The whole idea of renting is basically this: a tenant pays a landlord in exchange for living in a space that the landlord owns. However, this arrangement doesn't seem to sit well with Hawthorne Mayor Chris Brown. Brown was evicted from his last apartment for not paying his rent. Now he's being evicted again for the same reason, says the Daily Breeze. He owes his new landlord $17,500 for overdue rent "and other damages," and he hasn't paid rent on his fancy two-bedroom condo since November.
Brown still owes his previous landlord almost $11,000 in back rent for his time in a $2,350-a-month Hawthorne townhouse. Brown refused to pay because he said the space was in general disrepair; he called his then-landlord a "slumlord." A court disagreed and ordered him to pay the back rent. He has not.
After being "forcibly removed" from that rental, Brown moved in November into a more expensive, $3,500-a-month condo at the ThreeSixty complex in El Segundo. That was the last month he paid rent. (The landlord claims that "the real estate agent who processed his application didn't inform him of the mayor's prior eviction or financial problems.")
Brown's neighbors at ThreeSixty have also reported to the landlord that Brown parks official city cars in disabled spaces in the complex and, unsurprisingly, doesn't pay his homeowners association dues either (although if he's renting, why is he paying homeowners dues??). Oh, and the California Republic Bank filed a suit against Brown in February trying to collect on an unpaid loan for which he owes the bank $19,635.06. Brown isn't commenting on any of the new allegations.
Brown is the latest in a succession of Hawthorne mayors who turn out to have unconventional approaches to money and property. One previous mayor kept for himself a $2,500 donation intended for a memorial fund for police officers; another pleaded guilty to stealing "a commercial food mixer" shortly after his term was over.
· Hawthorne Mayor Chris Brown faces second eviction for not paying rent [Daily Breeze]
· Hawthorne Mayor Evicted for Not Paying Rent to "Slumlord" [Curbed LA]
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