Echo Park Residents Forced To Remove Christmas Lights By Grinchy Landlords

Residents of an Echo Park apartment building who just wanted to spread a little Christmas cheer got totally scrooged.

CBS L.A. reports that residents of an apartment building on the 1000 block of Lemoyne received a letter from their management company on Christmas Eve that ordered them to remove their Christmas lights and decorations in the common areas by Christmas Day, or they'd be taken down and thrown out.

The building is owned by the Angeles Temple Church, which owns several apartment buildings and properties on the blocks across from Echo Park Lake. In one of those buildings, residents banded together to defy the orders to remove the decorations.

"It was really sad and disheartening," one tenant, who just wanted to be identified as Sarah, told CBS. "The reason given was kind of strange. It was just like, "Cause we don't want it.'"

Residents say the action by their landlords is hypocritical; the Angelus Temple shut down the entire block last Saturday for their own Christmas celebration, and have a bunch of decorations strewn up throughout the church’s common areas. What gives? (The Angelus Temple could not be reached for comment.)

One of the building's residents, Larry Holman told CBS that despite his landlord's threats, he'll be keeping his decorations up as he sees fit. "These will come down the day after New Year's," he said.

And if they get busted?

Rafael Herrera, who lives in another one of the rented properties across the street, said he'll fight it. "They take it and throw it in the trash for me," he said, "I will take [what I spent for them] out of the rent, the monthly rent and take it away."