Published: May 26, 2009 09:43 pm      

CITY OF LOCKPORT: $18K fines levied in housing case

A City Court judge levied fines exceeding $18,000 on an errant property owner after a trial at which neither she nor her attorney were present.

Martiza Brown-Igwe, owner of 243 Washburn St. and 247 Washburn St., was found guilty of 14 building code violations after a non-jury trial late last week. Judge Thomas DiMillo ordered a fine of $30 per day since the violations were documented by building inspection; at 307 days, the fine worked out to $18,420.

It’s the largest fine levied in a city housing case that anyone’s aware of, well surpassing the eye-popping $12,000 fine DiMillo ordered in another case this past January.

Brown-Igwe’s mailing address is in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.; a Williamsville-based attorney, Denis Kitchen, has appeared on her behalf in court proceedings that began in January.

Previously, Kitchen consented to court dates DiMillo set of May 14 for property re-inspection and May 21 for trial, but neither he nor another Brown-Igwe surrogate was present for either appointment.

Because Kitchen previously gave the court a signed waiver of appearance from Brown-Igwe, neither of them needed to be present for the trial to be held, Prosecutor Matthew Brooks said.

Stiff fines appear to be DiMillo’s response to Brown-Igwe’s failure to cooperate with proceedings. Had she or a surrogate met a building inspector on May 14, to confirm Kitchen’s prior claims that corrective work was under way, the trial likely would have been postponed, Brooks said.

“We’ve seen a lot worse properties. It wasn’t as though they were facing complete overhaul,” he said.

If the fines aren’t paid in a month, Brooks will ask the court to file a judgment against Brown-Igwe in the Niagara County Clerk’s office. The unpaid fine would become a lien against Brown-Igwe and would hold up the sale of any property she owns in the county, he said.

Brooks may attempt to have a lien recorded in Brown-Igwe’s home county of Suffolk, as well, if a records check showed she owns properties there. The city would incur some expenses, including the cost of obtaining a trial transcript and filing the lien, but considering the amount of the fine it might be justified, he said. That would be another first in the city’s prosecution of housing blight.

Specific information about the violations, the properties’ current condition and the last time an inspector was inside the Washburn Street properties, was not available Tuesday. Inspector David Miller said his boss, Chief Inspector Jim McCann, instructed him to refer all press questions about the case to Brooks — who had referred the press to Miller for inspection specifics.