Slumlord Ordered to Fix Building He Sold

In an unusual ruling that may help close a loophole used by slumlords, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge Tuesday ordered convicted slumlord Dr. Milton Avol to renovate a dilapidated apartment building that houses 130 families near downtown, even though the Beverly Hills neurosurgeon no longer owns it.

Judge Christian E. Markey Jr. ordered the building to be put under the immediate receivership of Encino attorney Gary Plotkin, who will oversee a massive renovation project whose cost is estimated by tenants’ attorneys at $850,000.

Under the ruling, Avol will be forced to pay for repairs to the block-square complex at 1821-1839 Main St.

Plotkin, an attorney who has handled numerous receiverships, will operate the complex until the repairs are complete.

Avol has been sued or cited several times in the past for failure to upgrade the rat-infested, crumbling building. But he has completed only partial repairs and minor upgrading since first being fined $3,000 in 1979, according to tenants’ attorneys.

Attorney Barry Litt, who is representing more than 300 tenants who joined in the suit, said Avol sold the building last year without repairing the decaying floors, ceilings and walls or bringing the building within city fire codes.

Since the sale, however, Avol has been under a Los Angeles Superior Court injunction that held him responsible for the condition of the building, even though he no longer owned it.

Neither Avol nor his attorneys could be reached for comment Tuesday on Markey’s ruling.

Litt hailed the judge’s action, saying it is a message to slumlords that the courts will not allow owners to duck upkeep responsibilities by simply selling off dilapidated buildings.

“We’re at the point where the courts are not going to let this kind of case go by,” the attorney said. “This building needs to be completely rehabilitated. Really, the problems are extraordinary.”

‘Common Practice’

Litt said it is “common practice” for slumlords to sell buildings rather than fix them, creating a cycle in which buildings are repeatedly sold but rarely made habitable.

The building’s current owner, Hyoung Man Pak, was also named in the lawsuit, but it will be up to the judge to decide how much Pak should pay toward the repair work, Litt said.

Last summer, Avol was sentenced to spend 30 days in a building he owned on Western Avenue as punishment for failure to comply with code violations there.