A new audit finds that Los Angeles city housing department inspectors are issuing fewer notices to landlords for significant violations, known as substandard conditions. Last year, the department issued only about 200, compared to  nearly 1,900 such notices in 2007.

City Controller Ron Galperin, whose office issued the report, cautioned that drop doesn’t necessarily mean that renters face fewer problems.

The audit found the overall number of violations, which include minor issues, remain high. There were more than 30,000 violations a year for the 744,000 apartments that get regular city inspections. 

Galperin has asked the city Housing and Community Investment Department to explain why the number of Notices of Substandard Conditions has fallen so steeply.