Garden Grove Shelter Is Cleared of Violations

A Garden Grove house that had been operating as a boarding home was cleared of city code violations, and renters living there no longer face eviction, a city spokesman said Wednesday.

The home in the 10200 block of Larson Avenue had been operated as a boarding house, with more residents than the city’s housing code allowed, Garden Grove spokesman John Bushman said.

The code allows just one boarder per bedroom in a residence, but 21 people were living in the six-bedroom home when it was inspected in November, Bushman said. A Dec. 15 deadline was set to reduce the number of tenants and correct other minor violations.

When it was inspected Tuesday, six residents were living there, Bushman said. The minor infractions had also been corrected.

“They did a good job. There was a lot to do there,” Bushman said. “They have been working pretty hard on this to get it in shape.”

Bushman said Ed Tinsley, who managed the home as a shelter for people needing temporary housing, no longer lives there.

The city was unaware of the overcrowding until police began an investigation into the death of a 31-year-old woman at the home.

The woman, Ramona Craw, fell and suffered a serious head injury on June 22, 1987, and was allegedly raped by three residents while laying unconscious, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Evans.

The three men were charged with rape last month. But Evans said murder charges were not sought because it was determined that Craw would have died of the head injury even if she had gotten immediate medical attention.