The man known as the “King of Downtown Gilroy” has filed a federal lawsuit against a landmark hotel he called home for 15 years, alleging he was evicted in 2015 because he is disabled and needs a wheelchair.
Charles Larson, Sr., 82, claims the owners and manager of Milias Apartments kicked him out against his wishes and on short notice after his family refused demands that he be moved to a care facility because of his disabilities.
Among the suit’s allegations are that the apartment manager would not let Larson use his electric wheelchair and repeatedly used the term “faggot” to refer to Larson family friends.
“It’s one of the more egregious cases that we have seen,” said senior attorney Nadia Aziz of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, which filed the suit Feb. 12 in federal district court in San Jose.
Jacqueline Ramirez, fair housing coordinator for Project Sentinel, a co-plaintiff, agreed, adding the defendants are “repeat offenders.”
The defendants have a history of refusing to rent to a family with children and the last time it happened they were educated on fair housing law, according to Ramirez.
Larson is a Korean War-era veteran who was homeless for years. He wears a hearing aid and suffered from acute vision problems until recent surgeries on both eyes gave him some relief, according to his son, Alex Larson, a longtime Gilroy business owner.
Hip surgery years ago and “just old age” left him unable to walk more than very short distances, Larson Sr. told the Dispatch on Feb. 13.
Project Sentinel launched an investigation after the Larsons sought help.
Named as defendants are Milias Apartments LP, Kim Mattos and Bernie Wilder, the building manager.
Alex Larson said he met last year before the eviction with Kim Mattos and her brother, Brett, to try to resolve the issues, but to no avail.
When Larson did not move out, Kim Mattos gave him three days’ notice to vacate the unit, Alex Larson said.
Contacted on Feb. 16, Brett Mattos referred questions to his sister, who said they had not been served with the suit and that the building manager, Wilder, would not be commenting. She referred the Dispatch to the family lawyer, Kirkland Hoffman of San Jose, whose firm specializes in eviction and real estate law. Hoffman said Tuesday he had not been served.
The eviction happened so fast that the family could not find a suitable alternate rental downtown, near the bus line and where Larson could continue his independent lifestyle, Alex Larson said.
As a result, he added, a relative was forced to greatly deplete an IRA account to buy a downtown condo where rents average about $1,800 per month, so that his father could be housed in a way that allowed him to continue being independent.
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, a halt to discrimination and training for the defendants in fair housing law.
Charles Larson said his troubles began after the four-story building’s longtime owner, Joseph Mattos, passed away in 2009 and left the 84-year-old property to his children.
Larson was denied permission by Wilder to take his motorized scooter to his second-floor apartment in the building’s elevator, which has wheelchair access, and was instead forced to park it in the lobby, take the elevator on foot and walk down the hall to his room, he said. He needs a cane to walk.
Alex Larson said Wilder was verbally abusive to one of his friends and to a Larson employee hired to help his father, calling both “faggots.” That allegation also is made in the lawsuit.
He said he also was denied permission to make repairs, at his own expense, to this father’s studio apartment—including efforts to deal with a cockroach infestation. After a leaking faucet caused flooding in the unit, he was billed approximately $3,000 for repairs and a new carpet, he said.
Charles Larson Sr. served in the U.S. Army in Europe the in the early 1950s. He lives on $1100 in monthly Social Security benefits and help from his two sons. He paid $950 rent per month for the small studio, utilities included, he said.
After Alex Larson learned that his father had a nickname, he purchased a green metal park bench, like others downtown, and under a city program had it installed in his dad’s honor on the sidewalk outside the Milias Apartments.
On it, he placed a plaque. It reads, “Charles A. Larson, Sr. ‘King of Downtown Gilroy’ Supporter of Rights, Veterans, LGBT, ADA, of All Humanity.”
