POLICE, LANDLORDS FORCE DRUG DEALERS OUT

VAN NUYS -- A city program aimed at ridding neighborhoods of drug dealers
has joined with landlords to evict 88 tenants in the San Fernando Valley
during its first six months, officials said Thursday.

A total of 196 tenants have been evicted citywide under the new state law
which took effect Jan. 1, City Attorney James Hahn said during a news
conference.

Hahn, whose office helped draft city and state laws allowing evictions for
property-related drug activity, said the program is aimed at tenants who
intimidate landlords and neighbors.

"A lot of these drug dealers are armed and dangerous," Hahn said. "We want
to stop them from setting up shop and ruining the neighborhood."

Under the law, police and prosecutors can force an eviction but first must
document evidence that a tenant is involved in drug-related activities
within 1,000 feet of where they live.

The city must meet the same burden of proof as landlords: They must show by
overwhelming evidence that the tenant has created a nuisance based on the
drug activity.

Examples of that could be evidence gathered during a search warrant or
arrest, or by officers staking out the suspect following complaints by the
landlord or neighbors.

A 15-day notice is sent to landlords and tenants advising them of the
nuisance and requesting the landlord to evict the tenant. Landlords fearing
retaliation can give prosecutors the right to bring an eviction action.

Before Jan. 1, only landlords could go to court to evict a tenant, a
process which could drag on for months and cost thousands of dollars in
legal fees and the price of fixing up trashed apartments, said Trevor
Grimm, a lawyer for the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles.

"An owner facing a drug dealer in court is scary," he said.

Guy Stadig, who manages hundreds of apartments in the Valley and other
parts of the city, called the law an "invaluable tool" for nuisance abatement.

"We had a case recently where the city stepped in and alerted us about a
tenant that we didn't even know was involved in drug activity," he said.

As part of a three-year pilot project, the law applies in five municipal
courts: Los Angeles and Van Nuys districts, Los Cerritos, Long Beach and
the Southeast Judicial District.

North Hills, which is covered under the law, accounted for almost half the
drug-related arrests in the Valley last year, police say.

"It's a real problem in the community," said Los Angeles police Officer
Timothy Kirkpatrick of the Narcotics Division. "We're dealing with a lot of
gang members living in apartments and people know they can score dope there."

According to a survey conducted by the Citywide Nuisance Abatement Program,
77 percent of North Hills residents have children, and 59 percent keep them
indoors for fear of neighborhood violence.

Rod Field, the director of the Los Angeles Housing Law Project, which
protects tenants' rights, said he had received no reports on the city
unfairly enforcing the law.

"That's a good sign," he said, "but we do intend to continue monitoring the
city to make sure no one is unfairly targeted."

The state Judicial Council will evaluate the program's effectiveness by
Jan. 1, 2001, and report its findings to the Legislature, which will
consider extending the program.

Complaints can be filed with the city's automated nuisance hotline at (310)
575-8934.