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End of landlord's rental 'nightmare'
Problem tenant finally out, but west county homeowner on brink of foreclosure
Property owner Connie Cook examines the kitchen of her rental unit, near Graton, recently vacated by Gwen Smith. Smith had refused to pay rent for more than a year while living at the property, and Cook said she left the unit uncleaned and damaged.
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / The Press DemocratPublished: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 10:20 p.m.
Less than an hour before her eviction hearing was to start in a Sonoma County courtroom, Gwen Smith finished packing her old pickup and drove away from her rented apartment, finally leaving the rural west county property owned by beleaguered homeowner Connie Cook.
Cook, 66, said Wednesday she is relieved to finally have the woman off her property after 18 months. But her hopes of getting more than a year of back rent remain a longshot even as she works to ease herself away from the edge of foreclosure.
Walking through the vacated apartment this week — her first look inside the rental in more than a year — Cook saw the holes in walls, the ruined carpet, the accumulated bathroom filth and then reflected on the landlord-tenant battle she calls the worst experience of her life.
“It’s amazing she could live like this,” said Cook, who fluctuated between disgust and tears during a tour of the apartment Wednesday morning.
Smith’s court record as a tenant in Sonoma County and out of state became public during the spring, when she lost a lengthy legal battle with a previous Sebastopol landlord.
In that case, Superior Court Judge Elliot Daum concluded Smith had moved into Barbara Wilt’s converted garage and maliciously and manipulatively stopped paying her rent. In April he ordered Smith to pay Wilt $42,500 in back rent and damages.
Smith, 53, appealed Daum’s decision and is awaiting a ruling. She has accused both her Sonoma County landlords, Cook and Wilt, of defamation and of offering substandard housing.
Smith, a paralegal who isn’t licensed to practice law in California, fought eviction cases in Wisconsin and Arizona prior to the two California cases, according to court documents filed by Wilt’s lawyer, Lisa Gygax of Santa Rosa.
Gygax has described Smith in court papers as running a scam by using her legal knowledge to avoid paying rent.
Cook’s attorney, Jim Sansone, called Smith “quite educated and quite brilliant in all the tenant protection laws.”
But he said those traits can lead to abuses.
“This is the most egregious, in my opinion, abuse of process I’ve seen,” said Sansone, who said he’s worked eviction cases for about three years.
In February 2009, while fighting the legal battle against Wilt, Smith and her teenage son moved into an upstairs apartment in a converted barn on the one acre on Douglas Lane where Cook also lives.
Cook said she never spoke to Wilt about Smith because Wilt wasn’t listed on the application as a prior landlord.
Cook said the rent was $1,230 a month. The small, two-bedroom, one-bath residence includes views of towering oaks and the lush hills between Graton and Forestville.
By June 2009, Cook said, Smith quit paying rent, saying the place was uninhabitable. She also changed the locks twice in the course of her residence, not allowing Cook entrance.
Cook said the woman told her the apartment was making her sick, needed repairs and that she feared the water was bad. “I had an electrician out. I had a plumber out. I was trying to respond,” Cook said. A water test by a Santa Rosa company showed the water was fine, she said.
Smith couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday. She previously has denied wrongdoing. Repeated calls to her attorney in Orange County on Wednesday were not returned.
Monday afternoon, Smith notified Sansone that she’d packed her belongings, would be cleaning the apartment, and would hand over the key Tuesday morning in court, Sansone said.
The two parties appeared Tuesday for the eviction hearing and Smith gave up the key, completing the eviction.
The dispute now focuses on back rent and possible damages. “Our best-case scenario would be we would be awarded all back due rent ... plus treble damages,” Sansone said. Judge Daum awarded Wilt triple the damages citing Smith’s manipulation.
Sansone said eviction cases typically are sealed from the public so he wouldn’t say how much Cook was owed. It’s not clear if any money would be forthcoming; in addition to the April judgment, a 2005 judgment against Smith in Wisconsin totaled $80,000.
Cook said she hoped to have the apartment cleaned, repaired and rented as soon as possible. A second unit on the property has been empty for months because of that former tenant’s problems with Smith. Cook hopes to get that rented as well.
Without her rental income, Cook said she was unable to pay her mortgage. She’s awaiting word on a request for a loan modification, she said.
“I have no money. I’m absolutely on the edge. I probably have months,” said Cook.
Wednesday morning, garbage and old pieces of furniture sat on the deck of the apartment. Inside, several stains marred the cream-colored carpet, which also was covered in dirt and bits of debris. The bathroom and toilet appeared not to have been cleaned for months. The kitchen walls and stove area were thick with grease and grime.
“I’ve had meltdown after meltdown,” said Cook, grateful for the support of friends. “It has been the worst nightmare I’ve ever been through in my life.”
You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.
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