09/05/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 9/5/2000 owner now lives in Oregon and has filed for bankruptcy and it is in the hands of a mortgage company and will be up for sheriffs sale. She tried several things: attempting to contact the attorney, convincing a friend who likes to fix up old houses to buy it; asking the Building Department if the home could be condemned. She asked the Law Director to expand upon the Building Department's answer that the home would have to meet certain criteria to be condemned. Law Director Gareau commented that the interesting aspect about a problem like this is, when you site people criminally under the property maintenance code, you have to site the owner or the occupant. In this case, it's very difficult to site the owner or occupant because there is no occupant and the owner is beyond the jurisdiction of the court. When someone files bankruptcy in the state, there are various stays that the trustee of bankruptcy and the bankruptcy impose upon anything happening. That causes a problem with the maintenance of the property. The city does not have the ability to go in and spend public money to fix private property. There are procedural problems with the issue of condemnation. After notice is given to every interested party, the Building Department has to make a finding that the property is in excess of 50 percent dilapidated and it cannot be repaired. Once there is a finding that it has reached that point where it is below 50 percent, then you can go through condemnation process by first giving notice, having a public hearing before the Board of Building Code Appeals, and then the Council would proceed to condemn it by a vote. However, from reading the inspection report from the Building Department inspector Ron Tennant, it has been determined that the home is run down but not 50 percent structurally unsound. Mrs. Perry responded that the neighbors do not want to wait several years for the process--they are fed up and sick of it. Safety Director Jenkins came forward and said that everyone understands the neighbors' frustration. However, there is no one more frustrated than Building Inspector Tennant. There are 19 official entries of his interactions, inspections, letters and official actions regarding this issue. He has made numerous phone calls trying to track down the owner who is in Oregon, the court and the mortgage company which is in Nebraska. Mr. Tennant estimates that he has put in 80 hours on this issue and is very frustrated that there is no resolution as yet. The history of the property goes back to 1997 when the owner, Mrs. Sakach, tried to sell it for land contract and then moved to Oregon. The people who were living there to buy on the land contract damaged the house and eventually moved out. Although she was in another state, Mrs. Sakach did try to get somebody local to make repairs but she ran out of money. She tried to deed the house back to the mortgage company, but they refused. It was slated to be sold at a sheriffs sale. The owner then filed for bankruptcy, which changed the circumstances. It is now in the hands of bankruptcy attorney Dennis Riemer from Twinsburg and should be sold at sheriffs sale in October. When a new owner assumes possession, they will be inheriting the problems that come along with the property. Mr. Limpert noted that in 1997 he and Mr. Nashar sponsored the property maintenance code to cover instances like this. The Council unanimously passed the legislation and are very sensitive to these types of problems. Mr. Jenkins added that in 1998 Don Copeland, Director of Human Resources, did take a volunteer group to the property for maintenance and clearing of the yard. 7