OAKLAND — The nonprofit at the center of Oakland’s latest deadly fire has a history of providing housing to communities’ most vulnerable citizens: the homeless, mentally ill, single mothers and veterans. But its facilities are rife with blight, structural issues and fire safety problems, according to records obtained by this newspaper.

On Monday, Stockton code enforcement officials ordered a fire watch at the Urojas Community Services building in that city because it lacked an active fire alarm system. Another building run by Urojas on International Boulevard in East Oakland is the subject of numerous complaints. And the Urojas-operated halfway house at 2551 San Pablo Ave. in West Oakland where four people died in a predawn blaze on March 27 had numerous habitability issues and serious fire hazards.

By the end of last week, founder and director Jasper Lowery stopped talking about Urojas’ operations, its nonprofit status, its lack of tax returns, and dozens of complaints at its buildings inside and outside Oakland. The nonprofit has not filed a tax return since 2013, despite an annual requirement, according to the IRS.

While Urojas doesn’t own these buildings, as a service provider they could be responsible for making improvements if they are the master tenant, said Louis Chicoine, executive director at Abode Services, which provides housing for the homeless. Many nonprofit operators, however, are not always aware of what is required of them, he said.

“Often what you find is a lack of sophistication less than a willful neglect,” Chicoine said. “It’s not knowing what you need to get to the standard. Some of it is very obvious.”

Lowery previously said that the San Pablo Avenue building’s condition is owner Keith Kim’s responsibility, while Kim claims Lowery is the master tenant and should be held accountable for conditions there. Either way, in early January, nearly three months before last week’s deadly fire, a fire crew saw numerous life safety hazards and one member urged their bosses to immediately shut the place down. A month later, a fire lieutenant described it as a “dangerous” building and “a known fire hazard.” Yet it took a third email before fire inspectors finally completed a walk-through on March 24 and ordered that the fire alarm and sprinkler system be immediately repaired — three days before the fire.

8801 International Blvd.

Urojas opened its doors in 2005. On its website the organization outlines its vision: “Healthy communities that appropriately serve individual needs where they are,” and lists two community service resource centers — the fire-ravaged San Pablo Avenue location and 8801 International Blvd. It also advertises a “Party bus for all occasions!!!!” although the state Public Utilities Commission, which oversees party bus licenses, said there was no registration for Urojas or Lowery, the group’s co-director.

In the last decade, there were seven Oakland code enforcement complaints about the East Oakland building. It’s unclear when Urojas and Lowery moved in, but he’s mentioned in city building inspector notes for an April 2011 complaint about a leak in the roof and unpermitted work done inside.

In that complaint, building owner Kelly Engineer told city inspectors he was trying to evict the tenant, who he said was not letting him do repairs. Engineer, who owns numerous gas stations throughout the East Bay, did not return requests for comment.

The city worked with Lowery over the next 20 months to try to resolve the issues, corresponding with Urojas officials or associates 35 times. On April 23, 2013, the fire department did a walk-through with inspectors and found deteriorated ceilings, exposed wires, a kitchen used as a bedroom, no heat and many more issues.

“There is no description of what the building is being used for,” the inspector wrote.

On Jan. 5, 2017, the city received a complaint at the three-story brick building of “unapproved alterations” and “storage areas used for habitable space.” A fire and building inspector walked through the building and noted a list of unapproved doors, water heaters and laundry hook-ups, exposed plumbing, water damage, pest and electrical issues, and overall “poor” conditions on the second floor. The city indicated the violation was verified.

A lawsuit from a Urojas client alleged a bedbug infestation in the building last year. No one answered the door Thursday.

At a news conference Friday, Lowery declined to discuss his Stockton property or the one on International Boulevard, where he is registered to vote, other than to say it was a food pantry.

Lowery said he received clients via word of mouth and they received a “grant here and a grant there,” with help from Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. “Urojas is unfunded,” he said, before rushing off with a security guard. Lowery did not return calls and emails Monday, but records show that Alameda County provided a $25,000 mental health grant to Urojas in 2012.

One county health care official, who said they were not authorized to speak on the record, said there have been internal complaints about Urojas.

“(Urojas) had been around for a while and had built up a reputation — and not a good one,” the source said. “We avoid them like the plague.”

Stockton

In May 2015, Lowery opened a Urojas facility in an old motel in Stockton to assist women veterans and single women needing emergency housing or mental health care. The building had 70 beds and could house 25 children as well, according to a December 2015 Stockton Record profile on Lowery’s new operation.

“God sent me here to help these families,” he told the paper. “It was for us to be right here. It was meant to be.”

But the building has been plagued by problems. The city has repeatedly sent notices of violation and fines to Urojas, saying they were not complying with the intended use permit. The city cited the organization for trash, broken windows, substandard electrical work, and lack of smoke detectors, heat and running water.

Nina Lamfers, 31, who was pregnant at the time, lived at Urojas’ Stockton building in 2016 and described it as pest-infested.

During the day, Urojas cut off PG&E to cut down on electrical costs, she said, and owners did not deliver on promises of three meals a day for the women who lived there. Her doctor advised her to move out.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” she said of the bedbugs. “It was at the point where they were hanging out on the walls during the day.” When told of the Oakland building and fire, Lamfers said, “Let me guess — there was code violations.”

Stockton police have also recorded almost 200 calls for service since Lowery opened his care center there, according to Stockton police spokesman Joseph Silva. On Dec. 8, 2016, the Stockton police chief wrote a letter determining the Urojas building was “dangerous” and saying the conditions there posed life-safety threats. He gave the group a month to clear all the violations or evacuate. Some conditions were met and no evacuation happened, Silva said.

Just last week, three days after the fire in Oakland, the Stockton officials ordered building owner Navin Patel to bring the facility’s fire alarm system up to code within 24 hours or a “fire watch” would be put into effect. When that didn’t happen, fire security personnel were stationed there Monday and will remain until the system is fixed, said Silva said.

Patel said that as of Monday, Lowery had hired a company to make repairs to the fire system and had agreed to comply with all the city’s requirements.