L.A. landlord told to perform community service
Los Angeles landlord Monica Hujazi was ordered Thursday to perform 400 hours of community service as punishment for health and safety violations she was convicted of allowing in a Koreatown apartment building.
Prosecutors and tenants expressed frustration at the sentence handed down by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Elia Weinbach. Prosecutors had sought house arrest. They said a stiffer sentence was necessary to send a message that authorities won’t tolerate conditions like those found in Hujazi’s building.
“It makes me angry. It makes me think the judges have no clue about the condition of substandard housing . . . they don’t take these cases seriously,” said Tina Hess, supervising attorney for the city attorney’s Safe Neighborhoods Division.
She said bad landlords have little incentive to clean up their buildings because they know they can get off with “a slap on the wrist” even when convicted.
Hujazi’s lawyer, Harold Greenberg, called the sentence appropriate.
“What would jail do in something of this nature?” he asked. He added that tenants had in fact “created a lot of the problems” and violations in Hujazi’s buildings.
Hujazi was convicted in March of 23 health and safety violations. Her tenants testified that they lived without heat for years, that ceilings fell on them and that they feared for their children’s health.
Last year, Hujazi was convicted of 39 misdemeanors stemming from fire, safety and health violations in another building in Pico-Union. A judge in that case sentenced her to 36 months of probation, 30 days in jail and 300 hours of community service, but suspended the sentence pending an appeal.
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