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While most of us are working hard to make rent in one of the toughest rent markets in the country, the mayor of Hawthorne apparently thinks he doesn't have to pay rent at all.Chris Brown—the Mayor of Hawthorne and not to be confused with other Chris Browns—is now on his second apartment in a row where the landlord says he simply refuses to pay rent, the Daily Breeze reports. His current landlord, Kubilay Isbilen, says he hasn't paid the rent on his luxurious two-bedroom condo at ThreeSixty at South Bay since November, and now owes a grand total of $17,500 in rent and various other damages. This is in addition to the nearly $11,000 in back rent Brown has already been ordered by a court to pay for a townhouse he rented for $2,350-a-month and was evicted from last year—despite Brown's excuse that the landlord was a "slumlord."
Fun fact: The property manager of that townhouse was none other than former Hawthorne mayor Guy Hocker. In Brown's defense, City Manager Mike Goodson did say that he had received complaints from other tenants about plumbing issues and vermin, though that doesn't really explain why Brown still isn't playing the rent at his new place.
Instead of moving into a more affordable space following Brown's eviction from the townhouse, Brown moved his family into the more expensive ThreeSixty property in November, which rents for $3,500-a-month. Isbilen said the real estate agent who processed Brown's application failed to inform him about Brown's issues with rent and that after his first month, he just stopped paying. Isbilen said he told the mayor's family to get out six weeks ago, but they won't, and they also won't respond to any of Isbilen's messages or calls. Police may be able to legally boot Brown's family, but it might take months, Isliben said.
"I still have to come up with the mortgage payment and he's putting me in a financial hole in such a bad way," Isbilen told the Daily Breeze.
Brown's neighbors have also complained that Brown uses the building's parking spaces for disabled residents to park city cars, and refuses to pay his homeowners association dues.
The California Republic Bank also filed a claim in the amount of $19,635 against Brown for an unpaid loan.
Dennis P. Block, the lawyer for both landlords, asks the obvious question: "How is he still mayor?"
