{"id":453985,"date":"2026-09-05T01:52:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453985\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T01:52:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T01:52:08","slug":"neighbors-plea-for-help-about-beverly-grove-problem-property-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/453985\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbors plea for help about Beverly Grove \u2018problem property\u2019 \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homeowners in Beverly Grove<\/a> say their pleas for help about a nearby “problem property<\/a>” have gone unanswered for years.<\/p>\n

It appears to be a case of a man who needs help. Neighbors are worried for him but also for themselves, and city and county efforts to help are not getting anywhere.<\/p>\n

As a Beverly Grove family prepares to welcome their third child next week, they’ve bathed a room in soft colors, comfortable furniture and plenty of natural light. The windows and balcony, though, will likely be staying shut.<\/p>\n

“When we bought this house, you know, we never envisioned like this would be what we’d be subject to five years later,” said Malcolm Ranger-Murdock, who lives next door.<\/p>\n

Surrounding what is left of a home on La Jolla is a yard covered in junk. Neighbors say the property has long been a problem, but the owner, a senior man, is well known in the neighborhood, and most people just wanted to help him.<\/p>\n

“I was amicable with him. I was like, ‘Live your life. Be OK. If you have running water, you have something to a certain extent,'” Ranger-Murdock said.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, the home caught fire, gutting the building. Ranger-Murdock lives with his young children and pregnant wife and says that at one point, he realized the home was both a public safety and health issue.<\/p>\n

“There’s hazardous materials that have never been cleaned up, so I have to limit my children’s time outside,” Ranger-Murdock said. “We have vermin and rats running along our fences. They’ve come into our home. We’ve had cockroaches.”<\/p>\n

Jerry Ferris is a representative for the local neighborhood council and said people have tried to help the man.<\/p>\n

“We got great neighbors that have all stopped by, give him food, water and try to help him with things, but he rejects it all,” Ferris said. “We wish we can do something. We always feel like our hands are tied.”<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety lists 59 code enforcement complaints going back to 2003, with most closed as duplicates. The one listed as still under investigation is from 2010.<\/p>\n

“Police have come. Fire department has come. Social workers have come, and they continue to allow him to live in the house,” Ranger-Murdock said. “We’ve asked for help, and they keep passing the bucket. Is it the Department of Building and Safety? Is it your council member? Is it the city attorneys?”<\/p>\n

Councilmember Katy Yarovslavsky\u2019s office says their efforts to clean up the property go back years; however, the owner, who is in his 70s,\u00a0ultimately declines help.<\/p>\n

Supervisor Lindsay Horvath\u2019s office says the owner has been offered help from the county but has refused any type of health or mental wellness aid.<\/p>\n

“We have a lot of resources, and we have a lot of neighbors who care,” Ferris said. “We’re just not sure where to put the energy. Is it the laws that change? Are people pushing enough for the laws?”<\/p>\n

The owner of the property asked an NBC Los Angeles crew to leave.<\/p>\n

Use the form below to contact us about a nuisance or abandoned property<\/a> in your city of Los Angeles neighborhood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Homeowners in Beverly Grove say their pleas for help about a nearby “problem property” have gone unanswered for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[91782,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-453985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-beverly-grove","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}