DEMO BY NEGLECT - Part I of II

Reporting Violations and Fighting Back

Our historic residential and commercial buildings need your help. All too often a developer will purchase a building where the tenants or occupants have been removed and the building left unsecured. The unsecured building deteriorates rapidly and becomes a target for trespassers. A fire often follows.

With the building heavily damaged, the city will rule the building a nuisance subject to abatement. Abatement often means demolition. “Demolition by neglect” is used by unscrupulous developers to sidestep the process of obtaining a potentially costly demolition permit.

Los Angeles has specific ordinances to prevent vacant buildings from becoming public nuisances or safety risks. Three major actions include:

• Vacant Building Ordinances – The Los Angeles Municipal Code (LAMC) requires vacant buildings to be maintained in a secure and sanitary condition.

• Fines and Liens – Failure to comply with an order to secure can result in a fine of up to $1,000 per day for a vacant unsecured building and a lien placed on the property by the city to cover costs if they must secure the building.

• City Intervention – If an owner fails to secure a building, the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) can step in to barricade, padlock, or fence the property, and the owner will be charged for these services.

Before the LADBS can act, they must be notified that the building is unsecured. The LADBS does not have a proactive code enforcement unit that seeks out vacant and unsecured buildings. LADBS inspectors will conduct a site visit to confirm building status and will initiate follow-up action, if required, but it all begins with notification. This is where the public can make a big difference.

REPORTING VIOLATIONS (RV)

Filing a complaint for an unsecured vacant building is fairly straight-forward once you know the process. A complaint may be filed with LADBS at dbs.lacity.gov or you may use the MyLA311 website or phone app. From the main page of the MyLA311 site under all service requests, select private property and then private property violations. Both LADBS and MyLA311 request similar information. The examples presented in this guide are from the LADBS website.

Step RV-1 – Determine the official building address

When filing a complaint, it is important to provide the official building address. Each building may have more than one address. To obtain an official address, visit the website NavigateLA which is maintained by the Bureau of Engineering, Department of Public Services. Official addresses appear in blue font and are presented as a five-digit number with leading zeros. A “U” code denotes an unassigned address.

The screen shot below shows 6720 Sunset Blvd highlighted in yellow. The address is for one of the buildings located at the Hollywood Center Motel. The Hollywood Center Motel is a vacant building complex that has experienced at least two recent fires. The site is currently being considered for Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) designation. The address of the historic house in the center of the complex is 6722 (and 6724) Sunset Blvd.

The NavigateLA site is useful for finding addresses based on a visual search of the city. To make your search easier, I suggest you click on Table of Contents (green circle) and then check the box under Table of Contents (green arrow) to display an aerial photo over the map. The aerial photo provides more visual clues to help you identify the building of concern.

Step RV-2 – Go to the LADBS website

The next step is to access the LADBS website at dbs.lacity.gov. Scroll down the page, look for the box titled “Enforcement,” and click on “Report Violation” (outlined in yellow). You can also check on the status of your complaint, once filed, and make a public record request for the inspection case file.

Step RV-3 – Select the type of violation

There are five types of violations you can report. For an unsecured vacant building, you want to report a violation involving a single-family dwelling or commercial building (green circle). Even if the building is a duplex or apartment, report it as a commercial building if vacant. If you select duplex or apartment, your complaint will be diverted to the Los Angeles Housing Department (LAHD).

Step RV-4 – Report a violation by address

The LADBS website will take you to a form where you must conduct an address search. You may search either by entering a single address or by entering a range of addresses. The number and street name are entered separately, do not enter prefixes.

The LADBS website does not provide a visual map for determining a building’s address. If you enter an address, the system will only confirm if that address is in their database. It will not provide you a list of other addresses that may be associated with the property. This is why I suggest you first check the NavigateLA site.

Step RV-5 – Avoid the roadblock, answer no

After you enter the street address, street name, and click search, you will be asked three questions about your complaint. To reach the LADBS, the proper answer to all three questions is “No.” If you answer “Yes,” your complaint will be directed to another city agency.

For example, if your request only involves graffiti, you will be directed to MyLA311 where you can file a service request for abatement. The LADBS will not open a case file, as they are not responsible for graffiti abatement (though graffiti can be a clear sign that the building is vacant and a target for demolition by neglect).

Step RV-6 – Identify yourself, provide contact information

LADBS requires you to provide your name and phone number in order to accept a complaint filed online. Information regarding your address and email is optional. LADBS has a legal obligation to protect your identity within reason, but your identity can be discovered via legal filings or court order.

Step RV-7 – Describe your complaint(s)

Clicking “Next” takes you to the form where you describe your complaint. Be as descriptive as possible, but keep in mind the duties of the LADBS. They are focused on safety, so don’t use your limited space to discuss issues like graffiti or weeds. Clearly state that the building is vacant and unsecured. If your complaint involves multiple buildings, provide all of the addresses in the text field.

If people have illegally entered the building, state so. Have these people tapped into electric lines, set fires, or threatened the public? Have the police or fire department been called out for prior incidents? For how long has illegal entry been ongoing?

Provide all the facts you can, but under no circumstance should you confront any squatter or enter the site/building to obtain evidence. Site/building entry to obtain evidence is trespassing.

After describing your complaint, I suggest you save a copy either in a draft email to yourself or to a document file. LADBS will not provide you with a copy of what you submit. Having a copy of your submittal is useful for your records.

Now answer the question as to type of property involved. The choice includes residential or commercial. Click the appropriate radio button and then click the “V” in the bottom box (highlighted in yellow) to open up a drop-down menu of official complaint types. Even if you file multiple complaints, you must select one complaint type that best matches your complaints.

The full list of complaint types is shown below (reformatted for display). I find the list to be interesting since it shows the many complaint types submitted. Outlined in red are the complaint types I believe most often relate to historic buildings.

Step RV-8 – Receive confirmation

Click “Submit” and you should receive confirmation of your submission. The notice will include your Customer Service Request (CSR) number along with date and time of submission. I suggest you copy and paste your confirmation message to where you saved the text of your complaint.

Step RV-9 – Notify others and build a community

Once submitted, LADBS inspectors will investigate, and they may conduct a site visit to confirm your complaint. The severity of the complaint, and the more complaints received, play a role in the assignment of complaint priority.

A vacant and unsecured property that receives multiple complaints rather than one is more likely to be prioritized. Higher priority is also likely to occur if pressure is brought to bear by city officials such as your district councilmember and local Los Angeles Police Department representative (if complaint involves illegal entry).

Once your complaint is accepted by LADBS, it’s a good practice to send a copy of the code violation via email to your council office. Be clear about the building address and the specifics of your complaint. Ask them to track the complaint, communicate with the inspector, get the property owner to fix things, or have LADBS do it.

Vacant buildings that become a public nuisance are often abated (i.e., demolished) by order of the Building and Safety Commission. Public outrage is commonly met by the local council district and LADBS claiming that they weren’t aware of the situation. You can counter this excuse by filing a complaint before the situation gets out of hand and by notifying the council district.

Do you want to do more? You can through the power of crowdsourcing. You can raise public awareness and help save threatened buildings by letting the community know about your concerns and complaints. You can easily share information with others on the subreddit message board “Los Angeles Blight.” The purpose of this board is to amplify complaints about blighted properties so they cannot be ignored by our city officials. Creating a Reddit account is free.

IN CLOSING

I hope you find this guide to filing a complaint with the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to be of interest and use. “Demo by Neglect - Part II” presents the steps involved in tracking the status of your submitted complaint. Please let me know if you find any errors, or if you find a step to be confusing. Until next time, it’s back down the rabbit hole.