City Orders Landlord To Post Deposit
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
A Warsaw landlord was ordered Friday by the city's Board of Public Works & Safety to pay a $500 deposit to ensure that he makes required repairs on a local rental house within the next 30 days.
The board told Juergen Voss he'll get his money back if all the violations on his property at 730 E. Center St. are corrected within 30 days.
Voss proposed the 30-day period after board member Mac Silveus asked him how long it would take to finalize repairs to the residence.
Warsaw building inspector Pam Kennedy had asked the board to impose a $600 fine and order Voss to comply with code requirements within 30 days.
Kennedy said the city first received a complaint about the property in October; an inspection uncovered 48 violations. Despite two more orders in November and December, 11 violations still exist, she said.
A major concern of the building department, Kennedy said, is that Voss has other properties that need repairs, including one with 67 violations, and he has said he can't begin fixing them until work on the East Center Street house is done.
Voss said many of the violations continued because they were listed by code number in the city's orders and he did not know exactly what needed to be done.
He said he has worked at the house every day since Nov. 1 except during the Christmas holidays. Kennedy is asking him to make changes that were not required before, he said, and even though codes have changed, some of his repairs should be "grandfathered in."
"I've made every effort that you can possibly make," Voss said. "When other landlords don't make an effort and you come down that hard on someone that's making an effort, I think that's discrimination."
The board also unanimously approved an $800 fine on Allen Kado, another local landlord, for violations at a multi-family dwelling at 939 E. Fort Wayne St.
Kennedy said the problems have existed since May 1996, and 38 out of 57 violations remain unrepaired.
Wade Frauhiger was ordered to pay a $500 deposit for violations at a rental house at 325 N. Lake St. The board set Frauhiger's deadline as May, since the repairs include removing and replacing a roof, which is weather-dependent.
Frauhiger will be refunded his deposit if the repairs are made by the deadline.
Neither Kado nor Frauhiger was at the meeting.
Voss objected to Frauhiger's May deadline, citing it as an example of the board's inconsistency in dealing with landlords.
Steve Snyder, city attorney, told Voss that if he objected to the board's treatment, he could appeal their decision to Circuit or Superior Court.
No two cases are identical, Snyder said, and the results of their board hearings will be different. He reminded the board that renting property is a business that people enter into to make a profit. "Every time I hear a landlord complain that he has to conduct his business the same as any other business, I don't understand it," Snyder said.
Snyder said later: "If it were a manufacturing business with that many violations, OSHA would be in there in a minute and would shut him down."
The Board of Public Works & Safety regularly hears building department and code enforcement matters at its second meeting each month. [[In-content Ad]]
A Warsaw landlord was ordered Friday by the city's Board of Public Works & Safety to pay a $500 deposit to ensure that he makes required repairs on a local rental house within the next 30 days.
The board told Juergen Voss he'll get his money back if all the violations on his property at 730 E. Center St. are corrected within 30 days.
Voss proposed the 30-day period after board member Mac Silveus asked him how long it would take to finalize repairs to the residence.
Warsaw building inspector Pam Kennedy had asked the board to impose a $600 fine and order Voss to comply with code requirements within 30 days.
Kennedy said the city first received a complaint about the property in October; an inspection uncovered 48 violations. Despite two more orders in November and December, 11 violations still exist, she said.
A major concern of the building department, Kennedy said, is that Voss has other properties that need repairs, including one with 67 violations, and he has said he can't begin fixing them until work on the East Center Street house is done.
Voss said many of the violations continued because they were listed by code number in the city's orders and he did not know exactly what needed to be done.
He said he has worked at the house every day since Nov. 1 except during the Christmas holidays. Kennedy is asking him to make changes that were not required before, he said, and even though codes have changed, some of his repairs should be "grandfathered in."
"I've made every effort that you can possibly make," Voss said. "When other landlords don't make an effort and you come down that hard on someone that's making an effort, I think that's discrimination."
The board also unanimously approved an $800 fine on Allen Kado, another local landlord, for violations at a multi-family dwelling at 939 E. Fort Wayne St.
Kennedy said the problems have existed since May 1996, and 38 out of 57 violations remain unrepaired.
Wade Frauhiger was ordered to pay a $500 deposit for violations at a rental house at 325 N. Lake St. The board set Frauhiger's deadline as May, since the repairs include removing and replacing a roof, which is weather-dependent.
Frauhiger will be refunded his deposit if the repairs are made by the deadline.
Neither Kado nor Frauhiger was at the meeting.
Voss objected to Frauhiger's May deadline, citing it as an example of the board's inconsistency in dealing with landlords.
Steve Snyder, city attorney, told Voss that if he objected to the board's treatment, he could appeal their decision to Circuit or Superior Court.
No two cases are identical, Snyder said, and the results of their board hearings will be different. He reminded the board that renting property is a business that people enter into to make a profit. "Every time I hear a landlord complain that he has to conduct his business the same as any other business, I don't understand it," Snyder said.
Snyder said later: "If it were a manufacturing business with that many violations, OSHA would be in there in a minute and would shut him down."
The Board of Public Works & Safety regularly hears building department and code enforcement matters at its second meeting each month. [[In-content Ad]]