- Action Against the Owners/Operators of Barnhill Marina & Boatyard for Alleged Violations of Tenant Protection Laws and California’s Unfair Competition Law
Oakland, CA: Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price joined Alameda City Attorney Yibin Shen in a civil enforcement action earlier this month against the owners and operators of Barnhill Marina & Boatyard (“Barnhill”).
The defendants are Valley Investments-Redwood, LLC (Valley), which purchased Barnhill in 2021, and its manager, Amarpal Narang (“defendants”). Given the egregiousness of the violations alleged, this is the first major tenant protection action joined by the District Attorney’s Consumer Justice Bureau and the first time District Attorney Price has agreed to share her authority to enforce California’s Unfair Competition Law with a City Attorney’s office.
The Barnhill Marina, located on Alameda Island, has 56 berths occupied by floating homes. Floating home residents must pay monthly rent to Valley to occupy a berth. These renters are tenants under state law and Alameda rent control ordinances. Many of Barnhill’s tenants are low- income seniors, some in their late 60s.
The civil complaint, filed on April 11, 2024, in the Alameda County Superior Court, alleges that the defendants violated California’s Unfair Competition Law by repeatedly refusing to comply with local ordinances and state laws protecting tenants from excessive rent increases and harassment.
Specifically, the complaint alleges that after Valley purchased Barnhill in 2021, the defendants repeatedly refused to follow Alameda’s Rent Control Ordinance, which requires rental-housing businesses to register their units and pay mandatory Rent Program Fees.
The Complaint further alleges that the defendants used unfair business tactics to harass and try to force out long-term Barnhill tenants, including by drastically raising their rents and interfering with some residents’ attempts to sell their floating homes.
“Valley’s alleged failure to follow state and local rent control laws gives it an unfair competitive advantage over law-abiding rental housing businesses in Alameda,” said District Attorney Pamela Price.
“My office’s Consumer Justice Bureau is joining in this enforcement action with the Alameda City Attorney to ensure that laws protecting tenants’ safety and security are enforced and to make sure rental housing business owners are held accountable and all follow the same laws.”
The defendants have 30 days from service to respond to the Complaint.
Contact: damedia@acgov.org
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