The Observation Deck

I believe that many problems (certainly not all) that face the city can be traced to the issue of absentee landlords. It is a pretty simple concept. If you live on the street that you own rental property on, you are more likely to be concerned with keeping up your property, the property values of the neighbors, and the general appearance of the neighborhood. That being said I personally find a strong correlation between the feeling of civic responsibility and the visual appeal of the street you live on. If most of the houses on the street are less than appealing to the eye you do get that feeling of despair and in turn have less drive to be a law-abiding, responsible member of the community. Absentee landlords (mine included) are not worried about whether or not their properties are kept up, or if there tenants are out committing crimes. They for the most part are more concerned about getting people in and renting so they can continue to live in Shaker Heights. They only time most absentee landlords put work into their properties are when the city forces them too. Think about how much better you would feel about where you live if every property on you street were freshly painted, had nicely kept lawns and were in general good repair. I would love to hear what many of you think about the issue of absentee landlords.

Take Care All,

The two most challenged properties in our neck of Alameda both show 440 area codes on "for rent" signs when they come up for rent, which is fairly often. After 8 years of living near them I think I can say with some certainty that the owners don't give a crap about who lives in my neighborhood, which I believe would fall under the heading of "absentee."

I don't know what you do about the "illness" in this case, but my treatment of the "symptoms" are to stay visible and call the police whenever anything questionable happens. Which has been twice this summer with at least one arrest. You can't let the bastards win, which in this case is equally used to describe both the tenants and landlords.

Despite the challenges, I love the neighborhood and we have many terrific neighbors. I have no intention of surrendering.

We have several "challenged properties" with revolving doors in our neighborhood also. While it is easy to get upset with the tenants that live in these properties -- they really aren't the problem. The absentee landlords of these properties have proven over and over again that they can replace these tenants with ones just like them (or worse) -- sometimes overnight.

Paul,

I feel the same grief you feel in regards to landlords who do not care about who rents. I too have called the police many a time. It is not that I like to call the police, it is just that a new fight breaks out every week.

A quick note on Safety in Lakewood. I personally feel very safe and protected by the fine police force. When I need them to take action they are there in force not more than 3 min. after the call. I think they do a great job with the problems at hand.

I think we need to find a way to bring these absentee landlords into the conversation. They need to know that if they are going to continue to do business on our streets that they need to have some respect for the hard working people who live on those streets.

Jim DeVito wrote: I think we need to find a way to bring these absentee landlords into the conversation. They need to know that if they are going to continue to do business on our streets that they need to have some respect for the hard working people who live on those streets.

Jim

I hate to say it but on most of the bad landlords, Judge Pat Carroll is already dragging them into a conversation.

Maybe you could cover some of this for the paper.

.

I would suggest that the city make or enforce, if these ordinances exist now, some ordinances so that if a tenant breaks a law repeatedly, then the owner of the property is cited for allowing ____________(fill in the blank).

I would venture to say if the City of Lakewood would mail an absentee owner a fine for $1000.00 a few times, the owners would monitor their property which we must live near, quite a bit better than they are now.

Here is an example that has existed. According to the Ohio Revised Code, failure to report a crime, is a crime. Fictional scenario: Absentee owner has a house on X street in our city. The tenants throw beer bottles at passing cars. Tenants get a visit from the PD and the owner of the property, no matter where he/she is located is cited for "failure to report a crime".

Ok I doubt a prosecutor could pull that one off but you get the idea.

N'est Pas?

Mark Allan Crnolatas

Jim D. - Thanks for adding to this continuing conversation (other threads). This is important issue for our city's future. Know that, according to the city, 53% of Lakewood's doubles are owner occupied (95.7% if the singles are owner occupied).

Mark - Good post ... couldn't agree more.

Paul - Thanks for fighting. My tenants on Morrison (the best ever) also fight for "their" street.

Rick - The "revolving door" you write about is correct. Also correct is the downward spiral of achievable rent if a landlord fails to fix things or make improvements. Many would rather reduce the rent $50-$100 a month rather than shut it down for a few weeks and fix it up a bit and keep the rent a bit higher.

Jim O. - I'll contact you in a bit.

Jim D,

I witnessed the decline and fall of my Uncle and Aunt's neighborhood, W.130th in Cleveland. When they lived there, eons ago, half way between Lorain and what now is 1st District (Police station to some that are unfamiliar with the term), The houses were all nicely kept, the area was quiet and yes while there was traffic being W.130th, the highway wasn't in yet.

All the side streets were nicely kept, the houses were Lakewood looking in condition, and the house my Uncle and Aunt lived in was beautiful in and out. During the time they were there, the absentee landlord routine started to flourish. The neighborhood declined as I remember, fairly quick and we stopped going there to visit them, since we then went to their new house.

My Uncle and Aunt moved out to Parma Hts to a very nice house is a great area. They did sell their house on W.130th rather than deal with unruly tenants, as their neighbors had told them about the horror stories with tenants trashing the houses, constant replacing windows, fixtures and the like.

Does this sound like a possible scenario here in our city?

Mark Allan Crnolatas

Mark,
While I am certainly no expert on the downturn of neighborhoods. I do not think Lakewood will ever go the way of the w.130 area. There are many other factors that led to that decline. To be honest I have faith in the people of Lakewood to not let it get that far. Though I’m sure the absentee landlord had much to do with it. Good point.

Jim O.
I have heard of some of the Judges actions taken against bad landlords. I do applaud him for that, it is defiantly something that needs to be done. I also think there should be ways to curb the problem before it has to go that far. Perhaps some sort of agreement a home owner must sign if he/she intends to be an absentee landlord. Sort of a Good Faith document that will hold their properties to a slightly higher standard.

Just out of curiosity. What do people think of when they think absentee landlord. I would say a landlord who does not live in the city of Lakewood. I know a couple of people who rent property they do not live in but still reside within the city limits.

Jim

I own rental property and it is inspected every year. For the life of me I do not know how some of these other rental units get as run down as they look.

I was once cited for paint that looked ready to peel, and one weed in a gutter that was 5" high!

The judge, has made the claim many times that when it ends it court it better be taken care of.

I sat there one day watching bad landlord after band landlord make excuses.

He did not go easy on any of them.


.

Jim O - I am just curious how it gets to court in the first place? Do the tenants have to complain about the landlord or does it come from other complaints.

My husband and I are in a bind here as to what to do about the absentee landlord situation next door to us. We have called the police several times to take action against the tenants. Last summer we had our hose stolen and, on several occasions, the downstairs tenant's 15-year-old son was smoking pot and dropping "f" bombs in the back yard while my two small children played outside. There have been loud parties and a horrendous firecracker "display" that lasted 45 minutes on the sidewalk in front of our house. We are, seriously, beside ourselves with frustration. The new tenant downstairs allows her son to park his car ON THE GRASS IN THE BACK YARD. The property is overgrown and littered with trash that my husband will frequently clean up. He has even gone so far as to cut their grass, as, many times, it is about to go to seed it is so high.

As you can see, we are flustered. We have tried the police, we have even talked to the landlord who asked that we call him before we call the police so he can take action (whatever). Can the city do anything? We have considered calling when the grass gets too high, but in my experience it takes too long for the city to come and do anything and by the time they do come, the landlord has finally gotten around to it.

Sorry for the tirade. Any thoughts?

Jim D. -

You asked "What do people think of when they think absentee landlord. I would say a landlord who does not live in the city of Lakewood."

I agree with your definition, however, a year or so ago I stopped in to pay the water bills for my rentals and Lakewood residence. The nice lady who took my checks noticed that the usage on one of my rentals was fairly low and I replied that one portion had been empty for a few weeks as I was painting, etc. and she said "oh, you're one of the good absentee landlords." I said "No, I live in Lakewood." She said, "Yeah, but you don't live there" referring to the house in question. In her eyes I was still an "absentee landlord."

Taking Jim O's cue that much work can be done civically with some government sponsorship (minimal government resources), perhaps Lakewood can get to a place where it becomes an advantage to be certified as a credentialed Lakewood landlord.

Such a program can include - as stated in another thread - interior/exterior housing ordinances, tenant/landlord rights, business planning, tax advantages of maintenance/repair investments, and successful landlord practices.

Good landlords can help drive quality by showing their earned certificate to prospective tenants and suggesting that they not rent from a landlord who does not have one. Tenants, in turn, can hold their landlord accountable to best practices and standards suggested by the certificate.

Any thoughts/reaction?

Amy Dreger wrote:Jim O - I am just curious how it gets to court in the first place? Do the tenants have to complain about the landlord or does it come from other complaints.

My husband and I are in a bind here as to what to do about the absentee landlord situation next door to us. We have called the police several times to take action against the tenants. Last summer we had our hose stolen and, on several occasions, the downstairs tenant's 15-year-old son was smoking pot and dropping "f" bombs in the back yard while my two small children played outside. There have been loud parties and a horrendous firecracker "display" that lasted 45 minutes on the sidewalk in front of our house. We are, seriously, beside ourselves with frustration. The new tenant downstairs allows her son to park his car ON THE GRASS IN THE BACK YARD. The property is overgrown and littered with trash that my husband will frequently clean up. He has even gone so far as to cut their grass, as, many times, it is about to go to seed it is so high.

As you can see, we are flustered. We have tried the police, we have even talked to the landlord who asked that we call him before we call the police so he can take action (whatever). Can the city do anything? We have considered calling when the grass gets too high, but in my experience it takes too long for the city to come and do anything and by the time they do come, the landlord has finally gotten around to it.

Sorry for the tirade. Any thoughts?

Wow Amy--we almost have the same situation. And I've wondered the same things myself. Maybe your wards council person would be the best place to start. (Thats what we were going to do regarding our situation.)

I'd call Sgt. Ed Favre. He is one of the people following up on nuisance problems.

Neighbors need to call police and the police need to issue citations for the nuisance laws to kick in.

One more thing- it would be my assumption that the landlord wants to be called first to avoid the nuisance fine.