Landlord to Donate $5,000 to Charity Over Code Violations

Lance J. Robbins, a landlord with a history of slum housing violations in Los Angeles, agreed Tuesday to donate $5,000 to the nonprofit Children of the Night in connection with his latest case.

Robbins, 52, of Playa del Rey, was also ordered to serve 18 months probation. He pleaded no contest Jan. 23 to three fire code violations at a 63-unit apartment building he runs at 1723 James Wood Blvd.

The corporate owner of the apartment house, Beachwood Properties Inc., also pleaded no contest to three fire code violations, and was ordered to pay $1,328 in investigative costs and serve 18 months probation.

Among the violations city fire inspectors found were an iron fence blocking an emergency exit, an inoperable fire escape ladder, a missing fire extinguisher, an improper fire exit door and hazardous combustible waste on the premises, according to prosecutors.

Robbins also faces a civil lawsuit seeking $3 million in unpaid Department of Water and Power bills and a far-reaching injunction to protect tenants.

The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint alleges Robbins cheated the DWP out of millions and escaped responsibility for substandard building conditions by using sham corporations, “self-foreclosures” and retaliatory tenant evictions.