Monterey Hills

A bill meant to bring financial relief to owners of property in the sinking Monterey Hills Development Complex has passed the state Senate after being significantly weakened during committee hearings.

The state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would authorize the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency to buy back more than $10 million worth of damaged property in the sinking Monterey Hills Development complex. A less detailed version of the bill, authored by Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), passed the Assembly earlier this year. The amended bill is expected to go back to the Assembly for a concurrence vote next week.

The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency would have to buy back $20 million worth of damaged property in the troubled Monterey Hills Development Complex under a bill that passed a Senate committee Wednesday. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), is expected to move from the Senate Local Government Committee to the Senate floor for a vote next week. Aides to Polanco say they will ask Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) to carry the bill in the Senate.

A homeowners association, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre and other residents of a sinking Monterey Hills condominium project filed a $25-million lawsuit Tuesday against a city agency and developer for negligence in its construction. The lawsuit by the Monterey Villas Homeowners Assn.

The Los Angeles City Council voted last week to sell $10 million in bonds to finance repairs to two sections of the sinking Monterey Hills Housing Project. Soil stabilization will begin next month at 320 townhouses and condominiums in Temple Terrace and Eaton Crest, subdivisions of the 1,600-unit development, and repairs will be made. The two sections, which rest on 110 feet of improperly compacted landfill, have been heavily damaged by settling.

The Los Angeles City Council voted last week to sell $10 million in bonds to finance repairs to two sections of the sinking Monterey Hills Housing Project. Soil stabilization will begin next month at 320 townhouses and condominiums in Temple Terrace and Eaton Crest, subdivisions of the 1,600-unit development, and repairs will be made. The two sections, which rest on 110 feet of improperly compacted landfill, have been heavily damaged by settling.

Eighty-four homeowners in a section of the sinking Monterey Hills housing complex in northeast Los Angeles were awarded $6 million Wednesday in a settlement of their lawsuit against the Community Redevelopment Agency. Superior Court Judge Philip F. Jones approved a settlement reached by homeowners of the Drake Terrace condominiums and the CRA, which coordinated the Monterey Hills project, after testimony concluded in a jury trial.

I can't tell you how pleased I was with the article by Roxane Arnold, "Dream Condos in Monterey Hills Sink Into a Nightmare for Buyers" (Metro, April 19.). Like most of the original buyers at Eaton Crest, I am a young professional who works in the downtown area. Monterey Hills--its location, its 5% down, its fixed interest rate--seemed perfect. Now, like hundreds of other individuals, I am a prisoner. No one wants to buy a condominium in a building that is sinking. The only options I have are to give away or walk away from my unit.