1st Tenant Charged Under W. Hollywood Rent Control Law

In the first criminal prosecution of a tenant under West Hollywood’s tough rent control law, a man accused of lying to the Rent Stabilization Commission in an attempt to win a $25 rent reduction faces up to 12 years in prison and fines of up to $30,000.

Douglas Gelvin, 33, who now lives in Los Angeles, is accused of preparing false documentary evidence, offering false documentary evidence and committing perjury under oath before the rent commission in 1987, when he lived in West Hollywood.

Each of the felony charges carries a maximum four years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Pleads Not Guilty

Gelvin, who was released on $1,500 bail after his arrest last month, pleaded not guilty to the charges last Wednesday in Beverly Hills Municipal Court. A preliminary hearing has been set for June 22.

Gelvin’s lawyer, Charles R. English, called the charges brought by the district attorney’s office, at the request of West Hollywood rent control officials, “a bit of overkill,” and he accused city officials of trying to make an example of his client.

“It’s obviously the kind of prosecution that permits them to say they’re being evenhanded,” English said. “But given the potential penalties involved compared to what the accusations are, this case is a little bizarre.”

Until now, criminal prosecutions under the 4-year-old law have been aimed solely at landlords.

Asked if Gelvin was singled out, the city’s chief rent control officer said the case was “not unusual, other than the fact it is the first of its kind against a tenant.”

“The message here, if there is one, is that if you come to our (rent commission) hearings, you need to testify truthfully, regardless of whether you’re a property manager, owner or tenant,” said Richard Dorsey Muller, the city’s rent stabilization director.

Sought $25 Reduction

The charges against Gelvin stem from a 1987 hearing before the rent commission at which he sought a $25 reduction of his $548-a-month rent, accusing his landlord of eliminating one of two parking spaces to which he was entitled.

The landlord, Ashkenazy Management Co., contended that Gelvin’s rent for the studio apartment at 949 Larrabee St., where he lived from March, 1983, until July, 1987, included use of only one parking space.

After Gelvin presented several canceled checks with notations indicating that the rent payments were also for “extra parking,” a hearing examiner reduced his rent by $10 a month.

However, Gelvin appealed the decision, insisting he was entitled to the $25 decrease.

During the appeal, a lawyer for the management company presented bank photocopies of the checks Gelvin had offered at the earlier hearing which did not contain the notations. The lawyer, Steven Weaver, claimed Gelvin entered the notations after the checks were cashed to make it appear he was paying for the extra parking space. The commission agreed and ruled in favor of the company.

Gelvin declined to be interviewed, but English said his client “is obviously torn up by the potential consequences of something like this. . . . He’s no criminal. He’s more like the guy next door.”

Although the Gelvin case is the first criminal case against a tenant, at least two dozen West Hollywood landlords or their agents have been prosecuted since the law was enacted in 1985, all but one of them on misdemeanor charges.

Last year, a property manager was charged with two felonies after being accused of falsifying documents presented to the rent commission to obtain a rent increase for an apartment he managed.

After pleading guilty to charges of perjury and offering a forged or altered document as genuine, E. (Budd) Kops, 69, was placed on probation for three years, ordered to pay the city $6,500 in costs and a fine of $3,500, and was placed under house arrest for 60 days.

Most of the prosecutions have occurred since last year, when West Hollywood--where an estimated 85% of residents are renters--hired a full-time enforcement officer as part of a new “get-tough” policy against rent control violators.

Muller said the city has recovered more than $150,000 in unpaid registration fees, overcharged rents, fines and attorney’s fees as a result of the prosecutions. The city has collected an additional $100,000 in fees from landlords who have come forward voluntarily as a result of the stepped up enforcement, he said.

He said the Gelvin case, “just happens to be the first instance where an investigation has resulted in a prosecutable offense of this magnitude involving a tenant.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Hugh Bobys said the case against Gelvin is “unusual in that, as a matter of dollars and cents, the amount of loss to the landlord may not seem of great significance, and yet the potential penalties are extremely great.

“I think it tells people that West Hollywood is very serious about prosecuting people accused of committing perjury or presenting false evidence in its (rent control) hearings,” he said. “In that sense, it’s sure to get people’s attention.”