196 EVICTED UNDER PROGRAM POLICE, LANDLORDS FORCE DRUG DEALERS OUT.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

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 [phone].