Nearly 10 months after Cruz Florian Godoy gained national media attention for running a makeshift RV park on her residential property which created third-world living conditions for dozens of tenants, a judge gave the Sylmar resident more time to remove three remaining motorhomes.
Unfortunately, some former residents are still dealing with ongoing repercussions from being suddenly and forcibly displaced last summer, when authorities ordered Godoy to shut down and vacate more than two dozen RVs due to the putrid conditions the RVs caused for both renters and neighbors.
“I’ve been sleeping in my car for a while now,” said one former tenant, who requested that her name not be used. She said that she recently lost her job and could no longer afford the private room she was renting in Sylmar.
Despite enduring near-complete squalor on Godoy’s property – leaky roofs, backed-up plumbing emanating foul-smelling gas at night and even human waste seeping from jerry-rigged pipes onto the property grounds and surrounding streets – the former tenant lamented about no longer being in her old RV rental.
At least then she knew where she would be sleeping every night, she said.
“Everything is just so expensive out here – it’s really difficult for everyone I know,” she said.
Godoy in Court
During Godoy’s progress report hearing at the Van Nuys West Courthouse on April 25, Los Angeles City Deputy Attorney Niklas Buckingham addressed the judge – with Godoy’s attorney listening in via phone – as Godoy stood stoically next to a language interpreter in the back of the nearly empty courtroom.
“I’m happy to report that what Ms. Godoy promised to do [at the previous hearing Feb. 22], she did: she removed four more motorhomes from her property,” said Buckingham, noting that during a recent property inspection, a city inspector informed Godoy that the RVs must remain vacant.
At Godoy’s first hearing in July of 2023, she was fined, charged with two misdemeanors and ordered to remove all RVs and clean up the property grounds within 45 days. Though three RVs are still on site, Buckingham recommended that Godoy receive more time based on consistent progress.
Judge Alicia Y. Blanco scheduled the next and possibly final court hearing for July 11.
Before Godoy shut down the operations on her property, she was renting out at least 26 RVs (seen in aerial drone photos) to dozens of individuals – up to 70 adults and children, according to estimates from past tenants and neighbors – and charging each renter between $400 and $600.
“I guess you could say she was good and bad – at least back then I could pay my rent,” said the former tenant now living in her car. She had rented an RV from Godoy for $500 a month for about two years while trying to make ends meet as a part-time restaurant worker. After being forced to leave, the cheapest place she could find was double the rent. “I just couldn’t pay that anymore.”
When there were only 12 or 15 RVs on the property, things were fine, she recounted. But as Godoy started adding more RVs and tenants, the circumstances worsened exponentially.
“They say she got money hungry,” the former tenant said.
Neighbors were reporting Godoy to law enforcement as far back as 2020 with complaints about loud noises; suspected illegal activity, such as drug dealing; and foul smells emanating from her property. They also reported witnessing raw sewage flowing from Godoy’s property.
For Jesus Rodriguez, who rented an RV from Godoy for about a year-and-a-half, moving on hasn’t been easy. He has been staying in a tiny home village in Sun Valley since last August but is still trying to find his footing due to unexpected health issues that led to a lengthy hospital stay.
“Things have been hard; I was in the hospital for almost three weeks, so I can’t work right now,” said Rodriguez, who was transferred to a medical rehabilitation facility to finish recovering.
Luckily, he said, his space in the tiny home community will still be available and waiting for Rodriguez when he gets out in the next week or two – but it’s not where he wants to be.
“I’m still dealing with everything that happened, and ending up homeless after we had to leave [the RVs],” said Rodriguez. “That woman [Godoy] caused a lot of problems for a lot of people.”
The Hubbard Street home today remains largely shielded from most passersby; white fencing was erected along the entire exterior of the expansive property last fall. But neighbors confirmed to the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol that the grounds appear cleaner and quieter.
Maria Macias, whose home is directly behind Godoy’s property, said she’s ready to move on.
“It was very, very bad for a long time,” she said after the previous hearing. “Now we just want to have peace.”