OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Wednesday filed a sweeping civil lawsuit against Swaranjit “Mike” Nijjar, his sister Daljit “DJ” Kler, and a vast network of companies operating under PAMA Management and other aliases, alleging a pattern of egregious legal violations that have left thousands of low-income tenants across California living in unsafe, unhealthy, and at times life-threatening conditions.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court following a multi-year investigation, charges Nijjar and his affiliated property management and real estate holding companies with a wide range of unlawful practices. These include maintaining properties with persistent habitability issues such as sewage backups, leaking roofs, mold, rodent and cockroach infestations, and unsafe electrical systems. The lawsuit also alleges illegal lease terms, rent overcharges in violation of the state’s rent cap law, discrimination against Section 8 housing voucher holders, and violations of California’s real estate licensing and translation laws.
The lawsuit is one of the most extensive tenant protection enforcement actions brought by the California Department of Justice in years. It targets more than 100 corporate entities that together own or manage more than 22,000 rental units in communities throughout the state, including in Los Angeles, Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, Fresno, Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties. Many of these properties, according to the complaint, are concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods where tenants have few alternative housing options and are forced to choose between enduring severe health and safety violations or facing potential homelessness.
“These are not isolated violations,” Bonta said in a statement. “This is a business model built on neglect and exploitation. Mike Nijjar and his companies have made hundreds of millions of dollars while tenants—many of them families with children—have suffered in apartments with collapsed ceilings, toxic mold, and raw sewage. That is not just unacceptable. It is illegal.”
According to the complaint, which runs more than 100 pages, the Nijjar family has long operated as one of the state’s most prominent landlords through a complex and deliberately opaque web of corporations, limited partnerships, and trusts. Their companies, which formerly operated under names including PAMA Management and I E Rental Homes, now operate under a range of entities such as Bridge Management, Equity Management, Hightower Management, Legacy Management, Regency Management, Mobile Management, Pro Management, and Golden Management Services. The complaint alleges these successor companies are direct continuations of PAMA’s operations and were created in part to avoid regulatory scrutiny after a prior enforcement action.
The attorney general’s office launched its investigation in 2022 after receiving reports from tenants, journalists, and local code enforcement agencies. That investigation found widespread violations across numerous properties, including units with collapsed ceilings, serious water damage, pervasive mold, malfunctioning plumbing, and infestations of cockroaches and rats. In some instances, tenants reported mushrooms growing out of their walls due to prolonged leaks. One of the most tragic incidents cited in the lawsuit occurred in 2016, when a five-month-old baby died in a fire at a mobile home in Kern County that was not even legally permitted for residential use.
While the Nijjar companies have faced numerous lawsuits and code violations over the years, the attorney general’s complaint alleges that they have treated those enforcement efforts as a mere cost of doing business. Internal documents obtained by the Department of Justice show the companies continued to profit even while under investigation. In 2022 alone, they generated more than $330 million in rental revenue and posted $70 million in profits. The complaint notes that during that year, the companies spent more on meals and entertainment than on pest control services for their entire housing portfolio.
The complaint goes on to detail how PAMA and related companies regularly misled tenants about their rights. Thousands of leases used by the Nijjar entities include unlawful provisions that falsely suggest tenants cannot sue their landlord, must waive their right to a jury trial, or are barred from deducting the cost of repairs from their rent if the landlord fails to act. These provisions are unenforceable under California law, but the attorney general’s office argues they had a chilling effect on tenants seeking legal recourse.
Further, the complaint alleges that the companies violated the California Translation Act by failing to provide Spanish-language versions of leases and other essential documents, even though a large proportion of tenants are Spanish-speaking and were solicited through Spanish-language advertising. In communities like Hemet and San Jacinto, the complaint states, the Nijjar companies dominate the low-cost housing market to such a degree that tenants struggle to find alternative landlords.
The companies are also accused of illegally discriminating against tenants with federal housing vouchers. Investigators documented instances in which employees refused to rent to voucher holders, falsely claimed units were unavailable, or asserted that there were waiting lists for Section 8 recipients, even while renting to non-voucher applicants. California law prohibits housing discrimination based on source of income, including federal housing assistance.
Bonta’s lawsuit also alleges violations of the Tenant Protection Act, which limits annual rent increases and requires landlords to provide specific disclosures regarding tenant protections. The complaint claims the Nijjar companies attempted to sidestep these protections by shifting the costs of utilities onto tenants through a ratio utility billing system, or RUBS, and then layering rent increases on top—resulting in increases as high as 20 percent, more than twice the legal limit. The companies also allegedly failed to provide the proper notices regarding TPA applicability and issued unlawful eviction notices without complying with state-mandated procedures.
In addition to seeking civil penalties, the attorney general is asking the court to order Nijjar and his affiliated companies to pay restitution to tenants harmed by their practices and to disgorge profits obtained through unlawful conduct. The complaint also seeks a permanent injunction requiring the companies to bring all properties into compliance with state habitability laws, cease discriminatory practices, reform their leasing and eviction policies, and appoint independent oversight to ensure compliance moving forward.
“California law is clear,” Bonta said. “Landlords must provide habitable housing, treat tenants fairly, and follow the rules. When they fail to do so—and when they build empires on the backs of vulnerable families—we will not look the other way.”
