Santa Monica Daily Press
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Bishops’ letter challenges change in sex abuse law BY PAUL WILBORN Associated Press Writer
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Neighbors in a Venice duplex resolved a heated financial dispute last week, ending a three-year battle that began after one of the tenants bought the building and allegedly jacked up the rent illegally. Judge Pro Tem Caroline Welch ordered Frank Suffert, owner of the building, to reimburse Toni Pezone $2,330 in overpaid back rent. But the judge denied Pezone’s request for a $2,000 relocation fee, saying that Pezone wasn’t technically evicted. Evicted tenants are entitled to relocation assistance under Santa Monica law. Pezone, who has since moved to Topanga, said Suffert asked her for more money immediately after buying the building, and she agreed. But just a year later, Suffert demanded another increase and she refused. So Suffert allegedly began harassing and intimidating her, and when Pezone finally agreed to leave, Suffert reneged his offer to provide $2,000 in relocation assistance, saying he wasn’t legally required to do so, Pezone told the court. Angered by the way her new landlord was treating her, Pezone took her case to the rent control board, where she was advised to file a lawsuit. Though the board deemed her move to Topanga a “voluntary vacate,” Pezone decided to sue for the relocation fee anyway, saying that if she hadn’t left, Suffert had threatened to evict her under a now-defunct “major rehabilitation” ordinance that allowed landlords to evict tenants in order to remodel their properties. Judge Welch sympathized with Pezone’s situation, but said Suffert was not required to provide a relocation fee because Pezone was not technically evicted. The judge then scolded Suffert for charging a monthly fee that was more than $200 what rent control laws allow. “The fact is we all are responsible whenever we purchase or take on responsibility that we understand what that means,” said the judge. When Suffert explained he was a first-time homeowner, the judge offered an analogy. “It’s like driving a car, she said. “Just because you don’t know the speed doesn’t mean you won’t get a ticket.”
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Tenant-turned-landlord breaches rent control law
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said Ganbold, adding that Bally personnel were uncooperative throughout the ordeal. But Judge Gradstein said she couldn’t award damages because Ganbold didn’t prove she would have gotten the loan had Bally not turned the account over to a collection agency. The judge ruled that the contract was valid and found against the plaintiff.
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Monday, December 9, 2002 ❑ Page 7
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LOS ANGELES — In a letter read Sunday at Catholic churches throughout California, priests challenged a new state law they believe will bring a flood of sexual abuse lawsuits seeking millions of dollars. Starting Jan. 1, the statute of limitations on the filing of molestation lawsuits will be lifted for one year. Catholic officials intend to contest the new law in court. Several parishioners at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels in Los Angeles said the church should not balk at paying damages to victims of sexual abuse. “I think what they need to do now is pay and apologize,” said Ben Carlo, who attended mass with his wife and 5-year-old son. The letter was drafted by the 12 bishops in the state. “Some of the lawsuits may involve the revival of already settled cases and some may involve alleged perpetrators and witnesses long since dead,” the letter said. “Under those circumstances, it will be difficult, if not impossible to ascertain the truth. ... We anticipate that new law suits, some involving very old allegations, will be filed against dioceses in California.” In Los Angeles, it was read to thousands of parishioners at the new cathedral by Cardinal Roger Mahony. Many applauded after he finished. Outside the cathedral, about 10 protesters representing sexual abuse victims said the bishops should support the new law, not challenge it. “We think it’s inappropriate, especially in view of the terrible revelations in Boston,” said Mary Jane McGraw, referring to the release last week of documents describing sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese. In San Francisco, parishioners at Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption
received a copy of the letter inside the day’s program. The congregation of several hundred people followed along as the Rev. Agnel De Heredia read the letter. “At least the church is conscious about it. I think it’s important to recognize the mistake, not just sweep it under the rug,” Alex Liu said as he left the cathedral. The letter was sparked by concerns that a new wave of lawsuits would be so expensive that key educational and social services will have to be curtailed. Budget problems have already forced the Los Angeles archdiocese to make $4.3 million in program cuts and layoffs. “The Catholic church has been falsely portrayed as a large corporation with ‘deep pockets,”’ the letter said. “In reality, the vast majority of Catholic assets belong to the people of our parishes, schools, charities and other institutions.” The letter did pledge that the church would seek to help victims of abuse. It also pointed out that in the past year, U.S. bishops have adopted a number of reforms, including working with parishes in the reporting of sex abuse allegations to authorities and removing abusive priests. Parishioner Michelle Jolliffe Gonzalez said the church is doing a better job of responding to the sexual abuse allegations than it did earlier this year. She was not worried that new sexual abuse lawsuits would bankrupt the Los Angeles archdiocese. Under current law, victims of childhood sexual abuse have to file lawsuits by their 26th birthday or within three years of discovering emotional problems linked to a childhood molestation. The new law would lift those restrictions in cases against churches or other institutions that continued to employ known molesters who went on to abuse other victims. The lawsuits would have to be filed in 2003.
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