Bay Area homeowners not happy about reported $20K bill to clean up homeless encampment

Castro Valley's Lakewood neighborhood. The abandoned homeless encampment is near the creek area in the upper left portion of the map. Castro Valley's Lakewood neighborhood. The abandoned homeless encampment is near the creek area in the upper left portion of the map. Photo: Alameda County Photo: Alameda County Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Bay Area homeowners not happy about reported $20K bill to clean up homeless encampment 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

In order to clean up an abandoned homeless encampment in Castro Valley's Lakewood neighborhood, homeowners in the area will reportedly have to pay a combined $20,000, which translates to $300 per home owner.

After residents were informed by the management firm behind their homeowners association that they would be the ones paying for the clean-up efforts in a creek area below the homes, several individuals spoke to local television stations to complain of a perceived "unfair" fee.

"It's not like it's on our property and we could see somebody camping out here and we could do something, but it's kind of out somewhere," resident Angie Bau told KTVU.

“We didn’t even know it was part of our HOA,” resident Cece Adams told KPIX.

However, Alameda County officials determined the encampment was indeed on their property. According to KPIX, the encampment was first reported in October 2017, but it was unclear if the land belonged to Alameda County, East Bay Regional Parks, or the Lakewood Home Owners Association.

Ed Walsh, the owner of the management firm that oversees the HOA, told KPIX that Alameda County informed the association that the encampment was on their property in August 2019.

“There are no fences and such that would mark where the property line ended, so we were kind of hoping that it was someone else’s responsibility,” he said.

Walsh and the HOA worked to get the people staying in the encampment evicted, and then allegedly handed down the individual bills to the homeowners, which annoyed a number of residents.

"You should know exactly where your property line is and he said he didn't know," resident An Loung told KTVU. "So, I don't really think that's an excuse."

Luong further stated that due to the confusion over who was really responsible for the encampment, the county and Walsh's management firm should also pay part of the $20,000 bill.

"At least part of the responsibility for the negligence and stupidity, instead of putting everything on us," she said.

Another resident launched a Change.org petition titled, "Lakewood HOA should hire a new property management company!"

"It is clear to most Lakewood at Castro Valley property owners that Walsh Property Management dropped the ball when it came to handling the homeless encampment in our neighborhood," resident Luan Truong wrote. "Why are we still supporting these people with our HOA dues? Let’s vote with our wallets and select another property management company that is more professional, capable, and can do a better job managing all of our property while keeping us better informed!"

The cleanup is expected to be completed by mid-February.

Eric Ting is an SFGATE digital reporter. Email: eric.ting@sfgate.com | Twitter:@_ericting