Slumlord’s Probation Revoked Over Alleged Code Violations

Neurosurgeon Milton Avol, a convicted slumlord sentenced to live in one of his own blighted apartment buildings for 30 days, had his three years’ probation revoked Wednesday.

In addition to revoking Avol’s probation, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Veronica Simmons McBeth also ordered that two slum properties he owns in the 1800 block of South Main Street in Los Angeles not be sold without the approval of the court and the city attorney’s office.

City Atty. James K. Hahn said he asked the judge for the authority to approve any sale, because he wants to be sure that any buyer is not another slumlord and has no connection with the physician.

Avol, 61, meanwhile, remains free pending an April 28 hearing on alleged violations of his probation reportedly stemming from numerous violations of city codes discovered at the two properties earlier this year. The alleged code violations include vermin and rodent infestations, no heat in some units and exposed live electrical wires.

Avol, a Beverly Hills resident, was convicted of allowing slum conditions at the two properties in 1983 and placed on three years’ probation, which McBeth revoked Wednesday.

He was first cited for probation violations in January, 1985, for which McBeth sentenced him to spend 30 days in County Jail and 30 more days under house arrest in a third blighted property he owns at 463 S. Bixel St.

The judge, however, allowed Avol to delay serving the sentence until his appeal is decided.