YAKIMA, Wash. -- Rajiv Sauson says he's tired of being made out to be the bad guy.

Three months after the Tourist Motel was partially condemned and then sued for evicting tenants, its owner says he looks forward to a stress-free reopening in about three weeks.

"I have to be here seven days a week, just in case city or county officials come in to give me another stupid notice," Sauson said. "Sometimes I'm, like, to hell with this place. I'll close it."

He won't, though. He says his family has put too much time and money into the controversial motel at 1223 N. First St. to back out now.

Even as he complained about ongoing litigation and a $2,000 fine for exposed asbestos, Sauson is proud to show off some ongoing renovation in 22 rooms in the two buildings that were not condemned in December.

There are new sinks, toilets and vinyl floors in the bathrooms. New wiring, plastered white walls and soft carpet in all the rooms. And key card door entries monitored by 17 security cameras.

The improvements are costing about $110,000, he said.

Sauson and his in-laws -- who live in Portland and Seattle -- bought the motel in September 2008. Sauson, who moved here nine years ago from New Delhi, India, lives in West Valley with his wife and two children.

In December, inspectors shut down part of the motel, citing asbestos and rampant mold. They also ordered repairs in two other buildings. The inspections came as the result of long-standing complaints of prostitution, drug use and violence at the motel.

Sauson says he hopes the physical makeover -- plus some new policies -- will deter the sort of patrons who drew so much negative attention to the Tourist Motel last year. By that, he means no more drug dealers and prostitutes.

"I never wanted them here in the first place -- but I can't tell what someone is doing inside their rooms," Sauson said. "We are going to be more serious with our policies because we don't want what happened in the past to happen again."

Sauson said he'll still charge $34.99 per night. But only patrons with valid IDs and credit cards will be rented rooms. And no visitors past 10 p.m.

Sauson also wants to keep motel patrons from moving in permanently. Last month, three former tenants who'd lived in the motel for more than a year sued him for what they called wrongful eviction. Sauson says he needed their rooms vacated for remodeling.

"The immediate issue is whether the tenants are entitled to relocation assistance," said Kathy Tierney, an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, who represents one former tenant.

The tenant, who Tierney says is now homeless, is also asking for damages for having lived in substandard conditions.

A trial date for the case has not been set.

When the motel reopens in a few weeks, Sauson said he'll rent rooms out for only a week at a time to avoid any tenant-landlord disputes. If patrons want to stay longer, their rooms will be changed each week.

Litigation aside, the Tourist Motel has largely stayed out of trouble with authorities for a few months. Yakima police officials say 9-1-1 calls about the motel were down to nine in February -- a significant drop when compared with a monthly average of 50 last summer and fall.

And city code officers don't have any complaints at the moment, either.

"We have no actions against that place to restrict anything from happening," said Joe Caruso, Yakima's top codes enforcer. "We're out of the picture right now. We're just sitting back while all the renovations are going on."

City codes likely won't get involved again until work begins on the motel's third and largest building, a two-story structure that was condemned in December due to asbestos.

* Melissa Sánchez can be reached at 509-577-7675 or msanchez@yakimaherald.com.