Out-Of-Town Landlord Faces Criminal Charges Over Code Violations, Leaving Tenants Scrambling To Escape Collapsing Conditions

In Herkimer, New York, The Evening Telegram reports:

• A property owner who faces criminal charges in Frankfort Village Court related to a building deemed unsafe by officials has been put on notice of code violations for an apartment he owns in Herkimer. Alan Patterson, of Westhampton Beach, has been notified by letter that a two-story apartment building at 219 Bellinger Ave. has multiple violations, according to David Kuehnle, Herkimer codes officer.

• Patterson [...] appeared in Frankfort court to answer to four misdemeanor charges related to what officials believe to be the unlivable and unsafe condition of a vacant three-story apartment building at 202 S. Frankfort St.

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• Meanwhile, at least one tenant in the Bellinger Avenue duplex has moved out and the other family is planning to move out by the end of the week. Betty Santos said she has moved out of the apartment with her four children, ages 14 to 19, and fiancé. The family has been living at the apartment for over a year, according to Betty Santos, and everything from collapsed ceilings and mold to a broken hot water heater have gone unfixed. “And it seems like the house is just falling down around us,” she said. “I can’t live like this anymore.”

• A family of four, with two children, lives in the other apartment and said they have many of the same problems. The adults did not want to give their names, saying they are trying to move out as soon as possible.

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• Codes officials in several area villages have expressed frustration with out-of-county landlords. Many of the parcels are purchased through foreclosure auctions, codes officers have said. The challenges of getting owners to appear in local courts often make it difficult to get action. Smaller municipalities also must face the realities of the cost of demolishing multiple properties, especially without the prospect of repayment due to bankruptcy filings or other delays, according to comments from codes officers. In instances of an imminent threat to the public, codes officers said villages will demolish a structure immediately.

For the story, see Landlord cited for violations in Frankfort, Herkimer.