Jury Convicts Slumlord of 112 Housing Violations

In the largest criminal case ever brought against a landlord in the city of Los Angeles, the owner of five rat-infested, dilapidated buildings was convicted Thursday of 112 charges stemming from slum conditions.

Vijaynand Sharma, 39, faces a maximum sentence of 56 years in prison and up to $200,000 in fines and penalties, according to Deputy City Atty. Stephanie Sautner, head of the agency’s slum housing task force.

“We’re going to be asking for the maximum sentence,” she said, “with substantial jail time.”

Municipal Court Judge David Doi ordered Sharma to appear for sentencing on Dec. 16. A bail hearing was set for Tuesday.

The trial, which lasted 30 days and was the longest in city history against the owner of slum properties, involved the consolidation of five criminal cases filed against Sharma for buildings at 504 S. Bonnie Brae St., 1000 Echo Park Ave., 1616 West 11th St., 1915-17 S.Central Ave. and 3106 West 9th St.

All the buildings are near downtown Los Angeles, and contain a total of about 300 apartments.

The case was the culmination of a 17-month investigation by slum housing task force attorneys and inspectors from the Department of Building and Safety, the Fire Department and Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.

According to Deputy City Atty. Abraham Khan, who prosecuted the case for the city, all three agencies had repeatedly cited Sharma and his company, Best Realty Inc. of Inglewood, for vermin infestations, broken pipes, exposed wiring, faulty smoke detectors, lack of heating, lack of hot water and other violations.

Sharma, a tall, bearded, heavy-set man, sat quietly while the jury delivered its verdict, slowly rocking back and forth in his chair. Of the 118 counts, the jurors had found him guilty of 112, and not guilty of six.

“What we’re encountering here is a slumlord who doesn’t give a damn,” Khan said after the proceeding.

But Sharma said the problems with his buildings were “a matter of finance” and that his conviction was “political.”

“I am a victim of circumstances,” he said. “So was Jesus Christ.”

Early this year, Sharma was fined $17,500 and placed on three years’ probation for violations of building and health codes in the City of Inglewood, where he has owned more than 15 apartment buildings.

The City of Los Angeles filed criminal charges last year against Sharma for shutting off the hot water in two buildings in Koreatown and Hollywood. He was convicted of the charges, fined $1,700 and placed on probation. Last August, he was sentenced to jail for 90 days for violating his probation.

Sharma said that he had served about two weeks of that sentence before being released, pending appeal. Thursday, his attorney, John H. Heine, said he will consider filing an appeal in the current case as well.

Sharma denied that he is a slumlord. “That is a harsh word,” he said. “There is no such thing. It’s a matter of opinion. The people living there (in his buildings) are very decent people. They just happen to be poor and I’m a poor landlord.”

Have ‘Their Eyes Open’

“Landlords like this come in with their eyes open and their calculators working,” Khan said. “Everyone knows there’s a housing shortage in the city of Los Angeles. Even though these buildings are in terrible condition, you’re going to have people renting these apartments. Landlords know this.”

But Sharma said, “We’re making nothing on these buildings.” He knew they were in bad condition when he bought them “about two years ago,” he added, “but I did not know about the criminal charges that are brought against landlords.”

His real estate company owned 18 buildings in Los Angeles, he said, but in recent weeks, “I sold them all, everything.” He was not sure, however, whether legal transfers on the five properties involved in Thursday’s conviction had been completed.

Reason for Selling

His main reason for selling was “the criminal charges,” he said. “It’s going in a rampage, landlords being prosecuted.”

At the property at 504 S. Bonnie Brae St., the Cameo Hotel, the front door of the four-story building was missing its glass panels. Along the sides, several windows were missing glass, and in the rear, uncollected furniture and garbage lay in huge piles.

About a dozen tenants stood under the building’s tattered green canopy. They said they paid about $250- to $300-a-month to live there, but there had been no hot water for four days. A few said they were on a rent strike because of the conditions.

Some laughed when told of the Sharma verdict, and said it was “good.” But they had never met their landlord, they added.

Wonders About Change

Dana Benton, 28, wondered if things would change now. “Some people take showers and it rains on the people below,” he said. “And there’s mice all over.”

The largest previous case brought by the city against an owner of slum properties involved Nathaniel Wells, who was convicted in 1982 of 32 criminal counts after a two-week trial. According to a spokesman for the city attorney, Wells was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison. Another landlord, Beverly Hills neurosurgeon Milton Avol, served a 30-day sentence in his own rundown building last summer. But Avol’s sentence stemmed from an admitted probation violation, the city attorney’s office said, and did not involve a criminal court case or jury trial.

PROBLEMS AT 504 S. BONNIE BRAE ST.

June 6, 1986: Vijaynand Sharma buys the building.

July 17, 1986: Los Angeles County Health Department cites Sharma for vermin infestation, deteriorated walls, floors and ceilings, unsanitary plumbing, missing screens, lack of heating, lack of hot water, defective plumbing fixtures in kitchens and bathrooms, missing tiles, cracked and peeling paint, defective floors and defective light fixtures.

Aug. 13, 1986: Los Angeles City Building and Safety Department sends notices to Sharma and Best Realty--now listed as owner, with Sharma as principal officer--to comply with previous notices for “substandard conditions” including: deteriorated walls, floors and ceilings, unapproved security bars that cannot be opened from the inside, padlocked fire escape exits, damaged ceilings, defective wiring, defective plumbing, defective fire equipment, deteriorated windows, lack of screening, cracked and peeling paint, damaged light fixtures, improper marking of exit doors and general dilapidation.

Sept. 30, 1986: Building and Safety issues additional order to comply with electrical, plumbing and building codes.

Nov. 4, 1986: Los Angeles City Fire Department inspects building, issues orders to comply with previous notices, dating back to June, 1986. Takes photographs of violations.

Nov. 18, 1986: Building and Safety Department reinspects, finds substandard conditions remain and again cites Sharma for building, electrical and plumbing violations. Takes photographs of the building.

Nov. 17, 1986: Health Department reinspects, finds conditions not corrected and again issues citations to Sharma. Takes photographs of the building.

Jan. 1987: City Fire, Building and Safety and Health departments submit reports and photographs to city attorney’s slum housing task force for consideration of criminal complaint filing.

March 25, 1987: 29 criminal complaint charges filed against Sharma for 504 S. Bonnie Brae.

Oct. 1, 1987: 504 S. Bonnie Brae case consolidated with four others against Sharma, bringing the total charges to 129.

Oct. 6, 1987: Trial starts. Eleven charges are dropped. Verdict: guilty on 112 counts, not guilty on six.