Habitability
Documented conditions at 19235 Brynn Court present at or before move-in on May 1, 2022 — not disclosed at listing — each anchored to a primary document.
This section presents primary documentary evidence of habitability conditions that existed at or before the commencement of the tenancy. All conditions are anchored to timestamped photographs, email records, and contractor communications. No legal conclusion is asserted. Statutory references are provided to assist counsel in identifying governing provisions.
The listing agent’s own text message on May 6, 2022 — six days after move-in — acknowledges the kitchen electrical defect as a construction issue predating the tenancy. The move-in day photograph, taken at 11:39 AM on May 1, 2022 and geotagged, documents established mold colonies before any tenancy activity could have caused them.
Overview of Pre-Existing Conditions
The property was listed in April 2022 as “NEW carpet, NEW paint, Ready to move in.” The documentary record establishes that at the time of listing the following conditions existed and were not disclosed:
| Condition | Location | Root Cause | First Documented |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black mold colonies — established growth | Under-sink kitchen cabinet | Ten-year wall leak from unpermitted drain relocation (~2012) | May 1, 2022 — 11:39 AM — move-in day photograph — geotagged iOS |
| Defective electrical outlet | Kitchen — dishwasher plug | Rotted and rusted conductor from chronic moisture in same wall cavity | May 1, 2022 — dishwasher full of water on first use — email May 6, 2022 |
| Jumped circuits / doubled conductors in wall | Kitchen wall cavity | Prior unpermitted remodel — wiring cannot carry required load | Discovered by contractor David Ly on repair visits 2022–2024 |
| Active roof leak — recurring moisture | Bedroom ceiling above garage | Failing roof assembly — wet structural studs confirmed | Ceiling stain photograph — contractor verbal assessment during tenancy |
| Rotten subfloor — non-waterproof laminate installed over it | Master bathroom | Prior remodel — cosmetic covering over failing subfloor | Observed during tenancy — documented at move-out |
| Rotten cabinet framing | Kitchen — dishwasher surround | Ten-year moisture exposure from wall leak | Visible on contractor visits — documented at move-out |
| Mold painted over — concealment not remediation | Kitchen — refrigerator wall area | Pre-listing cosmetic treatment applied over active mold | Observed during tenancy — eight gallons Glidden Premium paint left in garage |
1. The Ten-Year Drain Leak and Kitchen Mold
The Unpermitted Drain Relocation — Approximately 2012
The kitchen drain was relocated inside the wall approximately ten years before the tenancy commenced — placing the drain pipe above the dishwasher electrical outlet on the same wall stud. This modification was unpermitted. The relocated drain leaked inside the wall cavity for approximately a decade, saturating the drywall and corroding the electrical connections in the same stud bay.
The property owner, Phat L.K. Tran, has held the property since June 2005 — twenty years. He owned the property during the entire period of the drain leak and the resulting moisture accumulation.
Move-In Day Photograph — May 1, 2022 at 11:39 AM
A photograph taken by the tenants thirty-nine minutes after arriving at the property documents established black mold colonies inside the under-sink kitchen cabinet. The colonies are mature — consistent with months or years of development, not days. The mold radiates from the drain pipe connection area and covers the rear wall of the cabinet.
Prior Tenant Notice
The maturity of the mold colonies documented at 11:39 AM on move-in day indicates the condition predated the 2022 tenancy. Any prior occupant would have encountered the same condition. The property owner had constructive and likely actual prior notice of the kitchen mold before listing the property.
Pre-Listing Concealment
The listing described the property as having “NEW paint, Ready to move in.” Fresh paint was applied over existing mold in the kitchen area before listing — a cosmetic treatment that conceals but does not remediate mold. Eight gallons of Glidden Premium paint were left in the garage after the pre-listing preparation, consistent with a deliberate concealment effort across multiple affected areas.
Video Documentation — Mold and Moisture Damage Behind Dishwasher
Two short video clips, preserved by the publisher and held in the case file, document mold and moisture damage at the kitchen dishwasher and under-sink area. The first clip records the removal of the original dishwasher by a Home Depot crew and the mold present inside the under-sink cabinet area. The second clip documents black mold growth on the wall behind the dishwasher and a wet condition extending across the cabinet base — a pattern consistent with prolonged moisture exposure and matching the conditions identified in the Overview table at row 6 (rotten cabinet framing · kitchen dishwasher surround · ten-year moisture exposure from wall leak).
Source: phone-recorded video, preserved by the publisher. Each clip is approximately 30 seconds in length. The original files are held off-site in the case-file repository; the references above point to the files served from this domain. The clips are presented as supplementary visual documentation of the conditions described elsewhere in this Section. No determination of liability has been made by any tribunal as to any matter discussed on this page.
2. Defective Electrical System
Day-Six Report — May 6, 2022
On May 6, 2022 — six days after move-in — tenant Michael Gasio emailed Phat Tran and forwarded a text exchange with Anna Ly documenting that the dishwasher outlet under the kitchen sink was not functioning. The dishwasher had been found full of water on its first use cycle, indicating it was tested and failed before the tenancy commenced.
“There may be a problem in the kitchen wiring — the dishwasher did not turn on and was full of water. I used an extension cord and the dishwasher is fine. The plugs above the sink on both sides don’t work. It may be just simply the fuse box. I’ll check for a fuse box today. Just wanted to give you a heads up — I know it was just finished construction.” — Anna Tran Ly, Broker (DRE #01894348), text message to tenant, May 6, 2022 (emphasis added) · Exhibit HAB-002
Four Contractor Visits — David Ly, Ly Construction (License #1068334)
- Visit 1Repaired rotted and rusted electrical connection at dishwasher plug. Plug had corroded from chronic moisture exposure — consistent with decade-long wall leak from drain relocation on same stud.
- Visit 2Second repair of same electrical fault. System failed again after initial repair.
- Visit 3Third repair of same fault. On opening the wall: circuits jumped from one room to the next; two conductors in a plug designed for one; wiring unable to carry required load. Characteristics of unpermitted electrical work.
- Visit 4David Ly told the tenant that all light switches throughout the property were bad due to the underlying wiring deficiency. He directed the tenant — age 72 — to turn off the circuit breaker and replace the switches from Home Depot himself, rather than arranging licensed electrical remediation. No written disclosure of discovered defects was provided.
3. Roof Leak — Bedroom Above Garage
A ceiling water stain was present in the bedroom above the garage. The oval tide-mark pattern is consistent with recurring water pooling and evaporation — multiple leak events over an extended period. Vertical streaking at the wall junction indicates water running from the ceiling accumulation point.
When David Ly was asked whether he would go into the attic to investigate the roof, he stated verbally that the property needed a whole new roof. He then applied touch-up paint to the ceiling stain rather than remediating the underlying condition. No roof work was performed during the approximately 700 days of the tenancy following that assessment. Wet structural studs were confirmed in the roof space.
4. Anna Ly — Personal Knowledge and Agency Termination
Knowledge of Pre-Existing Conditions
Anna Tran Ly — California Department of Real Estate Broker (DRE #01894348, issued January 28, 2011), individual licensee; the “Sun Realty and Management” DBA expired February 24, 2015 — served as listing agent for the 2022 tenancy. Her May 6, 2022 text message documents her personal awareness that the kitchen electrical defect was a construction issue as of day six of the tenancy. She had listed the property six days earlier as ready to move in. The mold condition visible in the May 1, 2022 move-in photograph was present in the under-sink cabinet — a location any walkthrough inspection would have included.
Written Termination of Agency — March 18, 2023
“I sent Yulia a DocuSign about 2 weeks ago. After few weeks, DocuSign is not available online. I no longer work for Phat Tran, call him directly.” — Anna Ly, email to tenants, March 18, 2023 (emphasis added) · Exhibit HAB-004
Move-Out Clearance Report — August 2024
The Move-Out Clearance Report (DocuSign Envelope F5D247C2-A1A9-4991-B91F-6A333347A87D) bears Anna Ly’s electronic signature. This document was executed approximately seventeen months after her written statement that she no longer worked for Phat Tran. It claims $7,835 for carpet replacement due to pet damage on the same property whose pre-existing defects Anna Ly had personally observed and documented.
5. Property Condition at Move-Out — August 5, 2024
- CarpetUpstairs carpet — uniform gray, no visible staining, no discoloration. A Roomba robot vacuum is visible in operation in move-out photographs. This is the carpet claimed on Invoice #2412 to require $7,835 replacement due to “dog pee bad smell.” · Exhibit HAB-007
- KitchenTile floor mopped and clean. Cabinets cleared. No damage visible to any surface. · Exhibit HAB-008
- RepaintTenants repainted the entire interior with Glidden Premium paint using a four-inch roller. Two five-gallon buckets documented in garage photographs. · Exhibit HAB-009
- BaseboardsTenants steam-cleaned the baseboards. No pet-related damage or staining visible on any baseboard in move-out photographs.
- City inspectorCity of Huntington Beach inspector visited July 27, 2024 — eighteen days before the Ly Construction invoice was dated August 14, 2024 — and confirmed no pet damage and clean carpets. · Exhibit HAB-010
5.5 Mid-Tenancy Removal of Contracted Gardener Service — HOA Delegated Maintenance Obligation Directly to Tenant
The April 26, 2024 lease required the landlord to provide gardener service as part of contracted property maintenance. The homeowners’ association at 19235 Brynn Court mandates yard maintenance as a condition of property compliance. Mid-tenancy, the landlord stopped paying for the gardener service. The yard fell out of HOA-mandated condition.
The HOA approached the plaintiff directly. The HOA representative gave the plaintiff a push mower and told him, in substance, that since he lived at the property, he should take care of the yard. The HOA delegated the maintenance obligation directly to the tenant because the landlord had defaulted on it. The plaintiff, then in his early 70s and wearing a cardiac monitor, performed the yard maintenance himself for the remainder of the tenancy.
The same homeowners’ association holds documentary evidence that Phat L.K. Tran was at that time approximately one year in arrears on his HOA dues. A landlord one year delinquent on his HOA dues, while simultaneously raising rent on his tenants by 7%, hiring a property manager who routed rent to a personal Wells Fargo account, and filing an unlawful detainer for nonpayment of the very rent the tenants had documented in writing they had paid, is a landlord under financial pressure. The financial pressure provides the motive context for the rent escalation, the broker substitution, the cure-window concealment, and the prosecution of the unlawful detainer.
- HOA dues account history for Phat L.K. Tran — period 2022 through 2025 — specifically documenting the period of one-year arrears.
- HOA correspondence with Phat L.K. Tran regarding yard maintenance compliance.
- HOA records of the gardener service and the date(s) it was discontinued.
- Identity of the HOA representative who handed the plaintiff the push mower and the approximate date of that conversation.
- HOA CC&Rs — specifically the provisions on short-term rental, which bear on the post-eviction Airbnb operation at the property.
6. Statutory Framework
| Statute | Provision | Application to this record |
|---|---|---|
| Cal. Civ. Code §1941.1 | Landlord duty to maintain habitable conditions | Mold, defective electrical, roof leak — all present at commencement of tenancy |
| Cal. Civ. Code §1942 | Tenant repair and deduct | Dishwasher failure reported — landlord refused repair in writing — tenant purchased replacement — net balance tendered as cashier’s check |
| Cal. Civ. Code §1942.5 | Retaliatory eviction presumption | Habitability complaint co-signed by household — eviction proceedings initiated within 180-day window |
| Cal. H&S Code §17920.3 | Uninhabitable conditions — mold, dampness, defective electrical, structural decay | Mold documented at move-in — defective wiring — wet structural studs — rotten cabinet framing — rotten subfloor |
| Cal. Civ. Code §1710 | Fraudulent nondisclosure | Known mold painted over before listing — known electrical defects undisclosed — property listed as ready to move in |
| Cal. Civ. Code §1102 | Material disclosure requirement | Owner of 20 years had knowledge of drain relocation, leak, mold, and electrical defects — none disclosed at listing |
| Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §10176 | Misrepresentation by licensed agent | Anna Ly listed property as ready to move in with personal knowledge of construction defects confirmed by her own day-six text |
| Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §7090 (CSLB) | Contractor discipline — failure to disclose dangerous condition | David Ly observed dangerous electrical conditions on four visits — no written disclosure — submitted invoice claiming unrelated damage |
7. Primary Documents — This Section
- HAB-001Move-in photograph — May 1, 2022, 11:39 AM — geotagged Huntington Beach Garfield — black mold colonies in under-sink cabinet — original in Google Photos
- HAB-002Anna Ly text — May 6, 2022 — “problem in kitchen wiring” and “I know it was just finished construction”
- HAB-003Michael Gasio email to Phat Tran — May 6, 2022 — “outlet under sink not working”
- HAB-004Anna Ly email — March 18, 2023 — “I no longer work for Phat Tran, call him directly”
- HAB-005Bedroom ceiling leak photograph — oval tide mark — vertical wall streaking — recurring moisture pattern
- HAB-006Wet wall and baseboard photograph — black mold colonies — saturated drywall — separated baseboard — mineral deposits
- HAB-007Move-out carpet photographs — Roomba in operation — uniform gray carpet — no staining — no damage
- HAB-008Move-out kitchen photographs — mopped floors — clean throughout
- HAB-009Two Glidden Premium paint buckets — garage — five gallons each — full interior repaint by tenants
- HAB-010City of Huntington Beach inspector report — July 27, 2024 — no pet damage confirmed — eighteen days before Ly Construction invoice
- HAB-011Ly Construction Invoice #2412 — August 14, 2024 — $7,837 — named contractor David Ly (CSLB #1068334) — same contractor who conducted four repair visits during tenancy
- HAB-012Move-Out Clearance Report — DocuSign F5D247C2 — signed by Anna Ly seventeen months after her written termination of agency
- HAB-013Video clip
mold1.mp4— ~30 seconds — Home Depot removal of original dishwasher — mold visible inside under-sink cabinet area — phone-recorded · held in case-file repository - HAB-014Video clip
mold2.mp4— ~30 seconds — wall behind removed dishwasher — visible black mold growth and water saturation across wall and cabinet base — phone-recorded · held in case-file repository
All primary documents are available in the Google Drive repository. Originals are untouched. Full evidence portal: gasiomirror.com