SOUTH-CENTRAL : Repairs Lagging at Run-Down Building

Staring out of a broken window where flies swarm during the day and the cold sneaks in at night, Margarita Mendoza, 24, is still waiting for repairs to her apartment that were promised two months ago.

“The windows have been broken from the day we moved in,” Mendoza said in Spanish from the two-bedroom bungalow she shares with her three children and 10 members of her extended family. “We get very cold at night.”

In mid-October, the city took the first steps to upgrade living conditions in the 80 bungalows along Western Avenue between 92nd and 94th streets, where Mendoza has lived for two years and nearly 100 other tenants reside.

In a city sweep organized by Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, health, fire and building department officers issued more than 60 citations to 23 Western corridor bungalow owners for violations ranging from electrical and plumbing problems to faulty foundations.

Some of the buildings have undergone minor repairs, but most remain in the same substandard conditions that city officials pointed out to reporters in the operation dubbed “Slumbust Plus,” officials said.

Said Mendoza, whose landlord was cited for general neglect and defective heating: “Nothing has been done (since the citations).”

Rafael Figueroa, co-owner of Mendoza’s bungalow and of the three adjacent units, said because of financial constraints related to a recent divorce, he’s been unable to fix the property.

Owners generally are required to make repairs within 30 days after a citation is filed. If the building is considered an imminent hazard--such as a building that has structural damage--city authorities can make the repairs and assess the owners through property taxes, officials said.

Some owners have bought time by appealing for extensions, officials said. Leo Fuller, one of the city inspectors heading the project, said that because of the extensions it will take at least until February to see more rehabilitation on the properties.

“We try to give the owner every opportunity possible before any legal action is taken,” Fuller said. Once inspectors exhaust all avenues to persuade owners to comply, the city attorney’s office steps in and files criminal charges, although none have been filed in connection with Slumbust Plus. Owners could face up to six months in jail and $1,000 in fines for each violation.

The city is attempting to inform owners about loans specifically for building improvements.

“We’ve had some success in this area,” said Ron Hicks, manager of the Housing Department’s neighborhood recovery program. “But one of the problems is that some of the owners are not interested in loans for one reason or another.”

Some owners contend that they are not to blame for the poor living conditions. They say tenants often abuse the property.

Others say crime in the area is so bad that they’re unwilling to invest in a property that eventually ends up damaged.

But, said Fuller, crime isn’t “a sufficient excuse” for neglected property. And through Slumbust Plus, tenants are being taught to keep the area clean, Fuller said, adding that the maintenance of properties is the responsibility of both tenants and owners.