Chase, City Resolve Code Violation Case

Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. has agreed to resolve a criminal slum housing case brought by the city of Los Angeles by donating $100,000 to local nonprofit organizations and volunteering 10 employees and executives to spend a day building homes with Habitat for Humanity.

The Edison, N.J.-based J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. subsidiary was charged last August with failing to maintain a pair of vacant South Los Angeles residential properties for several years after acquiring them through foreclosures of federally insured loans.

The mortgage lender pleaded no contest Tuesday to building-and-safety code violations involving a duplex, which city officials say was littered with trash and debris and repeatedly broken into during a four-year period.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped a second case involving an apartment building and misdemeanor charges against two Chase executives.

The company spent more than $100,000 to clean up the two properties, said spokeswoman Kristen Batteria. “Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. is committed to continue to be a responsible corporate citizen in the city of Los Angeles,” she said.

Under the plea agreement, Chase will pay more than $40,000 in fines and penalties. It will donate $50,000 to the First African Methodist Episcopal Church Housing Corp., $40,000 to a group that teaches youths construction skills and $10,000 to the Los Angeles Community Garden Council.

The company, which was placed on two years’ probation, also agreed to create a California unit to streamline the processing of foreclosed properties.

City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said about 38 foreclosed properties owned by Chase were being reviewed for code violations in October 2000. They have since been brought up to code or sold, he said.