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Misdemeanor complaint for infraction (s) of the municipal code of the city: defense and disposition

A complainant, usually a dissatisfied tenant, reports suspected violations of the City’s Municipal Code to the City’s Department of Housing. A Department of Housing inspector conducts a systematic inspection in accordance with the City’s Housing Code, Section 161.602.1 of the Los Angeles Housing Code, if the property is located in Los Angeles.

The inspector finds various infractions during the inspection in the presence of the owner, property manager or representative.

The City’s Department of Housing issues a Notice and Enforcement Order, listing and documenting violations. The property owner corrects the violations.

The re-inspection is performed by the same City Department of Housing inspector or another inspector. Some violations are corrected, but others remain from the previous inspection. The inspector takes photographs documenting the remaining violations.

General manager audience:

The remaining infractions or deficiencies have not been signed as complete.

An inspector from the Housing Department publishes the General Manager’s Notice of Hearing for a specific date. In fact, in accordance with Sections 161.801 and 161.805 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code, as long as a violation has not been corrected in the specified time for compliance, the General Manager will hold a hearing.

A general manager hearing is held. The owner or agent of the property is present. The property owner receives a deferral of sixty days.

Another re-inspection is carried out revealing more corrections, but there are still some violations from the previous inspection. An audience with the CEO is held again; and the property owner was granted another sixty-day deferral.

After two months, a CEO hearing is held again. No additional time is given to the property owner to abate the remaining violations. The Hearing Officer recommends that the case be prepared and presented to the City Attorney’s Office for processing.

Misdemeanor complaint Presented by the city attorney:

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen A. Trutanich, through a Deputy City Attorney, files a four-count misdemeanor complaint for each of the remaining four violations, namely: Count 1 for violation of Sections 93.0314 and 93.0201 of the Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) for wiring and installing a meter outside the building without permits; Charge 2 for violation of the above sections of the LAMC for installing wiring in the basement without permits; Charge 3 for violation of LAMC Section 94.500 for installing a water heater without first obtaining a permit; and Charge 4 for violation of LAMC Section 91.805 for failing to discontinue use of the porch enclosure and construction of the roof extension without permits.

Each of the four offenses is considered a misdemeanor, punishable under Section 19 of the California Penal Code with incarceration in the county jail not to exceed six months, or with a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($ 1,000) , or both.

Defense to Municipal City Code violations:

Violations of the Municipal Code documented by photographs taken by a property inspector and Department of Building and Safety record in the records that permits had not been requested or issued to the property owner can hardly be defended in court.

Presenting a schedule or timeline to mitigate or correct deficiencies to the assistant city attorney would go a long way toward obtaining a continuation of the arraignment of the owner who made the mistake.

In fact, the prosecution generally gives the property owner more time to correct violations, even though the safety of the property’s occupants is a primary concern. More so, if it takes so much money to make the corrections.

Submission of estimates of repairs and corrections to the prosecution and good faith efforts to comply in order to obtain a dismissal of the complaint, or a reduction of the complaint from misdemeanor to felony for payment of the fine and assessed costs, if applicable.

Available Misdemeanor complaint:

If all deficiency corrections are signed as completed by re-inspection by a City Department of Housing inspector, the prosecution may be willing to dismiss the Complaint.

If the corrections were slow to complete or not completed, the prosecution cannot dismiss the complaint and seek conviction for a misdemeanor or offense.

If the property is repossessed with uncorrected violations, the complaint may be dismissed against the owner of the repossessed property.

But the new owner will most likely go through the same inspection process by the City Department of Housing and even the City Attorney, if the new owner does not correct the deficiencies.

However, be fair warning that notorious “slum owners” have been jailed for repeated and uncorrected violations of the City’s Municipal Code.

(The author, Roman P. Mosqueda, has served as a defense attorney for homeowners charged with violations of the City’s Municipal Code in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and elsewhere for more than 15 years. He is a long-time member of California Public Defenders Association Email your comments to [email protected], or call (213) 252-9481 for a free consultation, or visit their website at http://www.mosquedalaw.com .)

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