3:08pm | A local landlord faces 23 criminal counts for violating the city’s municipal code when she allegedly converted commercial buildings into illegal housing units, according to a press release from the office of City Prosecutor Doug Haubert.
Gail Smith will be arraigned in Los Angeles Superior Court on November 8, concerning three westside Long Beach properties that she leased. Two of them were converted into group homes with unpermitted electrical and plumbing lines, while another erected two tent structures and offered bunk beds inside for rent.
“This is one of the most serious code enforcement case[s] filed in Long Beach in recent years,” Haubert said in a statement. “We are sending a message to property owners who are trying to profit by creating slum-lie conditions.”
Haubert won election as City Prosecutor in April and used his tough stance on “slumlords” as a chief talking point.
“I am proud of the collaborative effort by the Long Beach’s Fire Department and the Neighborhood Services Bureau-Code Enforcement,” Haubert said. “This is a big case and it took a lot of coordination to get it to court.”
If convicted, Smith could face jail time, court fines and probation.