PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUCEMENT: If you own ANY real estate at all, PLEASE call an estate lawyer if you haven't already. Make a plan that keeps your loved ones and your property out of probate court. More on that in a minute.
Next week’s Board of Building and Safety commissioners will address two properties that have been on the abatement list for years: a house in Studio City and a pair of duplexes in West Adams.
3947 Fredonia Drive is a sweet little Spanish-style house, built into a hillside south of Ventura Boulevard in 1929. If you are familiar with the southern Valley, you know that properties south of the Boulevard are highly desirable to Valley buyers.
The house last changed hands in 2014, and according to the BBSC, it’s owned by an investor. There are eleven “ABANDONED OR VACANT BUILDING LEFT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC” complaints on file, with the first dated May 22, 2019. It was added to the abate list in 2021.
Naturally, I checked for permits. There are apparently no plans to demolish or redevelop, but there are pending applications to “Convert (e) garage to ADU and 2nd story. New parking area with retaining walls” and to replace drywall.
In an interesting side note, the first code violation on file for the house was for converting the garage to a dwelling (presumably without the proper permits and procedures), way back in 2003.
Now, I certainly don’t object to converting the garage to an ADU (especially since new parking will be added). But it is still important to secure an empty property thoroughly.
The BBSC doesn’t put problem properties on its agenda for their own amusement - by the time a property gets to the agenda, it’s in rough shape.
Next up is 4200-4206 West 28th Street, twin 1920 Spanish-style duplexes in West Adams. LADBS has asked the BBSC to rule that the property “constitutes a public nuisance due to the property having been repeatedly breached and continuously maintained in an unsecured condition, thereby facilitating unauthorized entry and occupancy.”
I found multiple permits for repairs, all expired - plumbing, electrical, roofing, windows, even removing and rebuilding an existing porch. The property was abated a whopping 19 years ago in 2007, and LADBS records reveal there was a 2007 department order for compliance.
What gives?
Currently, probate hell seems to be the issue.
I looked up the trust that owns the property. There’s an open probate case in the court system. Probate cases can drag on for YEARS, and lawyers’ fees can suck an heir’s bank accounts dry (which can limit their ability to make repairs).
More importantly, the family’s hands are likely tied while the case slowly makes its way through the courts (IANAL). They may not be able to sell, either.
Longtime readers may recall a house in Gramercy Park that wound up in probate hell and on the BBSC’s shortlist. Please, please, please have a plan in place for any real estate that you own.