Latest news with #DavidChiu
San Francisco Chronicle
16-07-2025
- San Francisco Chronicle
Rats, sewage leaks, no hot water: S.F. landlord sued by city for ‘unsafe living conditions'
For nearly a year residents in a Tenderloin apartment building have been forced to live with rat infestations, sewage leaks, and a lack of heat and hot water, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by City Attorney David Chiu. In the lawsuit Chiu alleges that property owner Charles Kartchner created unsafe living conditions and endangered the health and safety of the tenants in a 10-unit building at 646 Ellis St., which he bought in March of 2024 for $1.15 million, 'This property owner took rent from each tenant then turned around and refused to provide the most basic necessities like hot water and heating,' said Chiu. 'Every tenant deserves a safe and clean place to live. It is the landlord's responsibility to ensure their property doesn't deteriorate.' Kartchner could not be reached for comment. The lawsuit comes after nearly a year of escalating notices of violations, none of which were addressed, according to Chiu's office. In total, the Department of Building Inspection has issued five citations to the property owner for violations of the San Francisco Housing Code. In August of last year the property owner was hit with a violation because inspectors found the building lacked hot water. Later that month another notice of violation was issued for sewage leak, a rodent infestation, peeling paint and water damage, and damage to the main entry door,' according to the lawsuit. Other violations include a lack of garbage receptacles and damaged ceiling. In addition, the city attorney said the property owner failed to properly secure the building, resulting in trespassers entering. The lawsuit orders the property to pay a penalty up to $1,000 for each day that the violations alleged in the complaint existed, at least $224,000 through Oct. 18, 2025, plus $1,000 per day thereafter through the entry of judgment. The tenants, all immigrants from Vietnam, worked with the Tenderloin Housing Clinic to document the issues and bring them to the attention of city officials. 'It is essential to enforce tenants' rights to promote a high quality of life for San Franciscan residents,' said Gloria del Mar Lemus, Tenderloin Housing Clinic program manager. 'Tenants are already paying a high price to live in the city. Landlords cannot continue to violate housing codes by allowing their tenants to live without hot water or in properties with pest infestations or collapsing ceilings.' Tenderloin Housing Clinic also filed a separate lawsuit against the property owner in April, after meeting with about 25 Vietnamese residents who complained of long-standing and serious maintenance and habitability failures. Even among the hundreds of complaints DBI received about substandard living conditions, 646 Ellis St. was exceptional, according to Department of Building Inspection Director Patrick O'Riordan. 'This case really stands out for the sheer number of violations that led to unsafe conditions for the tenants,' O'Riordan said.'The City had to act.' After a year living in 'unsanitary and unlivable conditions,' Longtime tenant Victor Ly said he was relieved that the city attorney took 'action against a bad landlord who could care less about the tenants.'
San Francisco Chronicle
01-07-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
UC Health, Blue Shield extend contract deadline, stave off disruption of care
UC Health and Blue Shield of California, which are at an impasse over the terms of a new contract that could disrupt health care for thousands of Californians, have extended the deadline for reaching a new agreement from July 9 to Aug. 9. This means the thousands of Californians who get medical care at UC Health through Blue Shield of California — including many in the Bay Area who go to UCSF and One Medical, a UCSF affiliate — have an additional 30 days of breathing room before potentially having to find a different health insurer or pay out-of-network rates for services if UC Health and Blue Shield cannot reach a new contract. UC Health and Blue Shield have been renegotiating contracts to establish how much Blue Shield will reimburse services provided by UC Health hospitals, clinics and other facilities. One Medical is an affiliate of UCSF Health, one of the six UC Health academic medical centers statewide. Contract negotiations between health care providers and insurers are routine and often involve disagreements over reimbursement rates. In recent years, the tenor of such negotiations has grown more public and combative, often with each side accusing the other of taking positions that would ultimately harm consumers through higher prices or less accessible medical care. Late last week, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu and Supervisor Matt Dorsey waded into the matter, urging Blue Shield to finalize an agreement with UC Health so that the roughly 5,000 city employees and retirees who go to UCSF for medical care will not lose access to critical medical services. Last year, UC Health and Anthem Blue Cross, another major insurer in California, similarly had a dispute over contract terms that lasted months. The two sides eventually reached a new contract. In the Bay Area, the outcome of the negotiations between UC and Blue Shield could impact residents insured by Blue Shield who get care at UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland. It includes people in CalPERS plans, employer plans, Covered California plans and Medicare plans (including Medicare Advantage) offered or administered by Blue Shield. The negotiations do not affect UCSF Health Community Hospitals at Saint Francis and St. Mary's, which will remain in-network. Both UC Health and Blue Shield said Monday that they hope to reach a new agreement and avoid interruptions for their patients and members.
San Francisco Chronicle
27-06-2025
- Health
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Reckless' Blue Shield move threatens UC Health access, says S.F. City Attorney
San Francisco officials are urging Blue Shield of California to resolve its contract dispute with UC Health, warning that the breakdown threatens access to critical care for thousands of San Francisco city workers and retirees. In a letter sent Thursday to Blue Shield's interim CEO Mike Stuart, City Attorney David Chiu and Supervisor Matt Dorsey urged the insurer to finalize an agreement with UC Health, which includes UCSF Medical Center and its affiliates. Negotiations between the two health care giants have stalled over reimbursement rates, with Blue Shield warning that UC Health plans to terminate the contract on July 10 unless a new deal is reached. The impasse could affect tens of thousands of Californians insured through employer plans, Covered California, CalPERS and Medicare. They cited potential disruptions for roughly 5,000 San Francisco Health Service System members — city employees and retirees — who rely on UCSF providers for essential services, including cancer treatments and specialty care. 'Blue Shield's termination of its relationship with UC Health in the middle of a coverage period is unacceptable,' the letter stated. 'Blue Shield's improvident and reckless position upends the expectations of the members who chose Blue Shield coverage and the City agencies that approved the Blue Shield rates last year.' Dorsey added, 'Here's the bottom line: a large segment of our workforce relied on access to UCSF Health's physicians and services when they chose Blue Shield during open enrollment. For Blue Shield to now materially eliminate these healthcare options — in the middle of a plan year — is, in my view, unfair and potentially a breach of contract.' 'UC Health continues to do our part to negotiate with Blue Shield in hopes of reaching a new, fair agreement to preserve in-network access to UC Health locations without interruptions for Blue Shield of California members,' the UC Office of the President said in a statement this month. The City Attorney's Office is now evaluating legal avenues, signaling that legal action is possible if Blue Shield fails to preserve in-network access to UC Health. 'There is no more time to waste,' the letter emphasized. 'Blue Shield needs to prioritize patient care.'
CBS News
23-06-2025
- CBS News
San Francisco notary taken to court again for allegedly defrauding immigrants
For the third time in less than a decade, the San Francisco City Attorney's Office has taken a local notary public to court, accusing him of defrauding immigrants seeking legal services. City Attorney David Chiu announced Friday that he filed a motion against Leonard Lacayo and his business Lacayo & Associates to shut down. "Once again, Leonard Lacayo has demonstrated zero regard for the law or the immigrant communities he purports to serve," Chiu said in a statement. Chiu said Lacayo has falsely portrayed himself as an attorney and charged his clients for immigration services that he was not licensed nor qualified to provide. In some cases, investigators said Lacayo just took the payments without providing any services. CBS News Bay Area has reached out to Lacayo & Associates for comment. The city first secured an injunction against Lacayo in 2017, prohibiting him from providing immigration services and only allowing translation and secretarial services "in certain limited circumstances." He was also ordered to pay restitution and civil penalties. In 2022, the city took Lacayo to court again for violating the court's order. The court extended the injunction against Lacayo for five more years and imposed a $5,000 penalty against him. According to court documents filed Wednesday, one alleged victim who was seeking asylum said she reached out to Lacayo in late 2022, after the second lawsuit against him. Chiu said they brought on the latest action against Lacayo after his office gathered declarations, deposition testimony, bank records and other evidence of Lacayo violating the injunction for over a year. Chiu also said Lacayo offered legal services to an undercover investigator with the City Attorney's Office. "For years, he has profited off of vulnerable immigrants, taking their money while putting them in legal jeopardy. His actions are particularly egregious during a time of mass deportations and heightened fear in our immigrant communities." Chiu added. Chiu's office alleges the firm provided immigration services to "hundreds of vulnerable individuals." According to Chiu's office, Lacayo & Associates has been operating in the city since 1986. A notary public, Lacayo has never been licensed to practice law, nor has he registered with the state as an immigration consultant, which is required under state law. The city is seeking to enforce the 2017 injunction against Lacayo and his business for five more years, leaving it in place until Sep. 2032. Chiu said he is also seeking additional penalties and more than $110,000 in attorney's fees, according to the filing.
CBS News
03-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Deepfake porn website operator settles with San Francisco, agrees to shut down
The San Francisco City Attorney's office has settled with a company that operated websites creating "deepfake nudes", where artificial intelligence is used to turn photos of children and adults into pornography. City Attorney David Chiu announced Monday that Briver LLC has agreed to a permanent injunction prohibiting the company and its owners from operating any websites that create nonconsensual deepfakes. Briver LLC has also agreed to pay $100,000 in civil penalties. According to Chiu, Briver LLC operated two such websites, which offered users the opportunity to upload clothed images of real people to create realistic-looking nude images, usually for a fee. Before being shut down, the company's websites allowed users to create pornographic images of adults and children. In August of last year, Chiu's office filed suit against 16 of the most visited deepfake nude websites. The websites targeted in the lawsuit had reportedly been visited more than 200 million times in the first six months of 2024. As a result of the investigation, 10 of the sites are now offline or no longer accessible in California, according to the city attorney. Meanwhile, the lawsuit will proceed against the remaining defendants. "While our lawsuit has so far led to an initial settlement as well as shut down 10 websites that exploit women and children, we won't stop until all owners are held accountable and blocked from opening similar sites," Chiu said in a statement. "While generative AI holds enormous promise, these website operators are engaged in blatant sexual abuse and must be stopped." Chiu's office said the images are often used to extort, bully and humiliate women and girls. One such incident involved students at a middle school in Southern California last year. Celebrities, including Taylor Swift, have also been victimized by AI-generated explicit images. Anyone who may have been t he victim of nonconsensual deepfake pornography or has relevant information in the case is asked to contact the San Francisco City Attorney's Office through the agency's consumer complaint web portal or by calling 415-554-3977.
