LOS ANGELES – A Canoga Park man wants a judge to order the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to restore service to him that he has lacked since his landlord became delinquent on her own $20,000 bill last fall.
Bryan James’ attorneys filed court papers on Monday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin in advance of a July 15 hearing stating that he has had to use a trash can as a restroom and travel to his mother’s Bakersfield home just to take a shower.
“The lack of utility services has made my life a living hell,” James says in a sworn declaration. “Because I have no water, I must keep baby wipes and sanitizer nearby to clean myself and the floor. The process is degrading.”
When it is cold, James has to use four blankets and wear two knit caps to try to get warm, but many times those measures are insufficient, according to his court papers.
The DWP did not reply to a request for comment on the suit filed May 5.
According to James’ court papers, he moved into a guest house on Community Street in 2018. His landlord became $20,000 delinquent on her DWP bill and all of Bryan’s services were cut last October, his court papers state.
“Mr. James sought to put the utilities in his name, but DWP refused, requiring him to pay the owner’s outstanding balance first,” James’ court papers state.
James was not allowed to make the service transfer and has been without water, electricity lights and heat ever since, his court papers state.
DWP employees have referred to “benefit of service” policy, asserting that because James got the benefit of the utility service, he must pay for it, according to James’ court papers.
In 1993, DWP settled a lawsuit on the same issue, agreeing to end its benefit of service policy and to allow tenants to obtain utility services without paying their landlords’ delinquent bills, according to James’ court papers. However, sometime between 1993 and 2025, the DWP re-implemented its benefit of service policy, James’ court papers allege.
