\t\t\t\t\tWhy this matters<\/p>\n
Building codes and inspections aim to ensure safe construction, protect neighbors and prevent shortcuts that can harm homeowners and communities.<\/p>\n
A San Diego business owner has allegedly made a practice of buying dilapidated homes in underserved neighborhoods to renovate, expand, or demolish and rebuild, all without obtaining the required permits, inspections or historical review. At least two of these properties were sold to unsuspecting buyers, according to a lawsuit.<\/p>\n
The San Diego City Attorney\u2019s Office announced the lawsuit<\/a> Wednesday against what it calls a \u201cproperty flipper\u201d for unfair competition and violations of city law. The suit names Zack Kyle Lawrence and his businesses \u2014 limited liability corporations known as California Dreamin\u2019 Properties, Jumpin\u2019 Zack Flash and Rock N Roll Life.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city\u2019s lawsuit accuses Lawrence of illegal development on six properties across multiple neighborhoods throughout San Diego, including Chollas Creek, Mountain View, Stockton, Sherman Heights, Cherokee Point and City Heights. All of these neighborhoods are among the city\u2019s \u201ccommunities of concern,\u201d which means they are considered to have \u201cvery low, low and moderate access to opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n The illegal practice began in 2020 and continued into late last year, the suit claims, with some violations ongoing. Attempts to reach Lawrence for comment were unsuccessful.<\/p>\n In Cherokee Point, Lawrence allegedly demolished a 100-year-old home and built a 2,200-square-foot triplex in its place.\u00a0<\/p>\n The house \u201cwas torn to the ground and rebuilt in four months,\u201d a complaint filed with the city says. It was written by a neighbor who said they are a licensed contractor. \u201cWith the turnaround time for plan check, engineering and permit issuance, the owner could not possibly have moved this through Development Services.\u201d<\/p>\n In Mountain View, Lawrence and his business bought a two-bed, one-bath home for $350,000. A city inspector showed up and saw the home was being completely remodeled and expanded, converting the single-family home into a duplex without the necessary permits.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawrence only obtained a permit to upgrade the electrical panel and later sold that property for $870,000 without disclosing the unpermitted work, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n \u201cSan Diegans deserve safe, code compliant housing and honest dealing,\u201d City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement. \u201cThis developer chose to profit by ignoring permits, evading inspections, and disregarding neighborhood protections. Our office will hold accountable anyone who cuts corners, breaks the law, and puts families and communities at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n The city\u2019s lawsuit asks a judge to stop unlawful practices and require full compliance with state and local laws, civil penalties up to $2,500 per day per violation, and recovery of enforcement costs.<\/p>\n This comes at a time when San Diego, like many other communities across the state, is grappling with a housing and affordability crisis that experts say is driven largely by underproduction. San Diego is failing to keep pace<\/a> with the projected housing demand. The city has permitted barely two-thirds of the homes it should have by now, based on long-term targets<\/a>. And the existing rental supply is 97% full, records show, which keeps rents high.<\/p>\n Developers have in recent years bemoaned the time it takes<\/a> to receive permits for relatively straightforward projects \u2014 delays that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But Mayor Todd Gloria has taken steps to fast track projects that develop affordable housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\tType of Content<\/p>\n News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why this matters Building codes and inspections aim to ensure safe construction, protect neighbors and prevent shortcuts that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[5970,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-175488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-housing-and-development","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}