Raid Sparks Calls for Slumlord Crackdown

A day after a code enforcement sweep uncovered a hidden ghetto about a mile from the Civic Arts Plaza, city leaders on Friday called for a swift crackdown on landlords that allow overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions on their property.

Assistant City Atty. Jim Friedl, who handles Thousand Oaks code violations, said he had not spoken to the landlords involved in Thursday’s early morning sweep, where about 50 people were crammed into four small houses, two shacks, several tool sheds, storage spaces, huts and garages on a property of less than one acre.

Friedl said the ramshackle village discovered on the southwest corner of Royal Oaks and Sunset drives was the worst overcrowding situation he had heard of in Thousand Oaks, though city officials were unsure of what the owners--Joy and Al Silver of Westlake Village--really knew about the clandestine rental arrangements taking place there.

“Basically, we’re doing an investigation right now. That’s all I can say for now. We still haven’t made a decision,” he said.

Meanwhile, Councilman Andy Fox said he would ask the City Council to enact a tough anti-slumlord ordinance that would include jail sentences and other criminal penalties as well as stiff fines. Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said she, too, wants to consider tougher laws.

“I find it incredible that a property owner would not know that was taking place on their property,” Fox said. “Here in Thousand Oaks we have such a strong stance on property violations. I think we need to do something serious about this. We need to take a very strong and clear position that slumlords will not be tolerated in Thousand Oaks.”

Mayor Judy Lazar said she first learned of the problem property about six weeks ago at a homeowners association meeting of the adjacent Groves condominiums on Sunset Drive. Residents complained of overcrowding across the street at the meeting, which was attended by city code inspectors, but no one had any idea the situation was so severe, Lazar said.

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In her opinion, Thousand Oaks has plenty of laws dealing with overcrowding and poor living conditions--the key is finding out about potential slumlords from those who live near their buildings.

“We should certainly be monitoring this, and we do, but I don’t think we need more ordinances,” Lazar said. “We’re very restrictive as it is. We can’t go into every home and look for problems. We have to rely on residents to let us know they suspect something.”

The uncovered shantytown is not the only overcrowded housing owned by the Silvers. Property records show the family also owns four small, rundown houses on Los Robles Road just a block north of the shantytown--and residents at two of the houses confirmed on Friday that numerous people were living in them, including one family that slept in a garage.

Martina Prefiabo said she and 13 others--seven adults and seven children in all--were living at one of the small houses, which rents for $950 a month.

Prefiabo said that Joy Silver and two others stopped by Thursday afternoon and immediately evicted one couple and their two children from the garage, but allowed others to stay at least until Friday night.

“We would never see her,” said Prefiabo, 32, who had been living in the house for six years. “We would only see [a] man once a month when he came for rent.”

A woman at another of the houses, who declined to give her name, said she and five of her family members rent the three-bedroom home from the Silvers for $950 a month. She said Joy Silver showed up at the house Thursday afternoon and told them that city code inspectors may visit to force them out, but that never happened, she said.

“The house is old, and it is not kept up very well,” said the woman, adding that she had been living in the house for four years. “It is not in good condition.”

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Silver said that she and her husband bought the home on Royal Oaks Drive nine years ago and were not aware of the overcrowding conditions until recently.

“It seems they were renting any space they could,” she said Thursday. “I got a notice from the city they would not tolerate this anymore, and I told them this had to stop.

“It got out of hand. You can’t come and check every day,” she added.

On Friday, the Silvers declined to comment. But Barbara Macmillan, who said she was Joy Silver’s sister, made a brief remark on behalf of the family outside their Westlake Village home. Macmillan said her sister and brother-in-law were using the rent payments from the Royal Oak Drive property as retirement income and had been advised by an attorney not to talk to the media.

“Her only comment is the city did her a favor by getting rid of the people,” Macmillan said of her sister.

Friedl, the assistant city attorney, said that landlords such as the Silvers cannot be charged with more than a misdemeanor, which carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and six months in jail under Thousand Oaks’ existing laws. But the misdemeanor charges could be stacked together if there are numerous violations, he said.

Thousand Oaks housing aid officials, who were braced for an influx of immigrant families needing shelter after Thursday’s sweep, said they received few requests, leading them to conclude that the inhabitants of the makeshift village have found shelter elsewhere--possibly under similar conditions.

“I have a feeling there is a fairly good network of immigrants here in town, and they’re probably living in overcrowded conditions somewhere else,” said Mary Macleod of the affordable housing group Many Mansions.

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“We had one inquiry [Friday] from a man with a wife and five children,” she added. “I asked him why more people did not come and he said they were afraid, because some of them were illegal immigrants.”

The scene at Royal Oaks and Sunset was calm Friday, as some of those who had lived there returned to gather their belongings while the relative few who were permitted to stay pondered whether they could afford to do so alone.

Many of those evicted returned early Friday morning to catch rides to work, according to neighbors. Nearly all the metal sheds, storage rooms and wooden huts that had previously served as dwellings for men, women and children had been cleaned out. Large rats still scurried from shed to shack.

“If they lower the rent, we’ll stay, but if they don’t we’ll have to go,” said Raquel Arroyo, 40, who is still living with five others in one of the four small houses on the property. “Many people have already gone to other places around Thousand Oaks Boulevard.”

Jose Luis Gonzalez, 22, was one of the 10 or so people sharing the home with Arroyo before the city crackdown, paying $80 a month toward the $800 rent. A four-year Thousand Oaks resident, he said he is now living in a house with some friends just around the corner, within walking distance of his job at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

“At the least they should have given us until the end of the month,” said Gonzalez, a Mexican immigrant who said he is in the country legally. “You hope to get some money and give some back to your family, that’s why you come here, for a better life. This [city sweep] doesn’t help anyone.”

Geoff Ware, the code enforcement supervisor who is overseeing the city’s investigation into the property, said Thousand Oaks officials are still trying to determine whether additional code violations exist.

Thousand Oaks may pressure the Silvers with a host of additional notices that they are in violation of city public nuisance and overcrowding ordinances, he said.

During the past few years, city code officers have on several occasions posted notices of public nuisance violations at the property, such as trash left outdoors and inoperable vehicles left in the roadway, according to Ware. The owners took care of those problems promptly, he said.

But in recent months, as the city received more and more complaints from neighbors about overcrowding, officials launched the investigation into building and safety conditions at the property that culminated in Thursday’s sweep.

Ware said city inspectors will make frequent visits to the property during the next month to ensure that the 15-page list of building code violations that they have already served on the Silvers are taken care of.

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Inspectors are preparing for the possibility that the violations will not be addressed and the property will remain in disarray at the end of the 30-day deadline city officials imposed Thursday.

If that is the case, then Thousand Oaks may hit the owners with additional citations for violating the city’s overcrowding ordinance, which requires city permits for anyone renting to four or more adults, as well as city public nuisance codes stating that lawns be free of trash and debris.

“A criminal action would be the ultimate action to get compliance,” Ware said.

Bustillo is a Times staff writer and Chi is a Times correspondent. Correspondent Penny Arevalo also contributed to this story.