A socialist who sells herself as a champion of struggling renters in Los Angeles is secretly dwelling a lifetime of luxurious, the California Publish can reveal.
Faizah Malik, 41, the Democratic Socialists of America-backed candidate difficult reasonable Councilmember Traci Park, 50, on Los Angeles’ Westside with a marketing campaign centered on lease reform and housing affordability, lives in a sprawling $2.5 million mansion in Venice Seaside.
The sprawling residence sits on a 5,780 sq ft lot with a non-public enclosed yard, with sun-drenched interiors and high-end finishes all through.
It has an all-white kitchen with stainless-steel home equipment, a number of bedrooms opening on to non-public balconies and a deck designed for out of doors eating, a uncommon luxurious within the costly enclave.
The property is tucked inside Penmar, close to the Penmar Golf Course, a neighborhood of single-family properties, the place costs sometimes begin at $1.7 million and climb to $4 million.
Zillow itemizing has the property’s rental estimate at $8,000 a month, a far cry from the struggling renters she claims she’s going to characterize.
The common Angeleno pays as much as $3,000 for a spot to reside, in keeping with a March rental market developments report by Zumper.
Solely 9 % pay greater than $6,000 a month for lease.
However when The Publish contacted Malik, her spokeswoman recommended she too was feeling the squeeze: “On the Westside, there are renters which can be in each doable monetary state of affairs, and there are owners who’re feeling monumental monetary strain as effectively.
“Faizah’s document demonstrates her dedication to the beliefs put ahead in our marketing campaign, that each individual in our metropolis ought to have a dignified life.”
Her marketing campaign additionally stated that whereas Faizah believes ”that individuals from any background can definitely be credible advocates for tenants.
”The truth that she herself is a renter does give Faizah credibility on tenant advocacy points, as a result of she is ready to communicate from her lived expertise.
”Faizah and her husband characterize a big phase of Los Angeles, millennials which can be priced out of residence possession.”
Barry Cassilly, a Venice resident energetic in Westside politics, advised the Publish: “Faizah Malik attempting to go herself off as a humble renter is offensively insulting to folks’s intelligence provided that she lives in a big, multi-million greenback residence in one of many extra unique components of the sixth costliest neighborhood in Los Angeles.”
The Malik’s mansion clashes instantly with core DSA housing ideology, which requires shifting away from non-public, profit-driven housing towards publicly owned fashions.
DSA’s personal platform says “social housing” ought to redistribute land from non-public homeowners to the general public and problem the inspiration of personal property itself, not simply make housing extra inexpensive.
Malik’s marketing campaign website touts years spent defending renters and pushing for inexpensive housing, promising she’s going to struggle for safer streets, increase bike and bus lanes, and defend susceptible street customers.
It additionally underscores her name to construct extra housing — particularly within the job-rich, housing-starved Westside district.
Malik husband, Zaahir Syed, 44, is a senior managing director at CBRE Funding Banking, advising main actual property gamers on methods to elevate and deploy capital.
His background consists of capital-raising roles at a Manhattan-based actual property funding fund.
He additionally based and chaired the Detroit Basis, targeted on city revitalization.
The couple has two youngsters who attend an elite non-public faculty, wherein her husband has been on the board since 2024.
Annual tuition is $41,500, with further prices together with a $200 household neighborhood price, $1,000 per youngster for scholar actions, and a $200 capital price, all earlier than factoring in elective month-to-month fee dealing with costs.
Malik herself is a high lawyer at Public Counsel, the place she serves as managing lawyer on tenant rights points.
She works carefully with advocacy coalitions together with the Authorized Help Basis of Los Angeles — the identical social justice group that simply landed a roughly $106 million contract from the Metropolis to push aggressive tenant protections, land-use mandates and growth battles.
These efforts have been backed by fellow DSA ally and Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman, who herself lives in a $1.9 million residence.
Malik has planted herself on the middle of one of many Westside’s ugliest fights: the Venice Dell mission.
She helped lead the authorized cost, suing Karen Bass and Councilmember Traci Park, to drive by means of an “inexpensive” housing growth with a staggering price ticket of roughly $1.2 million per unit.
Whereas pushing the lawsuit that might saddle taxpayers with one other costly housing mission, Malik can be warning Metropolis Corridor is already bleeding money due to raises for the LAPD and LAFD.
