Slum Housing

Mark Adams’ commentary states that he was on the Blue Ribbon Committee on Slum Housing (Sept. 15). This committee transferred the very inspectors that would have responded to Florina Sanchez’s complaints of unsafe housing. These inspectors are now inspecting housing with few or no problems, harassing tenants and landlords alike, when they should be inspecting and citing the slumlords who have real-life safety issues.

Affordable housing is a very large problem in this city. To solve it, we all have to work together--tenants, landlords, government and the financial community. Housing is a business. We have rent control that does not allow the landlord to raise rents to generate the income to pay for repairs, utilities, insurance and debt service. It is unfair to ask small landlords to subsidize low-income tenants. The majority of housing in L.A. is owned by mom-and-pop landlords who are fair. We all hate slumlords.

ROBERT L. MICHLER

Los Feliz