Published: June 17, 2008 10:26 pm      

CITY OF LOCKPORT: Housing court grappling with hardship

Lockport City Court may entertain receivership for a dilapidated rental property whose owner says he can’t afford to fix a raft of building code violations quickly.

Francisco Poll, owner of five-unit 274 Washburn St., appeared in court Tuesday for a pre-trial conference on 19 building code violation charges laid late last month. According to building inspection records, Poll has done almost no repair work since he was given a warning letter by the department in April.

The violations range from chipped paint and inadequate smoke alarms to inadequate plumbing and plumbing and electrical system hazards. Prosecutor Matthew Brooks characterized some of the violations as “quite serious” and warned Poll the building inspection department could return to the house and force tenant evictions for safety reasons.

Poll said he’s trying to save up enough money to hire repair help, but the going is tough. He lives in one of the five units; three are rented and one is vacant. Financially, he said, “my hands are tied.”

Judge Thomas M. DiMillo suggested he could order Poll’s property put into third-party hands until the violations are corrected. In receivership, an appointed receiver of rents would take that money and put it into repairs on Poll’s behalf. Control of the property would be returned to Poll after the violations are corrected; some pre-arranged percentage of rent collected could go to the receiver as his or her fee.

“This is one option if you don’t show some progress soon,” DiMillo told Poll. “Bottom line, I need to see sufficient progress.”

If the option were exercised, it would be the first time DiMillo ordered a troubled property into receivership.

Poll was ordered to return to court July 8 and bring documentation — contracts, receipts or the like — showing what arrangements he’s made to get the most serious violations corrected first.

In another ongoing housing case, DiMillo again put off sentencing an elderly couple who are trying to sell their property, which was brought into court for 15 code violations this past September.

Allen and Dorothy Bentley, 146 Walnut St., furnished a signed real estate contract showing a broker, identified as Brian Harrington in the paperwork, will buy the two-family house. According to the contract, Harrington reserves the right to sell or lease the property before Aug. 1, the expected closing date. The house is a sort of an oddball in the commercial block of Walnut between Locust and Pine streets. Immediately east of it is a print shop and further west is the newly opened Tuscarora Inn.

The Bentleys submitted the contract as their evidence that they no longer own the house and should not have to keep coming back to court every month to report their progress tending to the violations.

Of 15 violations dating back to June 2006, building inspector Clayton Dimmick reported, the Bentleys so far have addressed five: They had the house and garage painted, the chimney repaired and garbage and unlicensed vehicles removed from the property.

Previously the Bentleys have testified they can’t afford to correct remaining structural problems and were looking to get rid of the property, instead. On Tuesday, they said they intend to sell the house to Harrington for $15,000. Its assessed value, according to city records, is $50,000.

The Bentleys also told DiMillo that they’re selling the house “as is” and that Harrington agreed, by signing the contract, to accept responsibility for the outstanding code violations. DiMillo looked over the document and told them they’re wrong; the contract says the property is to be sold as is “except for” the violations.

“You’re still on the hook until the problems are remedied,” DiMillo told the couple.

Brooks stepped in and volunteered a building inspector to contact Harrington and determine what his intentions are regarding the violations. DiMillo urged the Bentleys to ask Harrington to take on the needed repairs for them.

“We don’t care who fixes it. We care that it gets fixed,” DiMillo said. “Remind (Harrington) that he got this on sale — and now he has to put something into it. Help me help you.”

The Bentleys are due back in court next Tuesday to report where things stand with Harrington.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.