Downey : Owners Charged With Being Slumlords of L.A. Hotel
A Downey couple has been charged with maintaining a slum at a Los Angeles Skid Row residential hotel, where residents were forced to live with rodents, cockroaches, peeling paint and crumbling walls, Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn said.
Parimal Shah, 37, and his wife Mina, 39, were named in a 34-count indictment in Los Angeles Municipal Court on Aug. 6. Both were convicted in 1986 of similar violations at the same hotel and ordered to pay $3,400 in fines, according to the city attorney’s office.
Four other family members who share ownership interest in the hotel were also named in the indictment: Rajni C. Shah, 44, and Hemlata R. Shah, 44, both of Cerritos, and Ashok Shah, 50, and Ranjan Shah, 41, both of Fountain Valley.
City inspectors found a number of problems at the 80-room Lincoln Hotel on South Ceres Avenue, including defective fire doors, exposed electrical wiring, damaged and defective smoke detectors, damaged heaters, and accumulations of trash and debris around the building, according to the criminal complaint.
The defendants are scheduled for arraignment Sept. 10 in Los Angeles Municipal Court.
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