HGTV star Tarek El Moussa says he's preparing for his 'biggest ever flip.' The tenants of the building say they're being evicted.
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- HGTV star Tarek El Moussa is facing backlash from a group of tenants in North Hollywood.
- The tenants say they are being evicted from the building El Moussa intends to flip.
- El Moussa's company has denied current involvement from the property's previous landlord.
Reality TV star Tarek El Moussa is under fire from a group of people who say they are being evicted from their North Hollywood building for El Moussa's biggest ever flip.
The allegations are outlined in a Reddit post that was published on Wednesday. The person who wrote the post did not disclose their identity, but said they live in a building in North Hollywood. Insider was not able to independently verify their identity or the claims outlined in the post.
El Moussa and a film crew came to their apartment complex a few weeks ago to film a video about transforming the property into the "biggest flip of his life," the person wrote in the Reddit post.
"Days later, the eviction notices showed up on our front doors, informing us he would soon try to kick us out of this rent-controlled property, which many of us have lived in between 5 and 45 years," the person wrote on Reddit. "For myself and my fellow tenants, this is just the latest development in a long saga in which we've fought to hold on to our affordable homes in this rapidly gentrifying area."
Five people who say they are tenants in the building are organizing against their eviction with the Los Angeles Tenants Union, which the union confirmed in an email exchange with Insider. The tenants are also running an Instagram account about their experience.
One of those five people is Clare Letmon. Letmon sent Insider a photo of the eviction notice she and her husband received on June 23, and said the move-out offer they received "does not begin to make up for the years of trauma they're exploiting for incredible profit." She declined to reveal the specifics of the offer.
"I've spent 40 years living here, and they've notified us that we have to leave," a resident named Cathy Livas told NBC Los Angeles.
El Moussa is best known for being the star of HGTV's "Flip or Flop" alongside his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa, who also stars in Netflix's "Selling Sunset."
The property at the center of the budding controversy is within walking distance of the North Hollywood Arts District. People have been living in the rent-controlled building for between five and 45 years, the person wrote on Reddit.
According to an Instagram post from TEM Capital, the real-estate company El Moussa founded, the company plans to redevelop the building into an apartment complex with 138 units called NoHo 138.
In a video posted on Instagram on July 14, El Moussa called the property his "biggest ever flip."
"We got so lucky to find this land, because finding land like this in North Hollywood is literally impossible," he said.
The tenants' previous landlord, Arthur Aslanian, was found guilty in July of trying to set fire to a North Hollywood property to illegally evict his tenants, the Real Deal reported. Aslanian's sentencing hearing is set for October 2, and he faces — among other charges — a mandatory minimum of five years in federal prison for arson.
A representative for El Moussa sent Insider a statement saying TEM Capital and the other companies involved in the development of NoHo 138 are aware of the previous landlord's legal matters, but "currently do not have any involvement, connection or relationship with the seller."
"The goal is to work closely and respectfully with the current tenants by providing proper move-out compensation," the statement said.