San Diego City Attorney’s Office — Pursuing Alleged Deposit Violations
The San Diego City Attorney’s Office has filed a lawsuit against landlords connected to the Venetian Condos near UTC, accusing them of unlawfully holding onto security deposits paid by student renters. The civil complaint, filed Thursday, names Ali Ghorbanzadeh, the Ali Ghorbanzadeh Family Trust, and Sean Gorban as defendants and alleges violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law tied to how the landlords handled tenant deposits.
According to CBS 8, the lawsuit seeks civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation, repayment to every affected renter — including people who never filed their own lawsuits — and a court order barring the defendants from making misleading statements to renters about deposits going forward. City Attorney Heather Ferbert said the complaint centers on two groups of four students, and described several of the deposit retentions as a clear violation of state law.
How the Case Reached the City Attorney’s Desk
Ferbert said her office opened its investigation after reviewing information gathered during CBS 8’s earlier reporting, which began in 2025. She said the office can step in when it sees a pattern of students being taken advantage of by the same person in the same building — the kind of repeated conduct that elevates individual tenant disputes into a civil enforcement case. The complaint follows accounts from several former and current UCSD students who, per a report carried on NewsBreak, alleged in court filings that a family owning multiple units at the Venetian wrongfully withheld their deposits…