Investors bought a historic Los Angeles home. Sisters who have lived there since childhood are fighting to stay

Breard continued living in the home as an adult and raised her children there alongside her mother. Breard and her older sister, Sarah Padilla, lived in separate units in the triplex at the time of their mother's death in 2018.

Soon after, Breard says, she learned that she and another sister had been excluded from their mother's will. The home had been left to Padilla and two other siblings. Their older brother was named executor of the estate. Family representatives of the estate did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting comment.

Soon, plans were in motion to sell the house, which over the years had grown to be valued at more than $1 million.

Breard says she feared that she would be evicted and the house would be torn down to make room for apartments or condos. She saw it as history repeating itself. She, like the Arechigas, would soon be ripped from her home.

"It's not just an apartment you rent. I grew up there. It took part in raising me," she said.

She began organizing with the LA Tenants Union and along with other supporters worked to file an application to have the property designated a historic-cultural monument with the city planning department, hoping that it would deter a developer from buying the property and tearing it down.

The estate framed the moves as stalling tactics meant to keep the house from being sold, according to court records.

Breard's supporters circulated a petition calling for a show of community support so that the sisters could remain in the house and for "the rejection of tearing it down for future development projects."

When the home went up for auction in the spring of 2022 there were multiple bidders. It sold for a little more than $1.2 million to NELA Development. Padilla, who according to court records refused to cooperate with the sale, received about $290,000 when the estate was settled.

"Buyer to be aware that the property will be delivered with its current occupants who are not paying rent," read a notification issued with the sale.

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