Landlord to pay tenants millions

City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said Tuesday that his office secured a $10-million settlement from a company accused of engaging in a scheme to drive low-income people out of more than 800 rent-controlled apartments.

Darren Stern, the owner of Landmark Equity Management Inc., agreed to pay a $1-million penalty and establish a $9-million restitution fund to repay tenants who were forced out of the company’s apartments since 2002, according to Delgadillo’s office.

The settlement will also ban Stern from the city’s residential real estate market for four years and six months, city officials said.

-- David Zahniser