{"id":398317,"date":"2026-07-14T20:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398317\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T20:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T20:16:14","slug":"jd-homes-rentals-responds-to-fresno-officials-amid-legal-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/398317\/","title":{"rendered":"JD Homes Rentals responds to Fresno officials amid legal battle"},"content":{"rendered":"

JD Home Rentals, a large landlord company that\u2019s suing the City of Fresno over various fines<\/a>, says it\u2019s not backing down despite officials\u2019 moves to strengthen code enforcement with new inspection rules and penalties.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> to The Fresno Bee, Bryce Hovannisian, a member of JD\u2019s ownership family, suggested the company has become a scapegoat for the city\u2019s own housing failures. JD done more for affordable housing in Fresno than the city has, Hovannisian said.<\/p>\n

He also blasted local officials for criticizing JD in the local media rather than calling him directly to talk about their problems with the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cJD Home Rentals houses thousands of Fresno families, (and) will continue to be a good steward of its properties and tenants, and will continue to defend itself against baseless enforcement, no matter how expensive the City tries to make it,\u201d Hovannisian said.<\/p>\n

Long criticized by local officials and tenants\u2019 rights advocates, JD has a history of accusations that it operates substandard housing. The company in 2021 settled a class action suit<\/a> from tenants filed in 2014 that accused JD of allowing dangerous living conditions. Today, some JD properties<\/a> \u2014 owned by its various related business entities \u2014 remain a focus of Fresno\u2019s Anti-Slum Enforcement Team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have demonstrated they have no interest in changing their behavior,\u201d District 3 City Councilmember Miguela Arias, a vocal critic of JD, told The Bee last week.<\/p>\n

JD has not taken the city\u2019s enforcement actions lying down. This year alone, JD\u2019s related businesses have sued the city at least eight times accusing code enforcement officers of conducting unlawful property inspections and breaking promises related to deadlines for violation fixes. The company is hoping Fresno County Superior Court will throw out citations issued against JD in recent years, many worth just $250.<\/p>\n

\"Bryce Bryce Hovannisian, operations manager for JD Home Rentals, is shown in a file photo from January 2016. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Fresno bolstering code enforcement amid tension with JD Homes Rentals<\/p>\n

At least in part, legal disputes with JD have led the city to bolster its code enforcement department this year.<\/p>\n

Following a ruling that went in JD\u2019s favor, the City Council in March approved new rules allowing code enforcement officers to access parts of private properties considered public<\/a>, such as porches and driveways, without warrants.<\/p>\n

Staff are also now preparing to update Fresno\u2019s fine structure<\/a> for code enforcement violations, Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz said in a recent interview with The Bee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we give a little bit more teeth to the law, I think JD (Home Rentals) might think twice about challenging every single notice or citation,\u201d Janz said.<\/p>\n

Arias said he wants an updated fine structure to allow the city to recover all that it spends on code enforcement cases. He added that JD doesn\u2019t initiate repairs until code enforcement officers order them \u2014 a pattern that was identified in the 2014 class action tenant suit, an attorney that helped launch that case told The Bee in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In his statement to The Bee, Hovannisian said the company looks forward to the city \u201cenacting a bilateral cost recovery fee structure, which will enable us to recover our costs when we prevail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fresno Fresno City Attorney Andrew Janz is shown in a file photo from April 2025. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com JD Homes Rentals says City of Fresno \u2018needs someone to blame\u2019<\/p>\n

Hovannisian described the city as targeting a provider of affordable housing \u201cin the midst of a statewide housing crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Fresno has apparently decided the biggest problem confronting it is to make leasing property to tenants in need more difficult,\u201d he said. \u201cRelying on provably false allegations, the City targets JD Home Rentals not because it violates any law, ordinance, or regulation, but because it needs someone to blame for its own decades of failed housing policy. JD Home Rentals houses thousands of Fresno families and has done more to provide affordable housing in this city than any program the City has ever run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hovannisian said city citations \u201cinvolve less than .01%\u201d of JD\u2019s units and added that the company has \u201csuccessfully challenged many of them.\u201d Hovannisian said JD\u2019s legal success against the city \u201cis precisely why the City Attorney wants to punish a property owner for exercising its legal right to appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that JD Home Rentals \u201cmakes repairs at its tenants\u2019 request every day, and it is intentionally defamatory to assert that code enforcement is required for repairs to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the City Attorney or any councilmember were seriously interested in housing, they have my number and could call me at any time,\u201d Hovannisian said. \u201cNone of them ever has. Instead, they politicize housing and talk to the press.”<\/p>\n

Fresno Councilmember Arias doubles down on landlord criticism<\/p>\n

Janz on Monday did not respond to The Bee\u2019s request for a response to Hovannisian\u2019s statement. In a statement<\/a> texted to The Bee, Arias continued his criticism of the company.<\/p>\n

Arias said residents and tenants typically turn to code enforcement only after a landlord has failed to meet basic health and safety standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cCode enforcement is not the cause of these issues \u2014 it is a response to them,\u201d he said. \u201cJD (Home Rentals) has repeatedly failed to adequately maintain its rental properties, leaving residents with little choice but to seek intervention from the City.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pointed to a blighted JD-owned property on Belmont Avenue in his district. Arias said the long-vacant property \u201chas required numerous code enforcement actions over the years\u201d and has attracted crime and drug problems.<\/p>\n

Arias questioned whether JD\u2019s owners would allow their own homes or those in the neighborhoods where they live to \u201cdeteriorate to the same condition as their Belmont property.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to imagine,\u201d he said. \u201cThe same standard of care they expect for their own community should be extended to the neighborhoods where they own rental properties.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A A blighted property owned by one of JD Homes Rentals\u2019 related business entities on Belmont Avenue in Fresno is seen Monday, July 13, 2026. MIGUEL ARIAS <\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 11:21 AM.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Erik Galicia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea\u2019s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JD Home Rentals, a large landlord company that\u2019s suing the City of Fresno over various fines, says it\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-398317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398317","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=398317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}