Lawsuit claims 20 lived in San Francisco laundromat basement

This May 14, 2017, photo shows the Clean Wash Center in San Francisco, Calif. San Francisco’s city attorney is suing the owner and occupant of a building where he says 20 people were living in squalid, unsafe conditions in the basement of the commercial laundromat. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Aug. 22, accuses the owner and master tenant of the building in the city’s Mission neighborhood of violating fire, electrical, plumbing and other municipal code violations. (San Francisco Chronicle via AP Santiago Mejia)

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco’s city attorney is suing the owner and occupant of a building where he says 20 people were living in squalid, unsafe conditions in the basement of a commercial laundromat.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the lawsuit filed Tuesday accuses the owner and master tenant of the building in the city’s Mission District of violating fire, electrical, plumbing and other municipal code violations.

Fire officials called the building a death trap and called the fire code violations egregious.

Firefighters discovered the occupants when they responded to a call on Christmas Day last year. Inside they found exposed wiring, leaky pipes, one functioning shower, a rat and cockroach infestation and illegally partitioned rooms.

The lawsuit says tenants were being charged between $300 and $900 each.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com