L.A. City Tags Scofflaw Landlord For $322K In Relo Funds For Dozens Of Low-Income Tenants To Assist In Forced Move From 3-Unit Health/Safety/Fire Trap

In Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Times reports:

• The Los Angeles City Council voted [] to provide up to $322,000 in relocation money to dozens of low-income tenants who must move from a South Los Angeles apartment building deemed unsafe by city inspectors.



• Tenants were given eviction notices last month after housing officials concluded that owner John Callaghan had illegally converted what was supposed to have been a three-unit apartment building [...] into as many as 44 separate living spaces — a warren of narrow hallways; tiny, shared bathrooms; and communal kitchens, much of it laced with unpermitted electrical and plumbing work.

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• The payments, which will range from $7,300 to $18,300, will come from a fund established by the Housing Department for tenants who must move out because of hazardous conditions. Those who receive the maximum must have lived in the apartment for more than three years and qualify as low income.



• The payments are designed to cover the first month's rent, a rental deposit, moving costs and the likelihood that tenants will be charged a higher rent at their next apartment, said Sonia Pflaster, a lawyer with the Inner City Law Center.(1) Some renters have been paying as little as $350 per month and are finding that similarly sized apartments are now going for $700 to $900, said Pflaster, who represents 35 tenants at the 49th Street property.



• Although the city's action goes a long way toward helping the tenants, council members still want to know why it took inspectors so long to figure out what had happened at the building — and how many other similar properties might exist.

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• In recent weeks, city officials have required that the owner pay for an around-the-clock security guard on the property to make sure the unpermitted electrical work doesn't spark a fire.

For the story, see Tenants get relocation funds after eviction from illegal units (The l.A. City Council approves up to $322,000 for dozens of people who were living in an illegally remodeled apartment building. Lawmakers are still trying to determine what went wrong with inspections).

(1) Headquartered on Skid Row, Inner City Law Center provides free legal representation and social service advocacy in Los Angeles County to over 2,000 homeless and working poor clients each year.