The K3 Holdings lawsuit refers to a February 2022 federal housing discrimination case filed by the Southern California Housing Rights Center and 16 tenant households against the Los Angeles-based real estate firm, alleging that K3 systematically pushed Latinx families out of rent-controlled apartments through coercive buyouts, harassment, and neglect. K3 settled the case in November 2023 for $2.2 million and agreed to a detailed set of operational reforms governing how it handles buyouts, advertising, repairs, and tenant communications.1Housing Rights Center. HRC Resolves Discrimination Lawsuit: Landlord Forced Latinx Families Out
Who K3 Holdings Is
K3 Holdings was founded in 2016 by brothers Nathan and Michael Kadisha, heirs to the Long Beach-based Texollini textile fortune.2The American Prospect. Buy and Displace: Los Angeles Housing The firm owns thousands of multifamily units concentrated in Koreatown, Highland Park, East Hollywood, and Boyle Heights, and manages them through an arm called Alpine LA Properties.3CSQ Magazine. How K3 Holdings and Haven AI Are Transforming Tenant Services Nearly all of its properties are covered by the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance.
What Tenants Alleged
The core allegation was that K3 bought older rent-controlled buildings and then used pressure tactics to clear out longtime, predominantly Latinx and immigrant tenants so it could renovate the units and re-rent them at market rates. Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia’s data showed K3 executed more registered tenant buyouts than any other landlord in the city, spending $8.4 million on 314 registered “cash-for-keys” agreements since 2019. One K3 property at 437 N. Ardmore recorded 48 buyouts totaling nearly $1.5 million, the highest in the city.4LA Public Press. LA Tenant Buyouts Come With Complaints, Emergencies, Investigations
Tenants described several specific tactics in the complaint and in reporting on the case:
- Coercive buyout offers, with freelance “relocation specialists” visiting tenants daily. The American Prospect reported that K3 tracked each apartment’s “rent gap” on internal spreadsheets and prioritized tenants paying the most below market.2The American Prospect. Buy and Displace: Los Angeles Housing
- Deportation threats. Tenant Marbarita Ortega alleged a manager told her, “I can have everyone without papers in this building deported.”5Capital and Main. While an Industry Feeds on the Destruction of Rent Control, Help Is on the Way
- Spanish-speaking tenants pressured into signing English-only documents, including buyout agreements and rent increases they could not read.5Capital and Main. While an Industry Feeds on the Destruction of Rent Control, Help Is on the Way
- Habitability neglect, with tenants reporting unaddressed mold, water damage, pests, and flooding after K3 acquired their buildings.4LA Public Press. LA Tenant Buyouts Come With Complaints, Emergencies, Investigations
- Simultaneous unpermitted construction across multiple units. A city inspection of one K3 property reportedly turned up roughly 190 code violations, including work done without permits and inoperable bathrooms, placing the building in the Rent Escrow Account Program.2The American Prospect. Buy and Displace: Los Angeles Housing
- Retaliation against organizers. According to an academic study, K3 filed “nuisance” eviction suits against tenant leaders and pursued criminal burglary charges against a tenant leader who joined a protest blocking construction.6SAGE Journals. Urban Studies: K3 Holdings Tenant Organizing
K3 denied the allegations, calling them “spurious, false, and hurtful attacks” and stating that it operates “good buildings, servicing and supporting our tenants without regard to race, color or national origin.”5Capital and Main. While an Industry Feeds on the Destruction of Rent Control, Help Is on the Way
The Federal Case and the $2.2 Million Settlement
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California as Southern California Housing Rights Center v. K3 Holdings LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-00697, before Judge Mark C. Scarsi and Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian.7PACER Monitor. Southern California Housing Rights Center, Inc. et al. v. K3 Holdings LLC et al. The complaint alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act and the Los Angeles Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance, focused on buildings in Koreatown and Highland Park. It also alleged that after displacing tenants, K3 advertised the renovated units at higher rents exclusively online and only in English.1Housing Rights Center. HRC Resolves Discrimination Lawsuit: Landlord Forced Latinx Families Out
The case terminated on October 31, 2023, with the settlement announced on November 3, 2023.7PACER Monitor. Southern California Housing Rights Center, Inc. et al. v. K3 Holdings LLC et al. K3 agreed to pay $2,200,000 covering damages to the 16 households and the Housing Rights Center along with attorneys’ fees and costs.1Housing Rights Center. HRC Resolves Discrimination Lawsuit: Landlord Forced Latinx Families Out
Reforms K3 Agreed To
The settlement went well beyond money. K3 must now provide written disclosures in English and Spanish at least seven days before making any buyout offer, and those disclosures must state that the offer is voluntary, that the building is not being demolished, and that refusing will not affect the tenant’s rights. A specific K3 employee named in the complaint was barred from soliciting buyouts at all.
All rental units must be advertised in Spanish on elclasificado.com, and every future ad must include the phrase “families with children welcome.” K3 must offer at least 10% of its units at rental rates priced for Section 8 tenants. Current and future tenants must receive English and Spanish literature on federal, state, and local housing rights, including the Los Angeles Tenant Anti-Harassment Ordinance. K3 staff must attend annual anti-discrimination and Rent Stabilization Ordinance trainings. Building construction is limited to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. And K3 must pay for a neutral inspector to survey the plaintiffs’ apartments and complete the resulting repair list.1Housing Rights Center. HRC Resolves Discrimination Lawsuit: Landlord Forced Latinx Families Out
K3 said it settled to avoid “costly and protracted litigation” and described itself as a responsible real estate owner.1Housing Rights Center. HRC Resolves Discrimination Lawsuit: Landlord Forced Latinx Families Out
Attempt to Reopen the Case
After the case closed, the community group Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) moved to intervene. On June 20, 2024, Judge Scarsi denied the motion as untimely under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b), leaving the settlement intact.7PACER Monitor. Southern California Housing Rights Center, Inc. et al. v. K3 Holdings LLC et al.
Related Litigation Still Pending
In September 2025, a former K3 employee, Matthew Deboth, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against K3 Holdings, Nathan Kadisha, and Michael Kadisha in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The case, Matthew Deboth vs. K3 Holdings LLC, et al., was assigned to Judge Colin P. Leis at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.8Trellis Law. Matthew Deboth vs. K3 Holdings LLC, et al. A “Matt Deboth” was identified in K3 Tenant Council materials and a Change.org petition as a K3 agent involved in the company’s buyout operations.9Change.org. Unseal K3 Holdings Corporate Documents Detailing Slumlord Practices The specific allegations behind the wrongful termination claim are not publicly detailed in the court docket. As of April 2026, defendants had answered and a case management conference had been scheduled, with the case active.10UniCourt. Matthew Deboth vs K3 Holdings LLC, et al.
K3’s Position Since the Settlement
Michael Kadisha has publicly described K3’s approach as renovating properties without “massive rent hikes,” saying, “We grew up here. We’re raising our families here. LA made us who we are, and we want LA to thrive.”11Medical Daily. Built in Los Angeles: How the Kadisha Brothers and K3 Holdings Are Taking on the Housing Crisis The company remains bound by the terms of the 2023 settlement, and the wrongful termination suit brought by the former K3 agent is pending.