PASATERRA RESCINDS IT'S ILLEGAL 60-DAY EVICTION NOTICES & TOBIN KOZIOL & TIM TROUT HIDE FACTS

PASATERRA RECINDS IT'S 60-DAY NO CAUSE EVICTION NOTICES

Pasaterra Capital & Helix Real Estate Management Begin Hiding Their Data

A lot has transpired since publication of the initial post exposing violations of Los Angeles County ordinances by Pasaterra Capital ("Pasaterra") and it's "contracted" property manager, Helix Real Estate Management ("Helix").  

Tenants of properties where Helix posted it's sixty-day eviction notices found assistance and support from the Pasadena Tenants Union ("PTU"). On Thursday, July 27, 2022, a press conference orchestrated by PTU, was conducted at one of Pasaterra's properties located on Euclid Avenue in Pasadena. During the brief conference, tenants of some of Pasaterra's properties described the emotional duress they were subjected to following receipt of Helix's sixty-day no cause eviction notice(s). As reported here previously, the first notice left taped on tenant doors on July 1st and on July 2nd with copies mailed to tenants soon afterwards. On July 6, Helix issued "corrected" notices amending the final date tenants could remain in their homes. All of Helix's notices constituted illegal evictions.  

On July 28, 2022, tenants at some of Pasaterra's properties began receiving letters rescinding the sixty-day eviction notices. As is apparently customary with Helix, letters were first taped on apartment doors and a few days later, copies of these mailed to tenants. And as usual, the letters unsigned by any representative of Helix or Pasaterra. The letters rescinding the sixty-day no cause eviction notice were coincidentally (or not) received by many tenants within a day or two following the press conference and only after Helix Management's President, Tobin Koziol, and Vice President, Adam Taragan, and Pasaterra partners, Tim Trout and Mandy Wang and their attorneys and other principals affiliated with Pasaterra, received letters from tenant associations formed at each of the properties where tenants were targeted for eviction. 

As also reported on this blog previously, letters taped on tenant doors on July 1st and 2nd erroneously referenced two dates by which tenants must vacate their properties. The first letter cited that tenants must move by August 1, 2022 and by August 30, 2022. Helix's error invalidated the first letters due to Helix's errors. 

On July 6, 2022, Helix issued "corrected" letters advising tenants they must vacate their homes by September 4, 2002. The allegedly corrected letter was also invalid because under Los Angeles County ordinances which supersede Pasadena ordinances, it is currently illegal to evict tenants who remain protected through December 31, 2022, under county ordinances established during the pandemic. At present, the date for protecting tenants from evictions including non-payment of rent, has only been extended to residents of the city of Los Angeles versus the County of Los Angeles. Protections for residents of the city of Los Angeles are now in place through August 1, 2023

Source: https://yovenice.com/2022/07/29/la-city-council-extends-eviction-moratorium/

The entire contents of Helix's letter rescinding its órder to vacate units at 435 N. Euclid by September 4, 2022, is shown below. Other similar letters were mailed to many of Pasaterra's other properties.

RE: NOTICE OF RECISSION OF 60-DAY NOTICE OF NO-FAULT EVICTION

Dear       

On July 6, 2022, you received a 60-day notice of no-fault eviction regarding your tenancy at 435 N. Euclid Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. The purpose of this letter is to inform you that given the ambiguity around the fast-evolving property rules due to emergency orders or a typical jurisdiction, the aforementioned notice has been rescinded and will no longer affect your tenancy at the property. You are no longer required to move come September 4, 2022.

We apologize for the state of the property and its disrepair. The property is over 55 years old with many of the systems outdated and long past their useful lives. As many residents have experienced the building’s plumbing is among the worst case we have seen in our tenure. We are doing our best to fix problems as they arise, but oftentimes, these fixes are complex and not easily administered due to the building’s layout. Should you decide to stay, we appreciate your patience and understanding with the ongoing construction as we do our best to bring this building out of its poor condition.

If you would like to end your tenancy at will on or before October 15, 2022, we would be willing to enter into a relocation agreement compensating at 115% of the amount you would be afforded you under the Pasadena Tenant Protection Ordinance (Pasadena Municipal Code, Title 9, Chapter 9.75) without limitations or restrictions based on income qualification. Please feel free to reach out to us and let us know if this option is of interest to you.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with you.

Sincerely,                                                           

Helix Real Estate Management

In it's letter, Helix omits reference to the fact that it's sixty-day no cause eviction notice was deemed illegal under Los Angeles county ordinances because tenants were at the time, protected from evictions through December 31, 2022. 

Helix's original notices and it's subsequent alleged corrected notices were designed to subject tenants to emotional duress and drive them out of properties Pasaterra marked for remodeling. The illegality of the notices wasn't an error nor the result of confusion regarding Los Angeles County ordinances. The illegal and invalid notices were deliberate in their objective. 

Helix and specifically, it's president, Tobin Koziol, leveled aggressive tactics to expulse tenants from their homes. As a result of what Helix perpetrated, some tenants fled in fear believing they would find themselves homeless. Others accepted the paltry monetary offers extended by Helix to cover the expense to relocate and move though some tenants were able to negotiate as much as $9000 and $10,000 from Helix. As disclosed in our last post, the monetary amounts offered to tenants were not based merely on what county directives stipulate. White males were offered higher amounts to relocate and move. Younger tenants were also offered higher relocation and moving expenses. Older females and people of color were offered the amounts Helix provided in an addendum to their letter and amounts set by the county. But even the higher relocation and moving expenses that some tenants accepted are hardly able to cover the exorbitant amounts of rent being charged in the city of  Pasadena, the country of Los Angeles, and in the state of California. 

Helix also employed unethical and hostile methodologies to drive tenants out of their homes, including refusing to conduct structural repairs of many of Pasaterra's complexes where tenants were targeted for expulsion. Helix also approved work to remodel vacated units to start as early as 6:30 and 7 a.m., Monday through Friday and on some Sundays. The continuous sound of drills and hammering continuing throughout the day ceased in the early evenings, at about 6:30 p.m. through 7 p.m. 

• One former tenant reported that during remodeling of a vacant apartment located next to her unit, workers accidentally made a hole in the wall and broke a water pipe which caused seepage into her home. Requests that repairs of the wall and pipes be conducted were not responded to by Helix. The tenant fled her home during the week of July 24th. 

• Another tenant complained she could no longer endure the noise caused by workers and also moved from her residence in late July. 

In it's letter, Helix describes the age of the structure at 435 N. Euclid as the reason why the complex is plagued by issues involving water pipes. Before the property at this address was purchased, Helix's Tobin Koziol and Adam Taragan and Pasaterra's, Tim Trout, visited the complex. On one occasion, Mr. Koziol asked a tenant if she had experienced issues with the electricity. She later told other tenants that she found his question perplexing because the issues she and other tenants had experienced for many years were mostly related to the complex's water pipes. 

It is quite clear that Helix has likely purposely maintained the derelict condition of the property's pipes as a ploy by which to drive tenants out. Since February 2022, Helix has focused heavily on remodeling vacated units and not focused its efforts on the replacement of aged pipes. Clearly, the structural integrity of Pasaterra's properties is overshadowed by Pasaterra's desire to reap profits. Helix's rescission letter is nothing more than lip service and presents vacuous excuses to avoid culpability for using illegal and brutal tactics meant to drive out tenants. 

Helix's letter also alludes to continuing it's "relationship" to tenants. The illegal sixty-day eviction notice which violated Los Angeles county ordinances; the refusal to respond to tenant requests for repairs that can potentially adversely impact tenant health and safety; the locking out of tenants from Helix's online portal and impeding the submission of online rent payments; and the use of a bogus office address which is actually the address of a federal post office located at 1306 E. Colorado Blvd in Pasadena are more than sufficient evidence attesting that Helix had no intent to build a relationship with tenants at the properties where sixty-day eviction notices were issued.

NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON'T   

Helix's president, Tobin Koziol, recently scrubbed many personal references from Google and along with Pasaterra's partner, Tim Trout, removed his biography and images from Paladin Equity's webpage.

Image from Paladin Equity as it appeared prior to July 29, 2022

Post July 29, 2022 Amended Image

Tim Trout also removed pertinent information to his role at Paladin Equity from his LinkedIn account. The following image is an excerpt of Mr. Trout's resume as it appeared on LinkedIn prior to July 26, 2022. 

The following image is of Mr. Trout's amended LinkedIn resume as it currently appears. 

So why would Mr. Trout remove all reference to his role at Paladin? 

INTENTIONALLY VIOLATING LOS ANGELES COUNTY ORDINANCES

Tobin Koziol and Tim Trout both knowingly violated Los Angeles County ordinances and used fear and manipulation to confuse and drive tenants from their homes. If they did nothing deemed illegal under county ordinances then why remove data about themselves from the internet? 

Tobin Koziol's is President of Paladin Equity. According to Mr. Koziol's now former biography states he "holds a "Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles; a Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law; and a real estate broker's license for the state of California."

As shown below, a search of the California Bar Association's website, failed to locate the name of Tobin Koziol, T Koziol, or Koziol T. He apparently isn't a licensed attorney in the state of California. 

Source: https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Attorneys 

And despite earning a Juris Doctor and having graduated the from Gould School of Law and possessing a real estate license, Mr. Koziol was apparently so glib of the Los Angeles County ordinance he issued sixty-day eviction notices in spite of the fact tenants were protected from eviction through December 31, 2022. 

As disclosed in last month's post, both Tobin Koziol and Vice President at Helix, Adam Taragan, removed their respective photographs from their LinkedIn accounts on or about July 6, 2022, but during the week of July 24th, they reposted their images to their accounts. 

And despite their zeal to scrub images of themselves from the internet, images of Tim Trout, Tobin Koziol, and Mandy Wang, all three appeared on Twitter on July 27, 2022. The Twitter post and it's link are shown below: 

https://twitter.com/PasadenaTenants/status/1552445050009047042?s=20&t=-ZozIZAChrUesH7yMHfbCg 

Helix Real Estate Management's Relationship to Paladin Equity & Xi Capital

In last month's blog post we asked if Helix Real Estate Management may be affiliated through ownership to Paladin Equity who in turn is affiliated through ownership to Xi Capital. Tim Trout, one of two partners at Pasaterra is also affiliated to Paladin and Xi and based solely on Helix's decision to violate county ordinances by issuing a sixty-day no cause eviction notices, it seems reasonable to conclude there is something unusual about the relationship between Pasaterra and Helix. The following chart shows the relationship between Xi capital and numerous LLCs and other business entities and in particular, Helix Cubed LLC, Paladin Equity Capital and Nordheim Capital. 

So who is Helix Cubed LLC and who are it's officers? California state show Helix Cubed LLC "filed as a Foreign in the State of California on Friday, February 14, 2020, and is approximately two years old, as recorded in documents filed with California Secretary of State. A corporate filing is called a foreign filing when an existing corporate entity files in a state other than the state they originally filed in. This does not necessarily mean that they are from outside the United States.  We also located the following reference to Helix Cubed LLC:

"Helix Cubed LLC lists two other companies as an officer in their company. It is not uncommon for one company to hold a position in another company."

The company Helix Cubed LLC is linked to is Nordheim Capital LLC, a company whose President is Tobin Koziol and whose address in state records is 728 N. Glenmore Blvd in the city of Glendale, CA. 

Helix Cubed LLC filings obtained from the state also reference the company's address at 1306 E. Colorado Blvd, #5760, Pasadena, CA 91106 which as we reported in our previous post is the address to a federal post office and NOT an office address for Helix. 

. 

Tobin Koziol is the officer who registered Helix Cubed LLC in the state of California and linked the business directly to Tim Trout. Contact addresses referenced in the state filing for Helix Cube LLC are:

NORDHEIM CAPITAL, LLC Manager 728 Glenmore Blvd. Glendale, CA 91206 XI CAPITAL LLC Manager 3865 Fairmeade Road Pasadena, CA 91107

728 N. Glenmore Blvd in Glendale is the home of Tobin Koziol, the President of Helix Real Estate Management, president at Paladin Equity, and president of Nordheim LLC. 

3865 Fairmeade Road in Pasadena is the address of Pasaterra president, Tim Trout, who is also a principal at Xi Capital and partner at Paladin Equity. 

The document proves Helix Real Estate Management was established by both Tim Trout and Tobin Koziol. Subsequently, because of its affiliation to Pasaterra, Paladin, and Xi, it is impossible for Helix Real Estate Management to conduct itself objectively and serve as liaison between the property owners and their tenants.  

CONCLUSION

As we also stated in our last post, Helix Real Estate Management is Pasaterra's lapdog, but we may have understated Helix's actual role because as documents prove, Helix is also affiliated with real estate developers and investment companies, Xi Capital and Paladin Equity and all of these companies are tied to Tim Trout.

Helix's relationship to these companies undermines the stability, safety and security of tenants trying to reside peacefully in complexes owned by Pasaterra. And if it wasn't for being publically challenged and exposed, Helix would likely have continued pushing it's illegal expulsion of tenants it harassed and targeted for eviction.    

More in an upcoming post.