Residents Protest Against HACLA Charging Excessive Trash Fees

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L.A. city housing residents chanted and held colorful signs saying "Paying for trash is garbage". They were protesting outside the Housing Authority's downtown L.A. building.

The residents have been billed for garbage pickup since 1983, even though the city was supposed to be paying for it.

Karina Torres has lived in public housing for three years and says her lease stated that the agency would pay for the trash fee, not her. Paying this fee has forced Torres into rough money situations.

"It's hard because i'm a single mother, if the charge from the trash was removed from my rent, I would be able to, you know, buy something for my son," Torres said.

According to Torres, her rent was about $24 higher than it should have been. Enrique Melo, a house inspector for the Housing Authority of Los Angeles, thinks it's the city's fault for not following the lease guidelines.

The residents have teamed up with organizations like People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER) to get their money refunded.

Residents say the money that should be refunded is about $15 million. HACLA released a statement Wednesday and is refusing to refund the money. So, residents filed a lawsuit against it yesterday.

Bill Pryzlucki, an organizer for POWER, said he thinks this lawsuit is costing a lot more money than it needs to.

"The housing commission has a choice to make today: they can either choose to negotiate with us now, like in good faith, or choose to try and fight this, drag it out for a year or two, waste a lot of money on legal fees," Pryzlucki said.

Residents at the protest say they don't expect their money back quickly, but they do eventually want it back.

"The faster we win that money, the faster the money can go into local communities," Pryzlucki said.

Residents think they're going to win the case, but now they're just waiting for HACLA to respond in the lawsuit.