Judge Allows Cleanup of Debris-Filled Residence

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Thursday cleared the way for city crews to remove garbage and debris several feet deep from the house of a Studio City woman who has lived for years without electricity or water.

Ottilie Tobin, a compulsive collector who has been at war for more than a decade with city officials and her neighbors, represented herself during a hearing Thursday at which she asked Judge Norman L. Epstein to stop workers from hauling several truckloads of trash from her hillside home.

After listening to Tobin for nearly four hours, Epstein refused her request.

“We’ve got the green light to resume the clean-up, and we will be out there Friday morning,” Fire Department Inspector Michael A. Theule said.

Latest Confrontation

Tobin’s latest clash with officials began Wednesday when four police officers arrived at her Van Noord Avenue home to arrest her and open the house for city crews to begin cleaning up the debris.

Police said Tobin fled out the back door as they entered her home, which is south of Ventura Boulevard among well-kept houses that neighbors say average $400,000 in value.

Theule said that, because Tobin left, the arrest warrant, which charges her with maintaining an unsafe and unsanitary residence, will not be served “unless she interferes with the clean-up. We don’t want to put her in jail. We just want her out of the way so we can abate a hazard to public health and safety.”

‘Will Go On Fighting’

Tobin’s 23-year-old daughter, Lisa, who lives in Los Angeles, rushed to the house shortly after police arrived to save clothing, furniture and other items of value from being hauled away.

Lisa Tobin said Thursday that her mother “thinks these people are out to get her, and she will go on fighting.”

As crews were removing her belongings Wednesday and Thursday morning, the elder Tobin made a series of telephone calls to news reporters charging city officials with “terrorism” and with destroying papers pertaining to the $1.4-million claim she has filed against the city.

The claim stems from a Feb. 25 fire at Tobin’s two-bedroom, brick and clapboard cottage, which blackened much of the interior and destroyed parts of the electrical system.

Firefighters Called Slow

Lisa Tobin said her mother, who she said was in her late 50s, filed the claim “because she thinks the city firemen moved real slow to put the fire out because she complained a lot in the past.”

Fire officials said Thursday that, besides seeking removal of the debris observed during the fire, city officials have been trying since February to force Tobin out of the house until structural repairs are made.

Tobin’s disagreements with city officials and neighbors date back more than a decade. A spokesman for the city Building and Safety Department said complaints from neighbors against Tobin “have been coming in at least since 1973.”

Mixed with other debris covering every floor in Tobin’s house were legal papers and copies of letters to judges that sought protection from city officials or demanded action on complaints she had filed.

Shunned Electricity, Water

Other debris included bed sheets, clothing, pieces of cardboard, broken furniture, old telephone books and old newspapers.

Two years ago, Tobin went without electricity and water for 18 months because she contended the Department of Water and Power was overcharging her.

Neighbors said Thursday that, although Tobin’s utilities were turned on again in 1983, when two charity groups paid her $450 outstanding balance, the power has been off more often than on in recent years.

“She’s at war with the city and with us,” said a neighbor, who would not give her name.

Theule said the house will be “boarded up tightly after we finish Friday, but I expect she will find a way to get back in and live there.

“I’m afraid this is not the last chapter.”