Week in Review : Major Events, Images and People in Orange County News : CITIES : Charges Filed Against Apartment Landlords
City Hall delivered on its threat to prosecute landlords of dilapidated apartment houses in Huntington Beach and filed 14 criminal charges against a Norwalk couple.
Ten other landlords, owners of buildings on the same street, were expected to receive similar treatment.
Enrique and Patricia Cervantes were charged with misdemeanor violations of the Uniform Building Code by allowing their apartments on Commodore Circle to have, among other defects, hazardous plumbing, deteriorated walls and flooring, inadequate sanitation and cockroach infestation.
Each violation carries a maximum penalty of a six-month jail term and a $500 fine.
City officials have for years been trying to persuade landlords to voluntarily clean up the 20 two-story apartment buildings on Commodore Circle. Negotiations broke down when landlords insisted that the city contribute $450,000 in federal funds to a joint cleanup project.
The city then gave the landlords a March 10 deadline to correct more than 700 violations or face prosecution, but only half of the landlords complied.
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