EBALDC property manager seeks ways to retaliate against tenant

EBALDC property manager seeks ways to retaliate against tenant

Znae Richmond (building manager) seeks ways to retaliate against tenant for speaking out

By Lynda Carson - August 25, 2026

An East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) property manager named Zane Richmond, is the property manager of Effie’s House in Oakland (owned by EBALDC). Ms. Richmond does not want to hear from tenants who may be concerned about EBALDC’s transition into turning over the management of EBALDC’s residential properties over to Winn Residential / Winn Companies.

I believe that it should be reported, that the EBALDC property manager at Effie’s House, does not want to hear from tenants about EBALDC’s transition into turning over the management of EBALDC’s residential properties over to Winn Residential / Winn Companies. I also believe that tenants should be free, and have the right to express their concerns to EBALDC, without fear of retaliation.

EBALDC announced that it is laying off 81 employees at 24 properties, recently.

In recent days I wrote two articles about EBALDC being in a bad situation by laying off 81 employees at 24 properties, and deciding to make a deal with Winn Residential / Winn Companies to manage their residential properties. Here, https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2026/08/19/18888091.php , and here https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2026/08/21/18888128.php . In my articles, I mentioned that EBALDC did not send a notice to their tenants or have a tenant’s meeting to explain what was happening, and sent my articles to the property manager of Effie’s House, her property supervisor, and the top people in management at EBALDC.

According to some 990 tax filing public records, in 2024, Felicia Scruggs, Executive VP (property), received $244,100 in compensation, plus $13,677 in other compensation. Capri Roth, Executive VP (real estate), received $215,630 in compensation plus $22,480 in other compensation, and Janelle Chan, CEO, received $208,731 in compensation, plus $16,785 in other compensation.

By laying off 81 employees at 24 properties, it appears that EBALDC lacks the funding or resources to continue paying their employees at their properties, and that the top management at EBALDC wants to hire Winn Residential / Winn Companies, so they can find some cheaper labor to manage their properties. Meanwhile, EBALDC is claiming that they will still have oversight of their properties after Winn Residential takes over, and it appears that the top management may still be able to receive their high priced salaries and wages, after Winn Residential manages their properties.

Years ago in Oakland around 2008, the Oakland Community Housing, INC., may have tried something similar, with their top management trying to keep their high wages and salaries when they went bust. But it backfired on them, and they ended up losing all of their properties, salaries, and wages.

During a KPFA interview of attorney John Murcko, he described what was happening with OCHI and the scam taking place by top management at OCHI.

(KPFA 94.1 FM) - Living  Room (July 25, 2008) - with Kris Welch. Interview: John Murcko can be heard around 43 minutes into the program talking about the California Hotel, https://kpfa.org/player/?audio=43382 .

OCHI website on Feb. 6, 2009. It one of their last archived views, before their website shut down after they went bust, and was dissolved… http://web.archive.org/web/20090226203824/http://ochi.org:80/ .

EBALDC property Manager Znae Richmond did not want to hear about my concerns, or articles.

Apparently, despite the turmoil happening at EBALDC, property manager Znae Richmond did not want to hear about my concerns, or stories.

In response to two stories I sent to Znae Richmond, in an email reply below from Richmond, it says;

On Fri, Aug 21, 2026 at 9:40 AM Znae Richmond wrote:

Dear Lynda Carson,

I wanted to clarify that my email is intended for communication regarding property-related matters, including work orders, maintenance requests, and any documents or information that have been requested.

Please use this email for matters related to the property so that we can keep communications organized and ensure that requests are addressed appropriately.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Best regards,
Znae Richmond

Znae Richmond
Property Manager.
Pronouns: She/ Her.
East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation
1825 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA 94612
Tel Oplp/510.891.0310 Effies/510.208.5056 
EMAIL zrichmond [at] ebaldc.org  WEB http://www.ebaldc.org 

In a reply back to Znae Richmond, I sent the following email to her, and her bosses.

From: L. Carson
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2026 7:47 PM
To: Znae Richmond ; Billy Daniels ; Kathleen Higginbotham ; Communications ; Capri Roth ; Paul Carney ; Sharon Lai

Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL]News: EBALDC transition situation raises slumlord and eviction fears
 
Hi Ms. Richmond

You are getting on my case for sending my story to you about the EBALDC transition, and falsely claiming that it is inappropriate because it was not about Effie's House. 

With all due respect. I beg your pardon. The stories I sent you about the transition were about what is happening at this building and EBALDC, whether you want to believe it or not. You have totally disrespected the tenants in this building by not sending them a notice telling them what is happening here. Shame on you! I am horrified that EBALDC chose the very corrupt slumlords at Winn Residential / Winn Companies who have been nailed by the DOJ and FBI, and just about everyone else except the Pope, to manage their buildings. If this was the best option for EBALDC, I am very curious as to what the worst option was.

With all due respect Ms. Richmond, considering that you have falsely accused myself and others of not paying our rent in this building, in my humble opinion, you are not fit to be the manager of this building. I have spoken with 5 others who told me that they have also been falsely accused of not paying their rent here. WTF?

Sincerely, 

Lynda Carson

In a followup reply from Znae Richmond, she wrote the following email, sent it to her supervisor, and the top management at EBALDC, seeking advice on how to retaliate against me. She also sent me a copy of the email she sent to her bosses for some reason.

From: Znae Richmond , Aug 24, 2026, 9:20 AM (1 day ago)

To: Lynda Carson

Good morning,

It seems that Lynda Carson keeps coming for my job. This matter doesn't make some feel comfortable responding to combatable emails.

At this time, I feel it is best not to respond. If you have any suggestion at this time, I'm available and open.

Thank you. 

Znae Richmond
Property Manager.
Pronouns: She/ Her.
East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation
1825 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA 94612
Tel Oplp/510.891.0310 Effies/510.208.5056 
EMAIL zrichmond [at] ebaldc.org  WEB http://www.ebaldc.org 

In her email above, Ms. Richmond stated that she believes that I am coming for her job because I mentioned that I believe that she is not fit to be the manager of Effie’s House, and have complained about her falsely accusing me of not paying my rent on two occasions in recent months. In her email, she is seeking a suggestion from her bosses as to how to ‘retaliate’ against me in response, because she believes that I am coming for her job, even though she has the power as a property manager to evict, or make false accusations against myself, and the other tenants at Effie’s House.

Under California rent laws, and Just Cause eviction protections in Oakland, retaliation by a landlord is unlawful.

Being falsely accused by Znae Richmond, of not paying my rent on two occasions in recent months.

Sometime during March 2026, Znae Richmond left an undated notice of introduction (titled Resident Introduction Letter) on the doors of the tenants at Effie’s House. In part it says, “My name is Znae Richmond and I am excited to introduce myself as the Property Manager for your community. Ms. Richmond is one property manager in a long line of around 30 property managers at Effie’s House since around 2000.

On April 6, 2006, I received a notice from management falsely accusing me of not paying my rent for the month of February 2026.

Then on April 8, 2026, I received another notice falsely accusing me of not paying my rent for the month of April 2026. The April 6, 2026 notice was unsigned, and the April 8 notice was signed by Znae Richmond.

Znae Richmond kept dogging me to to pay the rent for February and April 2026 until around the start of March 2026, with phone messages, emails, and pounding on my door at times, even though I had paid my rent on both occasions.

No matter how many times I proclaimed that I am innocent to Znae Richmond and her supervisor Sandi Parker at the time, they both continued to falsely claim that I did not pay my rent. At the time I felt absolutely terrified that they would evict me from my housing over false accusations of not paying my rent.

I did not hear back from EBALDC’s top management when I sent copies of my emails proclaiming my innocence, over and over again. I felt like I was being set up for an eviction, and experiencing elder abuse and harassment by EBALDC employees, and no one from upper management was willing to intervene, or contact me to find out what was going on, with one of their longtime tenants who has resided here since around the year 2000. That’s right. Around 26 years as a tenant. Did they really believe that after 26 years of being a resident here that I was “Breaking-Bad”, and that I suddenly decided to stop paying my rent so I may be evicted?

When paying my rent was not good enough to remain in good standing as a tenant at Effie’s House by EBALDC, it appeared that management here was brutal, totally incompetent, and that Znae Richmond was not fit to be the manager here.

Additionally, considering that I had the money order receipts for both months of rent that I was falsely accused of not paying, it was not enough to get Ms. Richmond off of my back. I never received an apology from Znae Richmond, or anyone else from EBALDC after being falsely accused twice of not paying my rent in recent months, even though I told Ms. Richmond that she owed me an apology.

Apparently, the management at Effie’s House, managed by EBALDC, was so incompetent they lost my rent payment for last February, and had the nerve to falsely accuse me of not paying my rent in April. However, records revealed that not only did I pay my rent in April, but management cashed the money order I gave them for rent that month.

To get them off of my back, I ended up replacing the money order they lost from last February with another one, and paid my rent as was required for May. It was after I confirmed that EBALDC cashed my rent check for April, that I refused to pay my rent twice for the month of April, and refused to pay any late charge fees they were demanding from me for the months of February and April, after they falsely accused me of not paying my rent.

I decided to go public with this story of EBALDC incompetence and harassment, after Znae Richmond sent me a copy of an email above that she sent to her bosses asking for suggestions as to how to ‘retaliate’ against me. I believe that she meant to harass, frighten, and intimidate me with her email.

After being falsely accused of not paying my rent twice by EBALDC’s Znae Richmond in recent months, and threatened by her email in which she seeks suggestions from her bosses as how to ‘retaliate’ against me, for my own protection I feel compelled to go public with what has been happening at Effie’s House.

I refuse to remain silent any longer about what has been going on here.

Lynda Carson may be reached at newzland2 [at] gmail.com

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