What began as a straightforward housing code violation in January 2025 has evolved into a 330-day constitutional challenge documenting systematic institutional failure across multiple government agencies. We are currently in temporary sanctuary in Canada while we continue to actively litigate our federal civil rights case pro se—filing objections, responding to court orders, and building the legal record. We left the United States because we were drowning financially under displacement costs and feared for our safety while suing government institutions. This article explains how a clear-cut legal violation became a 330-day constitutional crisis.

This is not a story about individual hardship. This is a case study in California's manufactured displacement crisis - what happens when institutions choose not to enforce the laws they're charged with upholding, creating homelessness even for high-earning professionals. This is black letter law territory: clear violations that should have been resolved through summary judgment in days or weeks, not 326+ days of institutional obstruction.

• Landlord ignored dangerous mold/leak for 7+ months, making tenants severely ill

• Tenant legally withheld rent under California law due to uninhabitable conditions

• Landlord retaliated by illegally locking tenants out (classic self-help eviction)

• Landlord kept property valued over $950, triggering CA PC §487 (grand theft) in addition to PC §418 (illegal lockout)

• Multiple felonies committed from day one - not a civil dispute

• CA Civil Code §789.3 provides statutory damages of $100+ per day (minimum $250/day) for illegal lockouts

• This violates both California criminal law (PC §418) and civil law (CC §789.3)

This is summary judgment territory - so clear-cut it doesn't even require a trial:

• Sheriff examines lease and rental receipts (documentary evidence)

• Sheriff checks court records - no filed unlawful detainer = illegal lockout under PC §418

• Sheriff enforces the law: "You broke the law, let them back in immediately"

• Landlord pays statutory and compensatory damages: back rent + moving costs, physical damages + penalties (~$20,000-30,000)

• Case resolved in 2 weeks maximum

This is not up for interpretation. California Penal Code §418 is black letter law as interpreted by its own Attorney General Bonta in his 2022-DLE-05 Bulletin to law enforcement. It clearly states that landlords cannot lock out tenants without court process. When no unlawful detainer is filed, the lockout is per se illegal. This requires summary judgment, not investigation.

• Landlord removed locks while we were temporarily evacuated, as advised by our doctors, due to pnemonia caused by mycotoxin poisoning from mold in the rental property

• Sheriff never examined lease or rental receipts (ignored documentary evidence that we offered to share at the scene of the crime)

• Sheriff called landlord to "confirm" if an illegal lockout occurred (asking the accused if they committed a crime)

• Turned black letter law violation into subjective "he said/she said" dispute when removal of locks and absence of unlawful detainer filed in court is the only documentary evidence required to prove the crime was committed

• 326+ days later, victims still displaced despite $20K+/month earning capacity before lockout

• Federal civil rights lawsuit now required to address state and federal institutions' choice not to enforce law

The Result: California's manufactured displacement crisis in action - institutions choosing not to enforce existing laws, creating homelessness even for people who have documented high earning capacity. This isn't about people who can't afford housing. This is about institutions refusing to protect property rights guaranteed by law.

• Cost to Taxpayers: $0 (landlord pays damages under CA law)

• Time: days/weeks to resolution

• Victims: Restored to housing, minimal trauma

• Legal Standard: Summary judgment for clear PC-418 violation (no court filing = illegal lockout)

• System Impact: Law respected, future compliance encouraged

• Cost to Taxpayers: Thousands in police/court/agency time across 326+ days

• Cost to Community: Friends/family spent thousands helping victims survive displacement

• Time: 326+ days and counting (nearly 10 months)

• Victims: Property stolen, displaced from home, $20K+/month earning capacity destroyed

• Manufactured Crisis: Institutional choice not to enforce law created displacement for high-earning professionals

• Ripple Effect: Emotional trauma for entire support network, medical professionals needed to validate reality against institutional gaslighting

• System Impact: Law rendered meaningless, bad actors emboldened, future victims face same obstruction

What They Said: "We don't cover nonviolent crimes" (on a February 4, 2025 phone call)

What Their Data Shows: They pay $3.5M annually for burglary and other property crimes classified as "nonviolent"

What This Means: They lied on a recorded line

CalVCB Claims: "We help crime victims"

• Applications Received: 40,560 annually

• California Crime Victims: 4.2 million annually (with unreported crimes)

• Participation Rate: 0.97% of victims get ANY help

• Average Payment: $1,167 per victim

• Maximum Possible: $70,000 per victim

• CalVCB Surplus: $46.7 million sitting unused

Translation: 96% of crime victims get nothing while agency hoards millions

What They Said: Declined pursuing charges

What Police Report Shows: Multiple felony charges were justified by evidence:

• PC §518 (extortion)

• PC §487 (grand theft - property valued over $950)

• PC §418 (illegal lockout)

What This Means: They ignored their own evidence documenting multiple felonies

What They Published: Bulletin to law enforcement defining illegal lockouts and requiring immediate law enforcement response (the highest legal authority in California explicitly defining what constitutes an illegal lockout under PC §418)

What They Did: When victims reported violation matching their bulletin's definition, declined intervening and referred victims back to same agencies that are actively obstructing justice

What This Means: Publish guidance = Political Theater with ZERO enforcement of blackletter law violations

Every country with functioning rule of law has tenant protection laws. This isn't "California liberal politics" - this is basic property rights that exist globally because without them, displacement becomes rampant when landlords can act unilaterally without court process.

When we shared our story in Canada, people were horrified. The universal response: "Wait, how was that allowed?" Because in functioning legal systems, it shouldn't be.

Whether you agree with specific tenant protections or not, the law currently requires court process before removing tenants. Don't like it? Campaign to change the law. But until then, it's the law - and institutions chose not to enforce it.

• Good landlords have nothing to fear - follow the law, no problems

• Smart landlords WANT tenants to report problems (which is what we did) - fixing leaks immediately prevents mold, which insurance often won't cover if you let it spread

• Bad landlords hurt everyone - when they ignore health hazards, they create expensive problems and hurt property values

• When sheriffs don't enforce housing law, it hurts good landlords who follow rules and maintain their properties

• Your money is being wasted on agencies that don't do their jobs

• $46.7 million in CalVCB victim services funds sitting unused while taxpayers think it's being spent

• Police/court resources wasted on cases that should take days or weeks at most

• Laws only work if they're enforced consistently and fairly

• When agencies pick and choose what to enforce, the system breaks down

• Rich or poor, everyone should face the same consequences for breaking the law

1. Sheriffs must look at documentation before making housing decisions

   • If no court-filed unlawful detainer exists, lockout is illegal - PERIOD

   • Don't call landlord to "confirm" if they broke the law - check court records

2. CalVCB must follow their own eligibility rules

   • Stop lying to victims about coverage

   • Use the $46.7 million surplus to actually help victims so they don't have to beg for help from their communities and suffer financially while financially recovering from crimes

   • Publish real participation rates, not just "applications processed"

3. AG's office must enforce their own bulletins

   • Don't just publish guidance, ensure compliance

   • Track whether local agencies follow state directives

   • Create consequences for ignoring published standards

4. Measure Real Outcomes:

   • Track enforcement rates - publish data on how often laws are actually enforced

   • Measure real outcomes - not just "processes completed" but "problems solved"

   • Hold agencies accountable for contradicting their own policies

This isn't about individual hardship or one displaced couple.

This is about California's manufactured displacement crisis - what happens when institutions systematically choose not to enforce black letter law, creating homelessness even for high-earning professionals who can prove their capacity.

This is about whether laws mean anything if agencies can ignore clear violations without consequences.

This is about whether $46.7 million in California's victim services actually serves victims or just feeds bureaucracy.

This is about whether "law and order" applies to institutions or just individuals.

When the law is this clear - when it's summary judgment territory requiring no trial - and institutions still refuse to enforce it, that's not a gray area. That's a choice. And that choice manufactures the very real homeless crisis for which California claims to not know how to solve.

• "Why is CalVCB hoarding $46.7 million while denying victims?"

• "Why don't sheriffs look at lease documents in housing disputes?"

• "What's the point of AG bulletins if nobody enforces them?"

• How many housing disputes are resolved in days and weeks vs. 200+ days or never?

• What percentage of CalVCB's budget actually reaches victims?

• How often do agencies follow their own published policies?

We don't necessarily need more laws. We need:

• Enforcement of existing laws (regulations are not being enforced)

• Transparency in agency performance (not just agency reports)

• Accountability for institutional failures (not just individual mistakes)

When institutions don't follow the law, everyone suffers except the institutions.

When agencies lie about their performance, taxpayers get cheated.

When sheriffs don't look at evidence, justice becomes a coin flip.

Before the illegal lockout, we were in the process of buying our first home with family support for the down payment - a common path to homeownership. After 326+ days of institutional obstruction, our finances have been completely destroyed and we are homeless—displaced without a permanent home.

If it seems we should have been able to weather this crisis more easily, consider: This wasn't our first experience of being violated by crime. Previous victimization without restitution had already depleted our reserves. When institutions fail to provide restitution for crimes, victims become increasingly vulnerable to subsequent victimization. This illegal lockout didn't happen in a vacuum - it happened to people who had already survived institutional abandonment before and couldn't absorb another hit.

The crime didn't just steal our home and personal property - it derailed multi-generational wealth building. Family resources meant to secure homeownership and rebuild after past victimization due to crimes were instead spent on survival during 326+ days of displacement.

All because agencies chose not to enforce existing law.

That's not a housing problem. That's a law enforcement problem.

We are currently in temporary sanctuary in Canada, continuing to fight this case pro se while rebuilding our capacity from a place of relative safety. We cannot return to the U.S. while actively suing government institutions until we have secured stable housing and legal resolution.

This case is not about liberal versus conservative ideology. This is about whether institutions follow the law or ignore it when convenient.

If you believe in "law and order" - this case should outrage you. Institutions are ignoring black letter law.

If you believe in property rights - this case should outrage you. High-earning professionals had their personal and professional property stolen with no legal recourse.

If you believe in limited government - this case should outrage you. Agencies are hoarding $46.7 million in surplus while refusing to serve victims.

If you believe in institutional accountability - this case should outrage you. Multiple government agencies coordinated to obstruct enforcement of clear legal violations.

This isn't about liberal politics. This isn't about conservative politics. This is about whether the rules apply equally to everyone - including institutions themselves.

"The problem isn't too many regulations; it's not enforcing the regulations this country already has in place to protect its citizens."

SOLUTION: Make state and federal agencies follow their own rules. Hold them accountable when they don't. That's not radical - that's basic good government.

And this is not a political position - it's a human rights position.

All claims in this article are based on public records and government data:

1. California Victim Compensation Board. "Annual Report Fiscal Year 2023-24." Sacramento: CalVCB, 2024. Available at: https://victims.ca.gov/publications/

2. Office for Victims of Crime. "Performance Measurement Tool Data, Fiscal Year 2023." U.S. Department of Justice, 2024. Available at: https://ovc.ojp.gov/funding/2025-crime-victims-fund-compensation-and-assistance-allocations

3. California Attorney General. "Law Enforcement Guidance on Unlawful Detainer Lockouts (Bulletin No. 2022-DLE-05)." Sacramento: DOJ Division of Law Enforcement, 2022. Direct PDF: https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/2022-dle-05.pdf | Press Release: https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-issues-legal-guidance-law-enforcement-responding-unlawful

4. Bureau of Justice Statistics. "Criminal Victimization in the United States: Statistical Tables." U.S. Department of Justice, 2024. Available at: https://bjs.ojp.gov/

5. California Penal Code §418 (illegal lockout - criminal), California Civil Code §789.3 (statutory damages for illegal lockout - civil remedy)

This is all public record. The math doesn't lie.

The Accountability Project holds institutions accountable through strategic litigation when they fail to protect human rights - whether that's constitutional violations in the US, systemic abandonment in Canada, or institutional failures anywhere in the world.

Our first case documents 330+ days of institutional failure while we litigate pro se from temporary sanctuary in Canada. We are establishing precedent for when state agencies refuse to enforce their own laws, leaving vulnerable communities without protection.

Learn more + support the work: theaccountabilityproject.org

Document Classification: Public Education / Case Study
Published: November 28, 2025 | MetaDispatch
Author: Felice LaZae Martin, Co-Plaintiff
Case Reference: Martin v. Castillo et al., Case No. 1:25-cv-01234-KES

Holding institutions accountable. Everywhere.

Updated December 3, 2025 to reflect current displacement duration and clarify temporary sanctuary in Canada.

Felice LaZae is the founder of The Accountability Project and Ctrl-Alt-Create Labs, a creative strategy and immersive tech agency. She has consulted for Disney, Marvel Studios, Microsoft, and Airbnb, and is building next-gen systems for storytelling, creativity and economic justice. Learn more at ctrl-alt-create.xyz and theaccountabilityproject.org.

Author's Note:
This piece was written by me, Felice LaZae, with assistance from an AI thought partner trained to support my voice and assist in shaping complex narratives while maintaining factual accuracy and legal precision. It is not AI-generated—it is synthesized from multiple iterations of my original writing, research, legal documentation, and lived experience. Every claim is sourced and verified. Read more about my ethical AI creative processing approach HERE.