Prosecutors Call Owner Behind Plan a Slumlord

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office says Lance Jay Robbins, the moving force behind a controversial neighborhood renewal plan in Northridge, is a slumlord.

“I resent that,” Robbins said. “Nobody has found me guilty of anything yet.”

A 38-year-old attorney who owns 112 of the 650 apartments in the run-down, crime-ridden Bryant Street-Vanalden Avenue area, Robbins faces civil and criminal charges for allegedly operating substandard housing elsewhere in the city. Robbins has an interest in more than 1,000 rental units in Los Angeles, according to the city attorney’s office.

Robbins said he is not to blame for the conditions, which officials say include cockroach and rat infestations, large accumulations of trash, general deterioration and lack of fire doors, heating and hot water.

In the civil case, the city attorney is seeking $1 million in penalties against Robbins and a court order compelling him to fix the buildings or sell them.

Arraignment Set Sept. 12

Robbins is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 12 in Los Angeles Municipal Court on misdemeanor criminal charges in connection with alleged health code violations at two buildings he now or once owned in the inner city.

He has contested both charges. He said that, in one case, he was not responsible for maintenance of the building. In the other, he asserted that the Department of Water and Power did not give him proper notice before it shut off the water at one of his buildings for alleged non-payment of a bill. It is a violation of state health laws for tenants to be living in apartments without water.

In the same building, utilities were recently turned off again for a day; DWP restored power after Robbins made arrangements to pay an overdue bill that the DWP said totaled more than $135,000.

If convicted of the criminal charges, Robbins could face a maximum six months in jail and $1,000 fine.

Robbins said it was “my idea” to evict all 3,000 tenants in the Bryant-Vanalden area in an effort to reduce crime and unsightly conditions. He said he sold the idea to Los Angeles Councilman Hal Bernson, who, in turn, persuaded the City Council in early August to tentatively approve the first step of the plan amending the city’s rent-control law to make it easier for landlords to evict tenants.

$40-Million Bond Measure

The plan also calls for the city to issue a $40-million bond measure to assist Bryant-Vanalden apartment owners in financing the renovation of units.

The bearded, rotund Robbins, a lifelong resident of Los Angeles’ Westside, earned a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and his law degree from the University of California, Berkeley.

After practicing real estate law for a few years, Robbins said, he went into the business of “buying bad buildings and turning them around.”

Robbins said he takes exception to Councilman Ernani Bernardi’s categorization of the Bryant-Vanalden eviction plan as racist.

“I would anticipate a significant number of the existing tenants remaining,” Robbins said. He also said that the city bond measure requires that 20% of the units be set aside for low- and moderate-income families.

Wants Right to Screen Tenants

“Preference will be given to existing tenants to remain in the project,” Robbins said. “But I want the right to screen those tenants to make sure they’re good tenants.”

Bernson, who is out of the country on vacation, could not be reached for comment. But when asked in early August about the city’s prosecution of Robbins, Bernson said, “I’m not concerned about that.”

The councilman said the plan tentatively approved by the council requires apartment owners to correct outstanding city citations for substandard housing in any of their projects before they can participate in the renovation program.