hostile rental owner environment

[Bob Collett]

Hi All

A few weeks ago, the owner of a property I manage received a "ticket" from the city of Cleveland because the tenant did not properly place the trash basket out in front of the house.  The city sent a "ticket" for $100.  The owner was quite upset, insisting on knowing who was going to pay the ticket.  The tenants had already moved out, so my first thought was to tell the owner that of course, the owner would have to pay the ticket.  Since this was not a sophisticated owner, I decided to simply pay the ticket out of my own pocket rather that go round and round.

Now today, I get a "complaint and Affidvit" from the city of Garfield Heights.  The city issued a ticket for $150 for failure to bring the empty trash bin back in, within 12 hours.  I called the city of Garfield Heights, and they told me that the fine is waiverable by paying $180.  Upon further investigation, the city advised me that there have been three similar complaints on three separate occasions, resulting in three separate fines of $180 each.  Understand that the violation is failure to bring an empty trash bin in from the tree lawn within 12 hours.

I spoke with our Councilman at Garfield Heights and he explained that they are not allowed to issue a citation to the resident, so they go after the owner for housing violations which is criminal court.

On another subject, the city of Cleveland is on the verge of passing an ordinance that would pass the burden of proof to the owner, to prove that their house is lead free.  So first, you would be required to hire a lead specialist to test and certify... then if they find lead, your would be required to hire a certified lead mitigation specialist to remove all the lead.  

My point here is simply to let investors know that there is more to investing in Cleveland area real estate than meets the eye.