about this mess," Troness said. "And nothing is being done."

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Insurance dispute

The fire broke out in Unit 2682, owned by Seattle-based real estate brokerage Redfin. The unit is in a two story, four-unit building. No one was living in the unit where the fire started.

According to the Ventura County Fire Department's incident report, the unit was being remodeled at the time of the blaze, which was caused by the ignition of flammable vapors that were produced from the resurfacing of a tub and shower.

A worker sustained severe burns, the report said.

Attorney Pamela Moore, who represents the homeowners association, said Wednesday that the repairs have been delayed by a dispute over the scope of work that the insurance would cover.

"We've had to negotiate with the insurance company to get the money to do the work and it's been a lengthy process," said Moore, who returned a message left for the complex's management company, Covina-based Lordon Management.

"This is not a situation where no one has been doing anything," she added. "We've been active."

Moore said a contractor has been hired and has been issued a permit by the city to start work as soon as the insurance dispute is settled, which she believes will happen soon.

"So, I hope we'll see hammers and nails on the site very shortly," she said.

Moore declined to say who the insurance company or the contractor is.

But Geoff Ware, Thousand Oaks' building services division manager, said Friday the permit was issued May 3 to Conejo Valley Construction. The company could not immediately be reached for comment.

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'A lot of frustration'

The fire spread to Unit 2680 next door, owned by Mauricio Varela, causing major damage to his two-bedroom residence and forcing him and his family, including an autistic son, to move into a small rental apartment.

Varela's mortgage company has temporarily allowed him not to make mortgage payments on top of the monthly rent he's now paying, he said.

"We are feeling terrible and desperate about this situation, especially because no one has been giving us any real update on when our home will be ready to move back into," Varela, 52, who works for a Thousand Oaks car dealership, said Thursday.

"It's been a lot of frustration," he said.

In a statement, Redfin spokeswoman Erin Osgood said the company is "committed to making sure all units are repaired as soon as possible. We're coordinating with multiple insurance companies, but unfortunately the process has taken a little longer than we'd hoped."

No answers

Troness said Lordon Management and the homeowners association's board have kept residents in the dark as to why it's taking so long to make the repairs.

"We hadn't heard anything from them about anything," she said. "No updates. No newsletters. Nothing.

"When you ask them straight out, 'When are you going to fix this?' They don't tell you," she said.

But, she said, Lordon in November informed residents that their monthly dues were being hiked by more than $200. The increase is apparently connected to $261,000 in insurance for Wildwood One, "but it's not 100% clear," Troness said.

Art Cardenas, the board's current president, declined comment Friday.

Another Wildwood One resident, Nora Hayes, who was the board's treasurer at the time of the fire, said Thursday she watched the blaze from her unit in the adjacent building.

She said a fence erected around the burnt building blocks her from using her carport. The fence would also prevent her and a neighbor from exiting the complex through their rear patios in case of an emergency, she said.

Hayes said she has asked the board and the Lordon on numerous occasions to move the fence and to reimburse her for not having the use of her carport.

"Nearly all of my requests have gone unanswered with no explanation," she said.

Appealing to the city

Troness has appealed to the city for help.

Ware said he had no idea what the status of the insurance dispute was. But he said it wouldn't surprise him if it hasn't been resolved yet.

"Fires always go through the same kind of cycle of the settlement process, particularly with something a little bit more complicated that involves multi-units, separate parties, homeowners associations and such," he said.

"They always tend to be a little problematic and sometimes just take time," he said.

Ware said the city wants the repairs done as soon as possible.

He said that as a matter of routine, following the fire, city inspectors made sure the building remained structurally sound and wouldn't collapse.

The city then issued a permit to Conejo Construction in July 2021 to remove the building's damaged roof trusses, he said.

Now that the city issued the repairs permit in May, Ware said it's his understanding that the construction company is starting to obtain materials for the reconstruction.

"So, we expect this to start moving forward from a construction perspective," he said. "We feel we're in a good place."

Troness remains unconvinced.

"As I know and the rest of us know, nothing has moved forward," she said. "Nothing."

Star staff writer Gretchen Wenner contributed to this story.

Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Moorpark, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.

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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: T.O. condo residents say burnt building unrepaired in 16 months