Sylmar Community • NEWS Update / "RV House in Sylmar"

Posted on 02/29/2024

Article Credit -

The San Fernando Valley Sun

by SFVS Staff and Maria Luisa Torres, San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol

February 28, 2024

Nearly seven months after Cruz Florian Godoy was ordered to vacate and clean up a makeshift mobile home park on the grounds of her Sylmar house, a judge gave her two more months to remove seven remaining RVs. Godoy’s property received attention last summer after neighbors alerted the media to the repugnant conditions created by the RV rentals, including human waste flowing onto the streets.

During the Feb. 22 hearing at Van Nuys Courthouse West, Los Angeles City Attorney Niklas Buckingham said a city inspector who assessed Godoy’s property the previous day described it as “clean and maintained,” with no apparent occupants in the remaining mobile homes.

Buckingham said the inspector reported he “did not observe any human waste … or any odor of human waste on the property,” and added that Godoy said she expects to be able to remove at least four more RVs within a month with the financial support of a fundraiser by her church.

Before being forced to shut down in July 2023, Godoy had at least 26 RVs inhabited by dozens of renters – estimates range from 46 up to 70 individuals, said Kurt Cabrera-Miller, president of the Sylmar Neighborhood Council. While Godoy now claims to need monetary assistance for the RV removal, she was charging between $400 and $600 per month from each renter for years.

“Our goal is just to get [the last RVs] off the property,” Cabrera-Miller told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol after the hearing. He was at the courthouse with Maria Macias and Hector Rivera, two of several nearby neighbors of Godoy who regularly started lodging complaints about the property to law enforcement and local elected officials during the pandemic in 2020. 

But their persistent efforts seemed to fall on deaf ears because nothing ever changed.

Macias and Rivera recounted how they often reported the leaking sewage and the accompanying foul stench that permeated the neighborhood and often forced them to remain indoors with their windows shut, even on hot summer days.

“It was affecting the whole community and it even affected our health; it made many of us feel sick, but nobody was doing anything about it,” recalled Macias. “I used to cry out of frustration.”

Other complaints included witnessing suspected illegal activity, such as drug dealing; putting up with loud music and the sounds of noisy generators (to power the RVs) at all hours; and even fears of a potential catastrophe from the propane tanks used for the RVs across the property. 

Unfortunately, said Macias and Rivera, their frequent reports about their unrepentant neighbor – including to Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez – went unanswered for years. In fact, nothing made a difference until Rivera decided to reach out to the media last summer. The ensuing news coverage shined a long-needed spotlight on the problematic property and its defiant homeowner, prompting visits from law enforcement officers and the eventual shutdown of the RV rentals.

“When I saw [Godoy] on television talking to reporters, she put on the face of an angel, talking about God and acting like … we were her family – I couldn’t believe it,” said Erica (who requested her last name not be used), a former RV renter. “She’s an evil person who took advantage of us. That’s what she [did] – take advantage of people who had nowhere else to go.”

Displaced RV Tenants

In the weeks and months after Godoy was forced to vacate the RVs on her property, the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol interviewed Erica and several other former renters, who shared glimpses of the inhumane living conditions they endured. Many described living in near or complete squalor, including non-functioning toilets, showers backed up with greenish water, and a foul vapor that would be emitted through the pipes at night, filling their compact living spaces.

When the tenants would complain to Godoy about the revolting circumstances in the RVs, she would reply with an unrepentant attitude: “Si no les gusta y no estan comodos, se pueden largar” – which means, “If you don’t like it and you’re not comfortable, you can get the hell out.”

Most of the tenants were immigrants from Mexico and Central America, including single people, couples and parents with kids. They initially stayed at a temporary shelter provided by the City, and several were later offered placement in tiny homes and other housing. In addition, most received checks from the Los Angeles Housing Department to assist them with relocation costs. 

Unfortunately, for Coral Ramirez and many others, the primary underlying issue remained: they chose to live under subpar conditions because it was all they could afford. Although Ramirez rented a safe and clean private room in Sylmar, she knows it will be a month-to-month struggle to pay the $1,000 rent, which is double what she used to pay for the RV she rented from Godoy.

“Even though the conditions were bad, I knew I could pay my rent,” she said. “Now I worry every month.”

Moving Forward

Despite the continuing struggles for some former residents, Godoy has been making steady progress with the mandated cleanup and RV removal on her property for several months, said Rivera, adding that they’re ready to move on and “get our neighborhood back.” To help make that happen, Rivera, Cabrera-Miller and Macias all said they’re willing to lend a helping hand.

“I have finally started feeling comfortable in my own house again,” said Macias, whose home is located directly behind Godoy’s lot. She added that for “a long time” she didn’t look forward to going home and used to stay inside to avoid the nauseating smells. Macias even witnessed a stream of human waste running down the length of her driveway, she recalled with disgust.

Despite Godoy’s past uncaring behavior – towards her neighbors and former tenants – today her demeanor appears dramatically different, said Macias. Godoy even shocked her with an apology.

“The other day, I was outside in my yard and she came up to me and she said, ‘I want you to know that I’m sorry about everything that happened.’ So I told her, ‘What I was trying to do [by reporting you] is what was best for everybody – for the community, for the other neighbors, because we never had a problem like this before,’” recounted Macias. “That’s why I had to go and tell somebody about what was happening – not because I had anything against her [Godoy] or because I wanted something to happen to her. … I just wanted things to go back to normal.”

But despite the severity of the past situation, Macias said she doesn’t hold a grudge.

“We just want to have peace and [be] assured that everything is safe for all of us,” she said. 

Rivera agrees. He said the true turning point wasn’t Godoy ending up in court; he said things didn’t really change until “Manny” (who lived on her property) finally left. Rivera said Manny used to show up on neighbors’ front doors trying to intimidate them to stop reporting Godoy.

“She [Godoy] is finally correcting things now … so we’ve got to work together – it’s for the community, for the whole neighborhood,” he said. “We can help her out if she wants our help.” 

Cabrera-Miller said he’s “more than happy” to help organize any assistance Godoy might need.

“If she’s going to a church to try and get funds for the remaining cleanup [because] it’s a financial issue, then the Neighborhood Council and its partners can help coordinate something,” he explained. “If the community can come together with that mindset – providing any [help] to get it cleaned up, to get those RVs out of there – we can also do a community cleanup.” 

Godoy’s Next Court Date

At her first hearing on July 26, Godoy was fined, charged with two misdemeanors, ordered to vacate all tenants and was given 45 days to remove all 26 RVs and clean up the property. Although seven RVs remain almost seven months later, Judge Alicia Y. Blanco has continued to grant extensions in response to favorable progress reports cited by city inspectors during each court hearing. Godoy’s next and potentially final hearing is scheduled for April 25 in Van Nuys.

Despite Godoy’s multitude of past wrongs, Cabrera-Miller said he hopes she remains on a positive track. He said the neighborhood now has the chance to turn the “nationally-known negative” story about the infamous “RV house in Sylmar into something positive.”

“By helping her,” he said, it becomes a story about “a community coming together.”