Slumlord Wins Round in Fight With Tenants
A neurosurgeon, who has been ordered to clean up and repair blighted apartment buildings he owns in Los Angeles and not to barge in on tenants or tamper with their mail, won a small round Thursday in an ongoing court battle with tenants.
As part of a stipulated court order restraining him from numerous acts as landlord--including harassing or retaliating against tenants--Dr. Milton Avol, a resident of Beverly Hills, also got the judge to restrain the tenants from damaging or defiling his apartment buildings.
The order of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Norman L. Epstein was “perhaps unprecedented,” Avol’s attorney, Dale Alberstone, said, in that “it prohibits not only adult tenants, but minors, from acts of destruction.”
Epstein’s order enjoins the plaintiff tenants from such acts as smashing holes in walls, slashing screens, urinating on walls, throwing garbage out windows, obstructing fire doors and sleeping in common areas, such as hallways.
Alberstone said if any of the tenants or their children violate the order, “they can be fined up to $500 and get up to five days in jail.”
Throughout the court journey of the tenants’ multimillion-dollar lawsuit against him, Avol’s lawyers have contended that occupants caused much of the problems they complained about.
Last month, the surgeon’s lawyers submitted photos to the court that showed holes in walls, toilet seats torn off and other damage.
Lawyers for the tenants’ group, however, have consistently argued that such destructive acts were committed by outsiders, who could come and go as they pleased because of lack of security in the buildings.
“We’re not saying any of our people did any of these things,” said one of the lawyers, Barrett Litt, after Thursday’s hearing. “But we stipulated to inclusion of the order.”
Epstein’s order also called for establishing an interest-bearing trust savings account for deposit of rent money withheld by complaining tenants and provided that such funds in the trust must be considered as payment of rent.
The judge also ordered that Avol is entitled to an accounting of money in the fund at specified times and provided that the fund could be drawn on to pay for repairs and maintenance of the apartment buildings.
The more than 200 tenant plaintiffs who brought the suit are present or former residents of Avol-owned buildings at 1839 and 1831 S. Main St. and at 463 S. Bixel St. They alleged that their apartments were vermin infested and filthy and that they live in uninhabitable surroundings.
Still unresolved in their suit are demands for security doors and other safety measures.
Last June, a judge sentenced Avol to 30 days in jail and another 30 days living in one of the rooms at his Bixel Street building for failing to clear up city Building and Safety Code violations.
After spending part of one day in jail, Avol was released on bail pending his upcoming appeal of the sentence.
Last August, the surgeon was charged with 13 new violations at the Bixel Street address.
