Slumlord Barred From Withholding Mail, Intruding

Dr. Milton Avol, the neurosurgeon who has been the focus of numerous civil and criminal proceedings because of the blighted buildings he owns in the downtown Los Angeles area, was ordered by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge Monday not to tamper with tenants’ mail or barge into their apartments unannounced.

The request for the temporary restraining order was brought by a group of tenants who filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the physician last week, seeking repairs to their apartments and punitive damages on behalf of 222 present and former tenants of buildings at 1839 and 1831 S. Main and 463 S. Bixel streets.

Superior Court Judge Jack M. Newman also ordered Avol to provide individual locking mailboxes for the tenants, said attorney David B. Epstein, one of several lawyers representing the tenants. A request that Avol provide security doors and other security measures at the buildings was scheduled for a Sept. 10 hearing by the judge, Epstein said.

Avol denies having tampered with tenants’ mail and contends that he has always asked permission before entering a tenant’s apartment, said his attorney, Dale Alberstone. A postal inspector reached by The Times said he had contacted Avol about the mail-tampering allegations earlier this year and that Avol strongly denied them.

However, according to tenants who live in the mouse- and cockroach-infested buildings, their mail, which is delivered to the building manager, is frequently withheld by Avol or the manager.

Lawyers representing the tenants allege that Avol has withheld mail from tenants who are delinquent in paying rent and from those he dislikes. They say mail has been withheld for weeks at a time and is sometimes thrown away, causing tenants to miss important correspondence, including checks.

Several tenants also said Avol has barged into their apartments unannounced to take pictures.

Avol, who has been charged with hundreds of Health, Fire and Building Code violations, has managed to avoid making required repairs or serving time in jail by appealing unfavorable court decisions. For instance, an unusual sentence imposed last June that called for Avol to live for 30 days in one of his own slum dwellings is on appeal.

At a press conference Monday in front of one of the buildings at 1836 S. Main, tenants complained about filthy living conditions, as well as the danger to them and their children posed by drunks, drug addicts and gang toughs who wander into the building at will because of the lack of security.

“We’ve even heard shots fired” from time to time, said Maria Martinez, 27, one of the leaders in the tenants’ fight against Avol. “All we’re asking is for some security of the building, needed repairs and that our mail be delivered to us.”

The tenants said they paid initial cleaning deposits and that they pay upward of $260 a month for their studio apartments, which typically house families with children. Several women complained that they and their children wake up mornings with bites from insects.

Martinez said the building’s tenant group approached tenants who live next door at 1831 S. Main and met with tenants at the Bixel address to join forces against Avol. She said that since May, many tenants have begun withholding rent payments, placing them instead in a separate trust fund. Their lawyers have advised them that this is a legal step, as long as the landlord refuses to make needed repairs.

Referring to the tenants’ lawsuit against Avol, lawyers representing the group declared in a written statement that the tenants hope “this series of court actions finally will compel Avol to comply with the law and to eliminate the unsanitary, unsafe and uninhabitable conditions in his building(s).”