City attorney claims apartment complex leased to USD students despite safety violations
SAN DIEGO — San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliot filed a civil enforcement complaint against the owners of an apartment complex near the University of San Diego after allegedly leasing out units to students despite receiving dozens of building code and safety violations.
The 13-page complaint, which was filed with the County Superior Court on Monday, details months-long efforts by city officials to get the owners of a 14-unit complex known as “The Carl on Lauretta” to address issues that prosecutors say made the building “unsafe” and unready for tenants.
According to the complaint, The Carl allegedly leased out the units to college students before having an operating fire protection system and elevator. Prosecutors also say the city had not issued the complex a certificate of occupancy, which is required under local law to rent out units.
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“Students and parents, desperate to find safe and convenient housing before the school year started, were charged exorbitant rent to move into a building that lacked a working fire emergency system,” Elliot said of the complaint in a release on Monday.
“As the mother of a college student, I am particularly appalled that anyone would put the lives of our young people at risk to increase their profits,” she said. “We will hold these building owners accountable for cutting corners on our children’s safety.”
Construction to the four-story building started at 1211 Mollie St. by Crawford Design & Development in April 2022, after a single-family home previously on the site was demolished.
During roughly year-long construction, prosecutors say that Development Services Department (DSD) inspectors completed 83 checks of the property to ensure that the work being done complied with local and state standards. The complaint alleges that only seven passed inspection, indicating that the building was not ready for occupancy.
Despite that, prosecutors allege that Crawford Design and the landlord, HUGS International Corporation, began advertising available units over the summer, later entering into agreements with tenants in August.
In the months after, the complaint says that city staff from DSD, San Diego Fire-Rescue and the Building and Land Use Enforcement Division continued to inspect the premises, allegedly confirming the presence of violations and unlawful occupants.
From August to November, these inspections led to the issuance of 42 citations — each with a $1,000 fine — for building code violations, according to the complaint.
The violations notified the building owners that the units had to be immediately vacated until the certificate of occupancy had been issued by the city and all required inspections had been passed. Prosecutors allege this did not happen.
By failing to comply with the city’s directions, prosecutors allege the building was “blatantly and willfully” in violation of local and state law, and its owners were unlawfully using the property to profit “by collecting rents and receiving income from leasing” it.
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“Property owners should be on notice that the City Attorney’s Office will not look the other way while they endanger occupants’ lives, and especially not the young lives of our community’s college students,” Elliot continued. “That is why we have taken this action today, and we are confident that the Court will help us make these college students whole.”
According to Elliot’s office, a working fire system has since been added to the building, so the city is no longer seeking immediate vacancy of the building. Instead, prosecutors are asking the court for thousands in civil penalties and the reimbursement of “any money or property” acquired through these violations.
FOX 5 has reached out to Crawford Design and HUGS International Corporation for comment on the complaint, but did not immediately hear back.
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