Judge Orders Building Cleanup

A landlord who has been under investigation for allegedly maintaining substandard dwellings was given 15 days by a judge Thursday to clean up an apartment building in the Pico-Union District that tenants say is overrun by rats, cockroaches and other vermin.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Warren H. Deering issued a temporary restraining order against Lance Jay Robbins, a West Los Angeles attorney, in a $10-million lawsuit filed against him Wednesday by tenants who live in a building at 801 S. Union Ave.

“We’re jubilant,” Barbara Blanco, one of the tenants’ lawyers, said outside court. “This is going to stop the cycle of deterioration in the building.”

Eight poor families sued Robbins, contending that they were under constant attack by rats and plagued by cockroaches and other insects. They also contend that the building’s security is virtually non-existent and that there is no hot water in many of the units for weeks at a time.

Robbins argued in court that he has made “more than $200,000 in good-faith repairs” since he purchased the building two years ago. He said some tenants refused to allow workers to make necessary repairs in some units.

Fumigation of the building, estimated to cost $1,000, is scheduled for next Tuesday, and other repairs--such as putting security guards on windows and filling in holes in walls and ceilings--will begin shortly thereafter, Robbins said after the hearing.

The Union Avenue building is already the subject of a criminal investigation by city officials, and Robbins, who owns more than 1,000 units in Los Angeles, has been sued by the city for alleged substandard conditions in eight other buildings he owns, Deputy City Atty. William C. Cullen said.

A hearing to review the repairs required by Thursday’s order was set for June 20.