Owners of 10405 Otsego St., North Hollywood, CA, 91601: Cathy Storrs-Marcy and possibly Elizabeth Storrs Arnett, Real estate license number 01242649. Maintenance: Steve Marcy.
My stay at 10405 Ostego St., North Hollywood was the worse rental experience I’ve ever had. This is my opinion. My perspective.
I originally rented the unit from Nancy Craddock Storrs. She told me that she, the property owner, paid for the trash and that the utility costs for the pool were split in half.
After seven months I had enough evidence gathered to argue that this wasn’t true. Steve Marcy came out to check the meters and to compare them against my utility bills. He confirmed I was overpaying about one hundred dollars a month.
Ms. Storrs and I agreed to a one hundred dollar a month lease reduction. When I asked Ms. Storrs how she wanted to refund the seven hundred dollars I’d over paid — she barked that she couldn’t afford it. This from a millionairess. She priced her integrity at seven hundred dollars. It went downhill from there.
Ms. Storrs passed away a week after our conversation about the overpayment. Cathy Storrs-Marcy and Elizabeth Arnett inherited the properties and ignored them. Apples don’t fall far from the tree, it seems.
Putting aside the yellow, stained drapes, the broken window latches, and all of the other issues that should’ve been fixed given this is supposed to be a high-end – the most vexing problem was the swimming pool.
If you rent a place with a pool, you’re paying a premium for the pool. If the property management doesn’t maintain the pool, and it’s unusable, then that’s money down the drain. It needed a new pump, it needed proper maintenance, it needed an investment.
As Steve Marcy said, Ms. Storrs treated her properties like “cash cows”. I guess this means pulling out all of the money you can from a property while investing as little as possible into it. It seems to me that Cathy Storrs-Marcy and Elizabeth Arnett learned that lesson.
I emailed Cathy Storrs-Marcy, Elizabeth Arnett, and Steve Marcy with a list of my complaints. They emailed back but they didn’t deny or contest a single complaint. Here they are –
“Hello Cathy,
- Steve Marcy took about three weeks to install the new pool pump and the pool still is unusable.
- Matt Kimball, a pool specialist, examined the pool pump installation, called it a safety hazard, and quit on the spot. The pump was running and it wasn’t even grounded.
- Matt Kimball said the job should’ve taken a day to complete.
- Steve Marcy left tools, pieces of pumps, pipes, and a heater in the backyard along with a used cement mixer.
- Diatomaceous Earth was left all over the yard. Steve Marcy did not clean it up. He told me it was natural and wouldn’t cause any harm.
- Here is what experts says, “If breathed in, diatomaceous earth can irritate the nose and nasal passages. If an extremely large amount is inhaled, people may cough and have shortness of breath. On skin, it can cause irritation and dryness. … Any dust, including silica, can be irritating to the eyes.”
- Diatomaceous Earth has been tested as a whole and evaluated as a Group 3 carcinogen by IARC.
- My dog rolled in that grass. Now, I know why my dog has broken out in sores, a sinus infection, and an ear infection.
- Now I know why I have rashes on my arms and legs.
- Steve Marcy told me Diatomaceous Earth is harmless, biodegradable. He told me not to worry about it.
- I trusted Steve Marcy.
- Diatomaceous Earth is not harmless.
- By misinforming me, Steve Marcy deprived me of my ability to take the actions necessary to protect my health and the health of my pet.
- Steve Marcy bragged about “saving thousands of dollars” by doing the pool pump install himself but cared not a bit that he put my life and the life of my dog at risk.
- I had to clean up after Steve Marcy multiple times.
- Steve Marcy asked for a copy of my utility bill. He used that utility bill to game the system for a rebate on a new pool pump.
- Steve Marcy didn’t fix problems with the property that were pointed out months ago.
- Nothing was done during my stay by the you or Steve Marcy to maintain the quality of the unit, and the integrity of the building
- I have about 130 videos and pictures of 10405 Otsego St. Each with a time/date/location stamp.
- I shot video of what the unit looked like the day I moved in, including the yellow, stained blinds/curtains that I asked Nancy to replace. They never were. The broken glass pane in the cabinet over the counter was there when I moved in. So were the broken window handles, the defective dishwasher, and more.
- I shot many videos of what 10405 Otsego St. looked like throughout my stay.
- I shot video of the empty unit on 6/28/2021
- I took pictures and shot videos that chronicle the state of the unusable pool I paid a rent premium for. A pool that I paid the water and electricity for.
- I have videos and pictures that show how the outside of the building i.e. the backyard, the front yard, the fence, and more have deteriorated from lack of professional attention once you took over ownership.
- I have pictures of the amateurish pool pump installation that Matt Kimball, Big Baby Pool Service, called a safety hazard.
- I have pictures of the debris Steve Marcy left in the yard including rusted, old equipment, tools, plastic pipes, Diatomaceous Earth, and more.
- I have video and pictures of the moldy, chipping peeling paint in the unit which makes the unit, in the eyes of California law, uninhabitable.
- I will have video and pictures of what the unit looks like the day I move out.
- I have done everything by the book. I have acted with complete and unassailable integrity. I have done nothing wrong.
I paid the rent through July, 10th. I sent you a 30 -day notice on June, 9th. You wanted me to leave on the 30th until I pointed out you would owe me a refund. You refused to do that. The rights and protections granted to the tenant by the state of California and by the Federal Government continue as do the legal obligations of the property owner.
Events since I tendered my notice:
- The pool pump went off at about 4:15 AM on 6/12/2021 wailing like a banshee. I woke up with a start, my heart racing. It was set up without consultation with me. There was no regard for my well-being – the person who is paying for everything.
- An open bag of the dangerous Diatomaceous Earth was left by Steve Marcy next to my open bedroom door.
- On 6/14/2021, I noticed Steve Marcy put the dirt from his pump installation in the green lawn bin. The bin was weighted down and heavy with dirt in it.
- The lease states that the pool will be properly maintained by the property owner. This has seldom, if ever, been the case. In fact, no one has been by to professionally clean the pool since Matt Kimball quit weeks ago. You’ve taken my money, and have continually deprived me of what I’ve paid for and what you’re contractually obliged to provide.
- The pool is a rotting, hazardous disaster due to your negligence.
- You let that cesspool sit for weeks and weeks and weeks – and now that there are less than two weeks left on my tenancy, you send me a text about a pool guy coming over on June 29th, 2021? That’s cruel. That’s negligent. That’s offensive. That’s tantamount to giving me the finger. I’ve done nothing wrong. I’ve treated the property respectfully and has always paid the rent early so that you would never have to worry.
- It’s been many days since the sprinklers last came on in the backyard of the unit I’m renting. I didn’t tun them off. Who turned them off? The flowers, the bushes, the grass, are dying. You were on the property on June, 15, 2021 – 5 days after receiving my 30-day notice. You saw the condition of the yard.
You and Steve Marcy have created a hazardous, dangerous environment at 10405 Otsego St., that have caused great harm to me and my dog.
This email is simply a statement of facts, Cathy. You need to know what you’ve done to me and how it’s affected me. That said, I’d prefer to put this matter behind us amicably.”
My lease at 10405 Otsego St. began October 10, 2019. Below are sample picture taken throughout 2020 until the date I turned in my 30-day out.
This is what the yard looked like while Steve Marcy took about three weeks to replace the pump.
Hazardous material left all over the yard.
Pool wiring job
The bedroom after being flooded by the pool
The yellow stained curtains that were in place on move-date The exterior
The exterior
Mold 
Be aware:
- That because the windows don’t close and seal properly, the unit is always dirty.
- The air conditioning blows dirt as well.
- Due to the lack of a garage and trees, your car will bake in the streets.
- There’s a wall directly across from the unit. Every night cars with blacked out windows park there. I can only guess what’s going on in those cars.
- Your utilities bill will be outrageous, if your lease is structured like mine was. You’ll be responsible for electricity, water, gas, sewage, and trash. You’ll pay for the pool’s water and the electricity to run the pump.
I could’ve legally abandoned the property because it’s unsafe. I chose to do the right thing and I tendered a 30 day notice which ends on July 10, 2021. I moved out on June 25, 2021. They have used that time to fix the pool and beautify the property — on my dime. Here’s what the pool looks like now, July, 6, 2021.
Cathy Storrs-Marcy and Steve Marcy were legally obligated to maintain the pool like this for me. They didn’t. That it looks like this in July, 2021, is proof they could’ve done this at at any time for me.
Again, this is just my opinion and my perspective. I decided it’s probably better to get experts to weigh in so I’ve contacted a number of state, county, and federal agencies about the condition of the property and the way that Cathy Storrs-Marcy has managed it.