Judge Suspends Landlord’s Stay in Run-Down Unit

Landlord Sam Menlo got a reprieve Tuesday when a judge denied Anaheim officials’ request to order the landlord back to the run-down apartment complex where he had been sentenced to spend 60 days of home confinement.

Menlo served less than half of that sentence before suffering two strokes in November.

Orange County Superior Court Judge W. Michael Hayes said he will revisit the issue in June but would not send Menlo back to the Ridgewood Gardens complex now because three doctors, including a physician hired by the city, said it might pose a medical risk to Menlo, 72.

“Mr. Menlo owes me 37 days, and I intend to get them,” Hayes said. “Problem is . . . I’m not going to kill him in the process.”

Deputy City Atty. Mike Burke had argued that all doctors would err on the side of caution in their recommendations to the court and that there is no evidence that Menlo’s health is any more at risk if he lives in one of his apartments than in his 8,000-square-foot Hancock Park home.

The landlord’s strokes, Burke argued, were not caused by the stress of living in the apartment complex.

Menlo’s attorneys made only a brief statement during Tuesday’s hearing, saying they would let the doctors’ reports speak for themselves.

“All of the doctors line up,” attorney Paul Meyer said. “It’s not safe. It’s not medically reasonable.”

Burke and Anaheim code enforcement officials have fought Menlo for several years over various violations at his 368-unit apartment complex. In 1997, after years of inadequate repairs, the city cited him on 34 criminal violations, including numerous fire, health and safety-code infringements. He pleaded no contest, paid a minimal fine and was placed on probation.

After many subsequent inspections, code-enforcement inspectors said Menlo failed to make repairs and filed a probation violation. When Hayes visited the apartments last year, he reported finding abandoned units littered with drug paraphernalia, feces, graffiti and trash. He sentenced Menlo to serve 60 days at the complex and ordered him to renovate a building a month.

City officials said Menlo has continued to drag his heels. They filed another probation violation in March--one that could land him in jail for 16 months if he is found guilty. On Tuesday, Hayes continued that hearing until June. He also modified the probation terms, prohibiting Menlo from renting any units until the buildings have been inspected and approved by the city.

“We’re not slowing down progress,” Hayes said.

Burke and code enforcement officials said they are frustrated by the lengthy fight to force Menlo to fix his property. Even though Hayes said he intends to make Menlo serve his sentence, it will be difficult to punish Menlo, officials said.

“He’s been given more opportunities than most people,” said John Poole, Anaheim’s code-enforcement manager. “We have to persevere. We’re going to hang in there. . . . If he avoids the punitive portion of this, he never learns.”