Features

Landlord sentenced to live in own building

Bay City News
Thursday September 28, 2000

San Jose — A San Jose landlord has been ordered to spend 60 days under house arrest in one of the dilapidated buildings she owns. 

Linda Arciaga was given the house arrest sentence yesterday by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge William F. Martin for failing to obey several court orders and injunctions regarding the condition of her buildings. 

Arciaga is scheduled to begin serving her sentence in Apartment 1 of 1405 Carnelian Drive on Nov. 1, according to Deputy City Attorney Carol Overton. 

Arciaga's sentence is believed to be the first of its kind in San Jose, Overton said. An East Palo Alto landlord previously was sentenced to live in his run-down apartment building in 1991. 

Arciaga's four-plex suffered from rodent infestations, cockroach infestations and raw sewage leaking from the upper apartments into the lower ones, Overton said. She has owned the units since December 1997. 

In addition to the house arrest, Arciaga was also ordered to make repairs, pay restitution to her tenants and not retaliate against her tenants. The San Jose City Attorney's Office is scheduled to seek injunctions and penalties against absentee landlords in five additional cases on Oct. 13, Overton said.