A San Francisco jazz musician says housekeepers at a Tenderloin furnished building tossed out a closet full of her belongings, including a professional Yamaha concert flute she had owned since 1989, just days after she stored them while moving in. She estimates the loss at about $20,000, and on Monday, she filed a lawsuit against the property manager over the discarded items.
She took her case to court
According to The San Francisco Standard, flutist Gaea Schell filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday seeking compensation for the flute and other belongings she says were thrown away. The suit states that Schell is representing herself and that the property manager initially asked her to send a list of missing items and promised to “make this right.”
A career and a sound lost
Schell says the instrument was central to her work. She bought it in 1989, has recorded multiple albums, and has performed at festivals including the Havana Jazz Festival. Her website lists recent performances and recordings and notes a regular Friday night slot at Harris’ lounge, where she now plays using a student-level instrument. Gaea Schell documents her gigs and discography.
How the items disappeared
The complaint states that Schell paid a $1,000 security deposit in early December, stored her boxes in a seventh-floor closet at the Cornelia Suites on Dec. 7, and three days later was told that cleaners had emptied the closet and thrown out the contents. Schell filed a police report on Dec. 11 and sent a demand letter that she says went unanswered, and the complaint says the manager later characterized the loss as “just an accident.” These event details are laid out in Schell’s complaint, according to The San Francisco Standard.
Legal backdrop
California law requires landlords to give written notice and generally wait at least 15 days before disposing of a tenant’s personal property, a protection intended to give owners time to claim their belongings. The statute spells out the form of notice and minimum waiting periods, and attorneys say premature disposal can expose landlords to liability. See California Civil Code §1983 for the notice rule and related requirements at FindLaw.
Schell’s complaint seeks roughly $20,000 for the flute and other discarded items, and the building where she stored the belongings is operated as the Cornelia Suites and managed by Landmark Realty. The property’s management page lists Landmark as the manager and provides the Cornelia Suites address and contact details. The Cornelia Suites lists 641 O’Farrell Street as the property address…