Attorney General Bonta Sues Notorious Landlord Mike Nijjar and PAMA Management for Violating California Housing Laws and Exploiting Tenants

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Bonta today filed a lawsuit against a group of property management and real estate holding companies owned by Southern California rental-housing tycoon Swaranjit “Mike” Nijjar, his sister Daljit “DJ” Kler, and other members of his family. The lawsuit filed today, after a three-year investigation, alleges Nijjar’s companies, commonly known as PAMA Management, egregiously violated numerous California laws by subjecting tenants to unsafe units marked by cockroach and rodent infestations, leaking roofs, overflowing sewage, and other problems. The lawsuit also alleges that the companies discriminate against applicants with Section 8 housing vouchers, overcharge some tenants for rent, and use leases that deceive tenants about their legal rights, among other violations. Most tenants living in PAMA properties have low or fixed incomes, and many are faced with the horrible choice between enduring serious and sometimes catastrophic conditions or becoming homeless. In the complaint filed today in Los Angeles County, Attorney General Bonta seeks penalties, full restitution for financial harm to tenants, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, and injunctive relief barring Mr. Nijjar, PAMA, and related companies from continuing these unlawful and appalling business practices. 

“PAMA and the companies owned by Mike Nijjar and his family are notorious for their rampant, slum-like conditions — some so bad that residents have suffered tragic results. Our investigation into Nijjar’s properties revealed PAMA exploited vulnerable families, refusing to invest the resources needed to eradicate pest infestations, fix outdated roofs, and install functioning plumbing systems, all while deceiving tenants about their rights to sue their landlord and demand repairs,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Nijjar and his associates have treated lawsuit after lawsuit and code violation after code violation as the cost of doing business and have been allowed to operate and collect hundreds of millions of dollars each year from families who sleep, shower, and feed their children in unhealthy and deplorable conditions. Enough is enough — today, I step in. I am grateful to all the people who came forward, including the DOJ Consumer Protection Team, California reporters who sounded the alarm, local code enforcement officers who tirelessly respond to tenant complaints, and, most of all, PAMA tenants who spoke out about their distressing experiences.” 

Background 

The Nijjar family and their related companies own and manage over 22,000 rental housing units statewide, primarily in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Kern Counties — but also spanning up to Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties. Code enforcement officers in these communities routinely cite the Nijjar family’s properties for violating minimum habitability standards. In recent years, the family’s companies have settled dozens of lawsuits alleging habitability defects and unsafe conditions; these lawsuits have involved hundreds of tenants, including some children who have become seriously injured at PAMA properties. In 2016, an infant died in a fire at one of PAMA’s mobile homes in Kern County — which was not permitted for human occupancy. 

Through this all, it has been business as usual for Mike Nijjar and his corporate entities, which continue to buy new properties, ignore tenants’ pleas for repairs, and operate under an expanding list of company names that makes it difficult for tenants to understand who they are renting from. Tenants may know them by the names of their current and recent property management companies: not only PAMA Management, but also, I E Rental Homes, Bridge Management, Equity Management, Golden Management, Hightower Management, Legacy Management, Mobile Management, Pro Management, and Regency Management. 

Following extensive reporting from the press and stakeholders, the California Department of Justice began an investigation into PAMA in late 2022 that uncovered widespread habitability violations and other egregious violations of tenants’ rights. 

Violation of Basic Habitability Standards 

The Attorney General’s lawsuit alleges that, through their failure to properly maintain units, PAMA and related companies put tenant safety and health at immediate risk. While PAMA units suffer from extensive maintenance issues, among the most common are:

• water intrusion from leaking roofs and outdated plumbing; 
• structural damage caused by water intrusion and deferred maintenance;
• malfunctioning plumbing, including surfacing sewage; and 
• cockroach and rodent infestations. 

These violations are not just a mistake; they are part of ongoing business practices. PAMA defers necessary investments in maintenance in favor of quick and cheap repairs; uses unskilled handymen even for specialized work; provides little to no training to staff, many of whom have no experience in property management; and fails to track maintenance requests in any systematic, routine fashion — requests are often lost or never completed. PAMA is aware of these issues and knows their operations lead to uninhabitable conditions, yet these business practices have persisted for years.

Deceptive Lease Terms

The lawsuit also alleges that PAMA and related companies entered into tens of thousands of leases with unlawful and deceptive terms that attempt to invalidate rights guaranteed by law. Such rights include the tenant’s right to sue their landlord and present their case to a jury; to make repairs that the landlord neglected and deduct the cost of such repairs from rent; and to have the landlord exercise a duty of care to prevent personal injury or personal property damage.

PAMA also violated California law by refusing to provide Spanish translations of these leases and other important documents, despite intentionally soliciting Spanish-speaking tenants through dual-language advertising and the hiring of Spanish-speaking employees to fill vacant units and communicate with tenants.  

Discrimination against Tenants with Section 8 Vouchers

The lawsuit further alleges that PAMA and related companies discriminate against applicants with Section 8 vouchers who are looking for a home. Section 8 vouchers help low-income families rent housing from private landlords, allowing the family to pay part of the rent while the government pays the rest. In California, it is unlawful to discriminate against a tenant or housing applicant based on their source of income, including their receipt of Section 8 rental assistance. Management companies related to PAMA have violated the law by telling applicants with vouchers that there is a waiting list for units, or that no rental units are available, even when units are in fact available and are being rented to applicants without Section 8 vouchers. 

Unlawful Rent Increases and Other Misconduct

The Attorney General’s lawsuit also alleges violations of California’s Tenant Protection Act (TPA) at over 2,000 units, where PAMA and related companies shifted certain mandatory utilities costs — which used to be paid by the landlord — onto their tenants. For tenants protected by the TPA, it is unlawful for landlords to ignore the rent cap when requiring tenants to pay new or increased fees or utility charges. The complaint alleges that these companies began charging tenants for shared utilities, like water, through a ratio utility billing system, known as “RUBS,” forcing tenants to pay for utility charges beyond their control. The combination of these new utility fees and annual rent increases resulted in total increases of up to 20% — more than double the TPA’s rent cap. Furthermore, PAMA and related companies violated the TPA’s notice requirements by failing to include in tenants’ leases legally mandated disclosures to let a tenant know whether the TPA’s protections — which include rent-increase controls and limitations on evictions — apply to them. 

In addition to the violations above, the lawsuit alleges that PAMA and related companies issued unlawful eviction notices to dozens or hundreds of tenants, and also that the companies have failed to comply with basic real-estate licensing requirements since 2020.

Anyone – including current or former tenants – who has information that might be relevant to this case are encouraged to share their stories with our office by going to oag.ca.gov/report. To learn more about your rights as a tenant, please visit here.  

A copy of the complaint can be found here.