Housing horrors: garbage, mold, mice

[Guest guest]

Housing horrors: garbage, mold, mice

Worcester Telegram - Worcester,MA

By Stone SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20060827/NEWS/608270490/1116

WORCESTER— The problems became apparent soon after sisters

and Mercey moved into their first-floor apartment. One year

later, little has changed at 8 Winfield St., in the city's Piedmont

neighborhood.

Mushrooms grow in the bathroom. Containers nearly overflowing with

garbage continue to line much of the left side of the property. The

mice are still there, despite a court order to the landlord to

exterminate the rodents.

Last winter, Mercey said she could not bear to sleep in her

bedroom because of the cold. Instead, she used the room as a walk-in

refrigerator and slept in the living room, as close as possible to

the heater.

There are fleas in the third-floor unit above them and their bites

cause tenant Coates' legs to swell.

The growth of mold spores at the property recently forced Ms. Coates

and her husband to spend time in a hospital because mold was found

in their lungs.

If and Mercey can find any solace in their situation,

it's that they are not alone among tenants residing in rental

properties in Worcester. From July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, the

city's Division of Code Enforcement responded to 3,643 code

violation complaints, according to city records, up from the average

of about 3,500 inspections per year from 2000 to 2004. During that

period, inspectors cited a yearly average of 5,459 violations. In

2005, non-compliance with code enforcement inspections, in part, led

to 607 cases against mostly residential landlords in Worcester

County Housing Court.

This year, code enforcement inspectors have gone to 8 Winfield St.

at the request of tenants.

" We keep calling them, but they only come out so many times, "

Mercey said.

In February, the inspectors noted the rubbish and debris along the

side of the house. When the then-property owner, Vassilios

Theodorakos of Framingham, did not clear the rubbish, a Housing

Court judge ordered him to do so.

Mr. Theodorakos, who bought the three-family home in 2002 for

$155,907, sold the property to McKunes of Holliston in April

for $305,650, Registry of Deeds records show. By the end of the

month, Housing Court had ordered the new property owner to correct

14 code violations after another code enforcement inspection.

According to Mercey, neither Mr. McKunes nor his employees

have secured the property's front and rear doors or repaired the gas

stove — some of the knobs are not functional; those that are cause

gas to leak.

and Mercey said they are facing eviction by the end of

the month because they recently withheld a month's rent, $800, an

action permitted under state law if a landlord doesn't address

health and sanitary code violations. Some of the only repairs have

included plugging up holes in the wall with cardboard and patching

up a caved-in portion of the roof with plywood, they said.

" He gets away with it. I don't understand that, " Mercey

said. " We've got our rights taken away. "

Mr. McKunes is due in Housing Court on Wednesday for allegations of

code violations at 193 Belmont St., another of the six properties —

including 8 Winfield St. — he bought from Mr. Theodorakos in April.

Neither Mr. McKunes nor Mr. Theodorakos, who owes more than $33,000

in back taxes for one Worcester property he owns, returned a

reporter's phone calls to their offices.

As the city looks to expand its code enforcement operation with two

new hires — openings for a new director of housing enforcement and a

deputy director of code enforcement are now being advertised — the

division will have plenty of work ahead.

Housing Court records tell the stories of numerous landlords who

allow their properties to deteriorate and health and sanitary code

violations to add up. Some landlords address the violations. Others

do not, and end up being summoned to Housing Court. Some appear in

the courtroom. Others do not. Most cases take months to resolve.

It is the tenants who bear the brunt of the violations.

Landlords who repeatedly violate state health and sanitary code are

a slim minority of property owners in Worcester, said G.

Gardiner, the city's acting commissioner of Health and Human

Services.

" We're spending a lot of resources and time on a few individuals, "

Mr. Gardiner said.

A different sort of neglect by landlords — a lack of authority over

tenants and no knowledge of their backgrounds — can lead to their

properties becoming breeding grounds and havens for neighborhood

crime: drug dealing, assault, disorderly conduct, prostitution,

shootings and more.

It's all too common in Worcester, which has a relatively low rate of

home ownership, according to District 4 Councilor Barbara G. Haller,

chairwoman of the City Council's Housing and Neighborhood

Revitalization Committee.

Ms. Haller said efforts to force greater compliance with sanitary

codes aren't high enough on the city's list of priorities. The

result is that housing code violations could go unnoticed in

Worcester.

" Worcester is largely a complaint-driven city, " Ms. Haller

said. " It's not a philosophy, it's a reality. "

If tenants are unaware that they can call code enforcement

inspectors to their residence, their problems can't be addressed by

the city or the Housing Court.

Since Mr. McKunes added to his Worcester holdings in April, code

enforcement inspectors have been called to three of the six

residences, according to Housing Court records.

The city's new director of housing enforcement — a position expected

to be filled in the next few months —will attempt to change the

city's complaint-driven nature by coordinating the efforts of city

departments, including police, fire, code enforcement and legal

services, according to Mr. Gardiner.

" We want to use every avenue we can to gain compliance, " he said in

an interview. " We're really looking to pull those departments

together so we have a full assessment of those property owners. "

According to Ms. Haller, repeated code violations are the result of

landlords who are " gaming the system " and betting that their tenants

will not report code infractions.

" They (landlords) use the system to their advantage, " she said.

Even when the city uncovers code violations, code enforcement and

Housing Court procedures carry little incentive for landlords to

correct violations at their properties, tenants and community

activists say.

When the Mercey sisters met with an employee of their landlord in

Housing Court last spring, they said, the court's punishment — a

court order to correct the code violations and pay the city $49.88

in processing costs with potential future consequences for non-

compliance — was akin to " a slap on the wrist. "

Harvey J. Chopp, court administrator for the Massachusetts Housing

Court, said the ultimate court ruling in tenant-landlord cases

depends largely upon the punishment sought by the prosecuting

municipality.

" If the city really wants to press down on the case, they can, " Mr.

Chopp said. " The court will take the cue from the city. "

Worcester prioritizes some cases it sends to Housing Court.

" If it's public safety issues, those immediately get into court and

those get expedited, " Mr. Gardiner said. On most other Housing Court

cases, " there is a legal process that we're bound by. "

Mr. McKunes and his associates are among those landlords who are

often on the minds of their tenants. Other landlords are frequently

on the minds of neighbors and community groups.

would qualify for both lists. The Telegram &

Gazette reported in June that neighbors expressed relief when Mr.

, who has faced criminal and code violations for some of

his properties, lost control of his apartment building at 5-7

Ashland St. through foreclosure.

In the city's Main South neighborhood, Worcester lawyer Conrad M.

Swartz has been the subject of both tenant and neighborhood

complaints. He owns multifamily homes at 39 and 43 Grand St. and

rents to tenants who are " not great neighbors, " said Jack L. Foley,

University's vice president for government and community

affairs.

Community members say Mr. Swartz's properties have served as havens

for gang activity. Since July 1, 2004, police have responded 23

times to a variety of incidents at 43 Grand St., including drug

deals and disorderly conduct, according to police records. A search

of Telegram & Gazette archives shows that shootings and drug raids

have also occurred at the property.

Asked about crime at his properties, Mr. Swartz said that he

had " never heard of anything. No one's ever said anything. "

Code enforcement inspectors have visited the Grand Street properties

and noted multiple code violations.

In October 2003, a Housing Court judge condemned 39 Grand St.

because of a lack of electrical service. The court ordered Mr.

Swartz to move the tenants to temporary housing while he addressed

the infraction.

Three years later, the property, for which more than $500 in back

taxes is owed, remains closed to tenants. A " No Trespassing " sign is

posted above the door and Mr. Swartz said the six-family home

is " all padlocked up.

" We're in the process of fixing it over, " he said.

Less than a mile from Mr. Swartz's property sits the Albion, a

rooming house building owned by Leo J. Dutram of Northboro, a man

known to drive a vintage car boasting aqua-colored fins. He owes

more than $11,000 in back taxes for the property at 765 Main St.,

tax collector records show.

" It's basically a cash cow, " local developer and neighborhood

activist Zitomersky said of the Albion. " There's no

maintenance done on the building. "

City inspectors, in March 2005, found 14 code violations, including

improper ventilation, defective smoke detectors and water-damaged

floors and ceilings.

For neighborhood residents concerned about crime, the Albion has

been a consistent problem property, they say. Since July 1, 2004,

police have responded to 331 incidents at the property, including

disorderly conduct and assault.

" I've seen drug deals taking place outside of the windows, " Mr.

Zitomersky said.

Mr. Dutram, who is no stranger to Housing Court employees, owns at

least four other properties in Worcester, some with his son

Dutram. Neither could be reached for comment.

The city has cited both men for operating multifamily properties at

1 Kilby St. and 79-87 Pleasant St. as lodging houses without the

proper license.

Since July 1, 2004, police have responded 191 times to 1 Kilby St.,

for which tax collection records show more than $1,200 in back taxes

is owed.

City Manager V. O'Brien has promised a more proactive

approach to pursuing problem properties and their owners. In his

fiscal 2007 budget message, the city manager vowed to " identify

habitual problem properties and repeat offenders, to improve

enforcement of state and local laws to clean up problem properties. "

For and Mercey, who lived in the Great Brook Valley

public housing project before Winfield Street, any policy that

proactively stops a problem property owner would be an improvement.

" I miss the Valley compared to this, " Mercey said.

[Guest guest]

KC, this is not far from my home. I just sent a letter to the

journalist that wrote this story regarding my issues at hand. I pray

that my story gets the attention also. Wish me luck.

Darlene

>

> Housing horrors: garbage, mold, mice

> Worcester Telegram - Worcester,MA

>

> By Stone SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

>

> http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

> AID=/20060827/NEWS/608270490/1116

>

> WORCESTER— The problems became apparent soon after sisters

> and Mercey moved into their first-floor apartment. One year

> later, little has changed at 8 Winfield St., in the city's Piedmont

> neighborhood.

>

> Mushrooms grow in the bathroom. Containers nearly overflowing with

> garbage continue to line much of the left side of the property. The

> mice are still there, despite a court order to the landlord to

> exterminate the rodents.

>

> Last winter, Mercey said she could not bear to sleep in her

> bedroom because of the cold. Instead, she used the room as a walk-in

> refrigerator and slept in the living room, as close as possible to

> the heater.

>

>

> There are fleas in the third-floor unit above them and their bites

> cause tenant Coates' legs to swell.

>

> The growth of mold spores at the property recently forced Ms. Coates

> and her husband to spend time in a hospital because mold was found

> in their lungs.

>

> If and Mercey can find any solace in their situation,

> it's that they are not alone among tenants residing in rental

> properties in Worcester. From July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, the

> city's Division of Code Enforcement responded to 3,643 code

> violation complaints, according to city records, up from the average

> of about 3,500 inspections per year from 2000 to 2004. During that

> period, inspectors cited a yearly average of 5,459 violations. In

> 2005, non-compliance with code enforcement inspections, in part, led

> to 607 cases against mostly residential landlords in Worcester

> County Housing Court.

>

> This year, code enforcement inspectors have gone to 8 Winfield St.

> at the request of tenants.

>

> " We keep calling them, but they only come out so many times, "

> Mercey said.

>

> In February, the inspectors noted the rubbish and debris along the

> side of the house. When the then-property owner, Vassilios

> Theodorakos of Framingham, did not clear the rubbish, a Housing

> Court judge ordered him to do so.

>

> Mr. Theodorakos, who bought the three-family home in 2002 for

> $155,907, sold the property to McKunes of Holliston in April

> for $305,650, Registry of Deeds records show. By the end of the

> month, Housing Court had ordered the new property owner to correct

> 14 code violations after another code enforcement inspection.

>

> According to Mercey, neither Mr. McKunes nor his employees

> have secured the property's front and rear doors or repaired the gas

> stove — some of the knobs are not functional; those that are cause

> gas to leak.

>

> and Mercey said they are facing eviction by the end of

> the month because they recently withheld a month's rent, $800, an

> action permitted under state law if a landlord doesn't address

> health and sanitary code violations. Some of the only repairs have

> included plugging up holes in the wall with cardboard and patching

> up a caved-in portion of the roof with plywood, they said.

>

> " He gets away with it. I don't understand that, " Mercey

> said. " We've got our rights taken away. "

>

> Mr. McKunes is due in Housing Court on Wednesday for allegations of

> code violations at 193 Belmont St., another of the six properties —

> including 8 Winfield St. — he bought from Mr. Theodorakos in April.

>

> Neither Mr. McKunes nor Mr. Theodorakos, who owes more than $33,000

> in back taxes for one Worcester property he owns, returned a

> reporter's phone calls to their offices.

>

> As the city looks to expand its code enforcement operation with two

> new hires — openings for a new director of housing enforcement and a

> deputy director of code enforcement are now being advertised — the

> division will have plenty of work ahead.

>

> Housing Court records tell the stories of numerous landlords who

> allow their properties to deteriorate and health and sanitary code

> violations to add up. Some landlords address the violations. Others

> do not, and end up being summoned to Housing Court. Some appear in

> the courtroom. Others do not. Most cases take months to resolve.

>

> It is the tenants who bear the brunt of the violations.

>

> Landlords who repeatedly violate state health and sanitary code are

> a slim minority of property owners in Worcester, said G.

> Gardiner, the city's acting commissioner of Health and Human

> Services.

>

> " We're spending a lot of resources and time on a few individuals, "

> Mr. Gardiner said.

>

> A different sort of neglect by landlords — a lack of authority over

> tenants and no knowledge of their backgrounds — can lead to their

> properties becoming breeding grounds and havens for neighborhood

> crime: drug dealing, assault, disorderly conduct, prostitution,

> shootings and more.

>

> It's all too common in Worcester, which has a relatively low rate of

> home ownership, according to District 4 Councilor Barbara G. Haller,

> chairwoman of the City Council's Housing and Neighborhood

> Revitalization Committee.

>

> Ms. Haller said efforts to force greater compliance with sanitary

> codes aren't high enough on the city's list of priorities. The

> result is that housing code violations could go unnoticed in

> Worcester.

>

> " Worcester is largely a complaint-driven city, " Ms. Haller

> said. " It's not a philosophy, it's a reality. "

>

> If tenants are unaware that they can call code enforcement

> inspectors to their residence, their problems can't be addressed by

> the city or the Housing Court.

>

> Since Mr. McKunes added to his Worcester holdings in April, code

> enforcement inspectors have been called to three of the six

> residences, according to Housing Court records.

>

> The city's new director of housing enforcement — a position expected

> to be filled in the next few months —will attempt to change the

> city's complaint-driven nature by coordinating the efforts of city

> departments, including police, fire, code enforcement and legal

> services, according to Mr. Gardiner.

>

> " We want to use every avenue we can to gain compliance, " he said in

> an interview. " We're really looking to pull those departments

> together so we have a full assessment of those property owners. "

>

> According to Ms. Haller, repeated code violations are the result of

> landlords who are " gaming the system " and betting that their tenants

> will not report code infractions.

>

> " They (landlords) use the system to their advantage, " she said.

>

> Even when the city uncovers code violations, code enforcement and

> Housing Court procedures carry little incentive for landlords to

> correct violations at their properties, tenants and community

> activists say.

>

> When the Mercey sisters met with an employee of their landlord in

> Housing Court last spring, they said, the court's punishment — a

> court order to correct the code violations and pay the city $49.88

> in processing costs with potential future consequences for non-

> compliance — was akin to " a slap on the wrist. "

>

> Harvey J. Chopp, court administrator for the Massachusetts Housing

> Court, said the ultimate court ruling in tenant-landlord cases

> depends largely upon the punishment sought by the prosecuting

> municipality.

>

> " If the city really wants to press down on the case, they can, " Mr.

> Chopp said. " The court will take the cue from the city. "

>

> Worcester prioritizes some cases it sends to Housing Court.

>

> " If it's public safety issues, those immediately get into court and

> those get expedited, " Mr. Gardiner said. On most other Housing Court

> cases, " there is a legal process that we're bound by. "

>

> Mr. McKunes and his associates are among those landlords who are

> often on the minds of their tenants. Other landlords are frequently

> on the minds of neighbors and community groups.

>

> would qualify for both lists. The Telegram &

> Gazette reported in June that neighbors expressed relief when Mr.

> , who has faced criminal and code violations for some of

> his properties, lost control of his apartment building at 5-7

> Ashland St. through foreclosure.

>

> In the city's Main South neighborhood, Worcester lawyer Conrad M.

> Swartz has been the subject of both tenant and neighborhood

> complaints. He owns multifamily homes at 39 and 43 Grand St. and

> rents to tenants who are " not great neighbors, " said Jack L. Foley,

> University's vice president for government and community

> affairs.

>

> Community members say Mr. Swartz's properties have served as havens

> for gang activity. Since July 1, 2004, police have responded 23

> times to a variety of incidents at 43 Grand St., including drug

> deals and disorderly conduct, according to police records. A search

> of Telegram & Gazette archives shows that shootings and drug raids

> have also occurred at the property.

>

> Asked about crime at his properties, Mr. Swartz said that he

> had " never heard of anything. No one's ever said anything. "

>

> Code enforcement inspectors have visited the Grand Street properties

> and noted multiple code violations.

>

> In October 2003, a Housing Court judge condemned 39 Grand St.

> because of a lack of electrical service. The court ordered Mr.

> Swartz to move the tenants to temporary housing while he addressed

> the infraction.

>

> Three years later, the property, for which more than $500 in back

> taxes is owed, remains closed to tenants. A " No Trespassing " sign is

> posted above the door and Mr. Swartz said the six-family home

> is " all padlocked up.

>

> " We're in the process of fixing it over, " he said.

>

> Less than a mile from Mr. Swartz's property sits the Albion, a

> rooming house building owned by Leo J. Dutram of Northboro, a man

> known to drive a vintage car boasting aqua-colored fins. He owes

> more than $11,000 in back taxes for the property at 765 Main St.,

> tax collector records show.

>

> " It's basically a cash cow, " local developer and neighborhood

> activist Zitomersky said of the Albion. " There's no

> maintenance done on the building. "

>

> City inspectors, in March 2005, found 14 code violations, including

> improper ventilation, defective smoke detectors and water-damaged

> floors and ceilings.

>

> For neighborhood residents concerned about crime, the Albion has

> been a consistent problem property, they say. Since July 1, 2004,

> police have responded to 331 incidents at the property, including

> disorderly conduct and assault.

>

> " I've seen drug deals taking place outside of the windows, " Mr.

> Zitomersky said.

>

> Mr. Dutram, who is no stranger to Housing Court employees, owns at

> least four other properties in Worcester, some with his son

> Dutram. Neither could be reached for comment.

>

> The city has cited both men for operating multifamily properties at

> 1 Kilby St. and 79-87 Pleasant St. as lodging houses without the

> proper license.

>

> Since July 1, 2004, police have responded 191 times to 1 Kilby St.,

> for which tax collection records show more than $1,200 in back taxes

> is owed.

>

> City Manager V. O'Brien has promised a more proactive

> approach to pursuing problem properties and their owners. In his

> fiscal 2007 budget message, the city manager vowed to " identify

> habitual problem properties and repeat offenders, to improve

> enforcement of state and local laws to clean up problem properties. "

>

> For and Mercey, who lived in the Great Brook Valley

> public housing project before Winfield Street, any policy that

> proactively stops a problem property owner would be an improvement.

>

> " I miss the Valley compared to this, " Mercey said.

>