A man is renting more than a dozen vans to homeless people and residents are fed up with it, saying the vans are taking up space and most of them leave large amounts of trash after they move, reports Angie Crouch at KNBC.
People who live in a Venice Beach neighborhood allege that someone is renting vans to homeless people as temporary overnight lodging.
KNBC reported 3 vans on Riviera and Grand in Venice, were registered to one man locals call the "vanlord."
Residents say he rents them out for as much as $300 a month, moving them from street to street.
Lucas Dark is a homeless man who's looking for the so-called vanlord because he says he's been renting a van for the past 12 weeks, and paying $300 a month.
But Tuesday, the van was moved with all his belongings inside. He says the vanlord has more than a dozen vehicles, which he lists for rent on Craigslist.
It's illegal to sleep in a vehicle on designated residential streets in Venice Beach. Neighbors said along with taking up limited parking spaces, some van dwellers toss sewage and trash on public sidewalks.
"We've seen them dumping buckets; coming out and dropping their pants and using driveways as a latrine," said Mark Ryavec of the Venice Stakeholders Association.
LAPD said they're aware of the problem with van rentals and they are investigating. But they admit it's a hard problem to solve because they have to catch the person inside the van during overnight hours in order to issue a citation.
Caption: Neighbors said they have seen upwards of 30 people living in tents and pop ups at this encampment on the railroad tracks. Aerial photo by KNBC
2. Man Known as the 'Vanlord' Rents Vans to Homeless
Reader Comments(0)