Are The Sons Of An LA Housing Commissioner Getting Preferential Treatment?

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Are the sons of an LA Housing Commissioner getting preferential treatment? David Goldstein investigates.

Dawn Osler is 6 months pregnant and looking for a home.

"Where are you living now?"
"Home to home."

Her friend Tenetra Hughes was just laid off from her job as a teacher's aide with LAUSD and now she can't afford her tent.

"I really need to get in here."

They've both picked up applications for apartments at Tierra Del Sol, a low income affordable housing project in Canoga Park.

Here rents are as low as $331 a month for a one bedroom apartment, depending on your income.

But there were no vacancies.

"They said the waiting list is about 1700 people on the list. It's from six months to a year."

While 1700 of LA's neediest families are waiting to get in, we found one apartment rented by this man.

He drives a Mercedes. Traveled to Paris. And also to Rome. The woman standing next to him is his mother. Her name is Beatriz Stotzer, board president of New Economics For Women. That's the non-profit organization that built Tierra Del Sol with millions of dollars of taxpayer guaranteed loans.

Stotzer is also appointed by the mayor as a commissioner and is a chairperson of the Housing Authority of the City of LA.

Not only does her 26-year-old son Antonio live in one of the units, but her 30-year-old son Nicholas lives in another!

"I think it clearly looks bad. It sends the wrong message."
Councilman Dennis Zine is intimately familiar with Tierra Del Dol. A community center in his name is part of the complex. But he never knew that two of the apartments were taken up by the developer's sons.

"This is the first I've heard of it. I just don't think that's what it was built for."

Zine says Tierra Del Sol was proposed to him as a development for low income families. It even includes a school.

In fact, New Economics Web site says it creates economic and educational opportunities for single parents and families.

Antonio, who works for a video production company, is single and lives alone. Nicholas, whose facebook page says he is an associate pastor, is married with no children.

Should developer's family members be allowed to move into city funded buildings like this? I don't know what the rules are regarding this, but on the surface, it creates a lot of questions."

The mayor, who appointed Stotzer to the Housing Authority, echoed the thoughts.

"Questions have to be asked on the circumstances and they're going to have to be answered as well."

Over the past three months, attorney's for Stotzer's organizations have shown me rental applications, waiting lists and other documents. They refuse to provide copies, but the documents show the son's incomes are low enough to qualify for these apartments and the organization says they followed all procedures in admitting them off the waiting lists.

"He never showed up on the waiting list."

But Sarai James has a different story. She was the former manager at Tierra Del Sol. James claims she was told to rent an apartment to Antonio Stotzer in 2006. The rent was just $326.00 a month.

"Was Antonio on the waiting list?"
"No, he wasn't"

"He wasn't and there were other families on the waiting list at the time?"
"Yes."
"So he moved ahead of other families?"
"Yes."

James admits she was fired, she claims for being pregnant. Stotzer's story says her story is all wrong.

"They didn't cut in line. No special favors were given. No strings were pulled."

But it seems no one wants to talk about it on camera.

"Do you think it's appropriate living in that house. In Tierra Del Dol. There are all families in there?"

Antonio Stotzer didn't answer questions. Neither did his mother.

"Did they quality as low income residents commissioner?"
"I have no further comment."

Or his father.
"I appreciate your job David. But we tried to be nice to you. You're not a nice person. You're not a nice man."

In a written statement, Mrs. Stotzer said, "There was no preferential treatment given to my two adult sons who were financially independent of me at the time that they applied for and ultimately qualified for affordable housing."

But councilman Zine says he'll investigate to see how someone who vacationed in Paris, and Rome, and drives a Mercedes is living there...instead of Dawn Osler who's hoping for a better life.

"I gotta be thankful for whatever comes my way."

David Goldstein, CBS2 News

Two statements given to CBS2 from Beatriz Stotzer's attorneys:

"Over the last several weeks, information has been gathered and provided to KCBS and its reporter, David Goldstein on a voluntary basis in regard to my two adult sons and others. Because this information does not pertain to me and involves confidential private information of others it was necessary to first obtain waivers by these other individuals before such information could be disclosed. By voluntarily undertaking such efforts and disclosing such information, I have done my best to show that there was no preferential treatment given to my two adult sons who were financially independent of me at the time that they applied for and ultimately qualified for affordable housing. Because all rules and regulations were complied with, I did not benefit in any manner from my sons' application to or acceptance into affordable housing and no preference was given to them, both I, and my attorney believe that there was nothing improper. Also, to the extent that my sons were independent of me and the issues involve private matters such as income level, I ask that their privacy, and the privacy of others, be respected by KCBS in its reporting."

"You should be aware that the Tierra de Sol Apartments were built as affordable housing. There are limitations on the size of the household per unit size. The limitations on the appropriate household size will not allow a large family to occupy a one-bedroom unit. A one bedroom would not be occupied by a large family as you claim. The tenancies of both Antonio Stotzer and Nicholas Stotzer comply with the intended purpose of this affordable housing project given the household size of the applicants."