Say No to the Slumlords
The appalling findings of the Blue Ribbon Citizens’ Committee on Slum Housing challenge Mayor Richard Riordan and the Los Angeles City Council to get tough on negligent landlords.
Slumlords know they can put off most major repairs for years without even a glance from a city building inspector, without any realistic threat of prosecution. That means they can ignore leaking roofs, stopped-up toilets, rat infestation, a lack of heat and hot water, broken windows and other conditions that make apartments unsafe, unhealthy and unlivable.
Offending landlords can count on the indifference of the L.A. Department of Building and Safety, which, according to the report, gives greater priority to permits for new construction that generates fees for the city than to existing units.
The problem is bad--1995 census data found 156,000 substandard apartments in Los Angeles--and it’s getting worse in the San Fernando Valley, on the Westside, in Hollywood and in inner-city neighborhoods.
Nothing short of strict regular inspections, as recommended by the report, will force errant landlords to make timely repairs. Several California cities, including San Francisco and Pasadena, require annual inspections. Los Angeles too would benefit from periodic inspections of the city’s 590,710 apartments, and more frequent visits to problem buildings, to preserve the city’s housing stock. The slum housing report recommends paying for the new inspections through fees assessed on owners of rental units in the city. But wouldn’t a fee system penalize the majority of landlords, who maintain clean and decent housing, in order to check the slumlords? If habitable rentals are in the city’s interest, then increased inspections should be part and parcel of the city’s budget.
The mayor and council, in response to the damning report, are now paying greater attention to this crisis. Riordan recently called for 14 additional inspectors to join six inspectors in a small pilot project that seeks out slum conditions. That’s a small step forward.
The council this month is expected to consider a proposal by members Jackie Goldberg and Hal Bernson that would give landlords 48 hours to make urgent repairs. If the landlord failed to do the work, city crews would make the repairs and bill the property owner, attach the amount to a property tax bill or put a lien on the property for the cost of the work. Any new ordinance must answer questions about what happens when a tenant is responsible for safety problems, flexibility in repair deadlines and the definition of “urgent.”
These issues aside, the new interest in eradicating slum housing is welcome. One member of the task force summed it up: “These conditions are intolerable in a world-class city. This is not Calcutta.”
