WESTLAKE : Building Owners Face City Charges

Raw sewage leaking from broken pipes into the basement of a Westlake-area apartment complex was one of several problems that led city officials to file criminal charges against the building’s owners last week.

Beverly Hills residents Hooshang Kashani, 49; Shoulamith Kashani, 41; Yahooda Roshanzamir, 46, and Janet Roshanzamir, 37, were each charged with 28 violations of fire, health and building and safety codes at 847 S. Alvarado St., a five-story, 97-unit brick apartment building they have owned since December, 1991, authorities said.

During inspections conducted between February and July, workers from the Slum Housing Task Force of the city attorney’s office found raw sewage pooled in the building’s basement, a result of broken plumbing that had gone unrepaired, authorities said.

They also found defective fire doors, missing and defective smoke detectors, exposed live electrical wiring, defective fire sprinklers, cockroach and rodent infestation, accumulated trash, damaged walls, floors and ceilings, missing plaster and numerous other violations.

According to Deputy City Atty. Lawrence Punter, who is handling the case, most of the offenses are fairly common in the area’s aging, overcrowded and often neglected housing stock.

But he said he has seldom seen situations where the owners let the plumbing get so bad that sewage leaks into the basement.

“You don’t get raw sewage like that accumulating in a basement unless you have damaged pipes, and that creates a very hazardous situation,” Punter said.

The owners are scheduled for arraignment in Division 83 of Los Angeles Municipal Court on Aug. 31.