Absentee Landlords Being Targeted by Columbus City Officials
Investors from outside the state have been snapping up foreclosed properties right across Columbus. But from now on they will be facing stepped up scrutiny. The prosecutors of the city said that the purchasers would be legally penalized if they fail to maintain their properties. Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. the City Attorney said, “You have the right to own property in the city, but you have responsibilities, too.” He was referring to legalities about keeping the units in habitable condition.
The city prosecutors and officers in charge of enforcing the code are cooperating on legal suits filed against erring landlords. Pfeiffer added that they are further intensifying their inspections and enquiries.
As soon as it is noticed that a code has been violated on any property the officials will start inspecting other units owned by the same landlord. One of the prosecutors commented that as yet the out of the state purchasers are not being targeted – but they are the ones who have been snapping up houses in the local market like peanuts with the advancement of the foreclosure and the recession.
Last August the city attorney’s office filed a suit against a company based in Utah that had bought eight properties in Linden. JD4 Investments bought all the houses from Fannie Mae from June to October 2008. A suit was filed in the municipal court of Franklin County. It was alleged that the owners were not seeing to the maintenance of three of their units. An order was being sought to force the owners to care for the houses keeping in view the code rules. It should also be maintained and not allowed to run to seed again.
Jody Spurlock the assistant city attorney said that more JD4 houses would be included in the suit as it proceeds. If the city proves its point, then daily fines would be imposed on the investors until the condition of the properties improved. She said, “We’re not asking anybody to rehabilitate the property, we’re just asking them to do the minimum required.”
The legal action was focused on when Pfeiffer took a drive to the South Side to check on renovations being made at South High School. He looked out of the car and seeing a boarded window started to make enquiries about the owner and its status. JD4 had purchased it from Fannie Mae in the middle of 2008 for $22,000 or may be less. It stands with a sagging roof, mouldy wooden structures and a yawning hole in the ceiling of the porch.
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