Second Slumlord Gets a Taste of Living in a Dilapidated Building

A prominent businessman in Southern California’s Korean community began serving 28 days of court-ordered house arrest Thursday in a dilapidated apartment building he owns in downtown Los Angeles.

Hyoung Pak, 48, is the second convicted slumlord in the city’s history to be temporarily banished to a fate endured by his tenants.

With five minutes to go before the court-imposed deadline, a contrite Pak arrived at the 130-unit, two-building complex in the 1800 block of South Main Street, half a block south of the Santa Monica Freeway.

Smartly attired in a sports jacket and wing-tip shoes, Pak handed out his business cards as he emerged from a yellow Cadillac driven by his brother-in-law. “I wish to fix it right,” he said.

Before Thursday’s house arrest order was issued by Municipal Court Commissioner Juelann Cathey, the city attorney’s office received numerous calls from local Korean businessmen urging leniency.

Bought From Slumlord

Pak and his wife, Sook Pak, of Rolling Hills, paid a reported $2.25 million for the buildings from convicted slumlord Milton Avol in the summer of 1986. A year earlier, Avol, a neurosurgeon, was the first to serve a house arrest sentence in a run-down apartment building he owned at 463 Bixel St.

In March of 1987, the Paks were charged with 43 misdemeanor violations of city health, building and safety codes.

Their buildings were rife with rodents and cockroaches, had insufficient hot water as well as faulty fire extinguishers and fire doors. Floors throughout were damaged and there were many broken windows.

Last October, Pak pleaded no contest to nine counts of various code violations and was sentenced to pay $8,500 in fines. As a part of the plea, charges against Pak’s wife were dropped, according to lawyer Stephanie Sautner of the housing enforcement section in the city attorney’s office.

Cathey had given Pak a series of deadlines for making the necessary repairs, but he missed them all. The final deadline was Thursday.

According to Sautner, “What he had done was absolutely nothing--until (last) Thursday.”

A crew of 40 workers was not able to bring the four-story buildings up to standard. “Basically there’s still a huge infestation and plumbing problem,” Sautner said.

“The infestation was so bad,” added City. Atty. James Hahn, “that it still is a major problem despite the fact that workers killed about 300 rodents and put out 300 pounds of boric acid.” Boric acid is used to kill roaches.

The Paks own several other apartment buildings, in the mid-Wilshire area--”all in pretty good shape,” Sautner said.

City officials will re-inspect the buildings on Main Street when Pak’s house arrest ends June 22, Sautner said.

During his house arrest, Pak will not be permitted to leave the buildings. But he may leave his apartment between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to assist and supervise the work crew. An electronic monitoring device will be attached to Pak’s ankle.

Since February, Pak has served as chairman of the board of the Korean Institute of Southern California, a nonprofit educational organization that operates eight Saturday Korean language schools and the Hankook Academy, an English language private elementary school in the mid-Wilshire area.

Earlier Thursday, Pak resigned as chairman of the institute as a result of his conviction.