Suit Contends Owners of Collapsed Building Defaulted on Loan : Aftermath: An attorney for Shashikant and Renuka Jogani say they are trying to negotiate a ‘resolution.’

The owners of the Northridge Meadows apartments, already facing several lawsuits in connection with the building’s collapse in the Jan. 17 earthquake, have defaulted on a $14.7-million loan for seven other buildings they own, according to an investors’ lawsuit.

Shashikant and Renuka Jogani, owners of Northridge Meadows and about 50 other apartment buildings, defaulted on Feb. 1 and owe $145,429 in back payments, according to a foreclosure suit filed Monday in Superior Court by a New York-based group of foreign investors, the WHC-One Limited Partnership.

Attorneys for the investors would not comment. But Jay Ford, a lawyer for the Joganis, said, “We are right now in the process of trying to negotiate a resolution.”

Court records show the Joganis have recently faced several other foreclosures, but the suits ultimately were dismissed.

Steven E. Glass, another of Jogani’s lawyers, said foreclosure suits are not uncommon, especially during the recession, as lenders and building owners reorganize their payment terms to adjust for lost income and equity.

The latest foreclosure action involves properties in the San Fernando Valley, Jogani’s attorneys said. Some, but not all, are in the quake zone and were damaged. None of the buildings in question were red-tagged, and Northridge Meadows does not appear to be involved.

In their suit, the investors are seeking a court-appointed receiver to collect rents and maintain the complexes, which have been purchased since 1986. In addition, the investors are asking the court to allow the receiver to hire environmental specialists, gain access to the buildings’ plans and construction documentation and make sure the buildings are properly insured.

Just three years ago, Shashikant Jogani, an Indian immigrant who once worked as a hotel bellhop, was one of Los Angeles’ largest landlords, controlling more than $375 million worth of residential real estate. The recession crippled him. But the quake dealt a crushing blow, damaging several of Jogani’s buildings, including Northridge Meadows, where 16 tenants died.

Jogani said last month that the recession and quake had wiped out the equity he’d built in his once formidable empire.

Last month, relatives of two women who died in the Northridge Meadows collapse sued the Joganis, as well as the builder, architect and engineer, alleging that negligence led to the collapse and deaths.

Northridge Meadows will be demolished floor by floor next month under a court order that preserves evidence of the building’s construction and materials.