Bill Cullen wrote:
WM: I know this to be true, but I've experienced it in two ways. One was a landlord who expected the police to take care of bad tenants who were living 37 in a triplex. Police were called so often it was pathetic. We neighbors picked bullets out of our houses, trees, garages, and cars. Portland Av., always trafficky, seemed to double the number of cars. People were shot at, vandalism went up a zillion percent, good neighbors moved away. It took eight months after we got the city interested to get the landlord to move those folks out. Laws and ordinances were enacted (including the landlord licensing law) over that house and one other on the block.Fourth, the city is beating up landlords for renting to people that cause trouble (rather than blaming the tenants). This has forced us all to do more aggressive background checks. These background checks keep out folk with shaky pasts. This has driven vacancies up and increased the load on our homeless shelters.
Fast forward to last year when a neighbor and landlord had bad tenants who had been homeless. They moved in, the father almost immediately started dealing dope and otherwise getting into the mix of those unfortunates clinging to the corner of Lake and Park dealing drugs and death every which way. We went to this landlord and he followed all the steps and got the tenants moved out. At some point along in there, we discovered that this family of four was homeless do to the father getting repeatedly arrested for dealing and having been evicted by more than one landlord.
I think it probably is unfair on some issues to charge landlords with offenses caused by tenants. However, the landlords have a stake in the mess, the bad tenants do not. The neighborhood wants peace and quiet.
The city council chose the landlord licensing law, the state put other measures in place, and voila. Both neighbors and landlords pay the freight on bad tenants. If four squad cars have to converge on a single house twice in one day at least twice a week (there being single squad &/or single appearances on the other days).... If the inspections department has to come out on several occasions.... If neighbors have to pay the cost of vandalism, theft, auto theft, jacked up insurance.... The problem is costing all of us a lot, and the perpetrators very damn little.
I'd be open to some different solutions. Any out there?
WizardMarks, Central
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