Mohamed Hafez is finding out the hard way that fighting City Hall can be a costly proposition.

The activist landlord and property manager, once a vocal critic of Schenectady's landlord registry and rental certificate ordinance, has been cited for
hundreds of violations totaling nearly $110,000 in fines for failing to follow the local laws for properties on Union Street, Broadway and Van Vranken
Avenue, according to a city lawyer.


http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Rental-fight-proves-costly-4639431.php

Buyer Beware, looks like tenants should ask for references from the LL as they ask the tenants because some of them are just
criminal.Perhaps also call the city to check and see if the place is inspected and/or when the last inspection was.

Some of these landlords, who the hell do they think they are?

The story doesn't indicate whether he has been cited with code violations.

This is a difficult issue in a way.   On the one hand, there are landlords like Popolizio and this guy Khan, and there was Wisoff, Alexson, Alsdorf, Spink, Aviza, Todd, among others.  

While the idea of rental certificate is good, actually certificate of occupancy is a better term, we do know that the DEMS in the city have way overstepped their bounds.  The city is so extremely desperate to make some money to keep the taxes down, that they DEMS have taken to citing owner-occupants of one family homes for stupid stuff like the size of the house numbers; you have long time owner occupants who have had numbers on their house for years, and the DEMS want to try to show their power, find creative, albeit STUPID ways to make money, i.e., penalizing homeowners for the size of house numbers which of course happens AFTER the DEMS dream up this idea of "let's make a law about the size of house numbers."   And so the DEM dictatorship begins, financially penalizing maybe 10,000 homeowners if the violation is even $50, that can bring in some money.

But of course, the DEMS in the city won't stop at house numbers, it's time to start nitpicking at every little thing.  It's ALMOST like they have money to pay code people to go out with a ruler to measure the height of grass so that they can cite people with nice laws for having grass a half inch higher than the DEMS think it should be.   And people get fed up and decide to leave the city and most will have to abandon there house because it is extremely difficult to sell a house in the city.

The story itself, the reference to that Khan guy, the story alone mentions holes in the floor and walls, and trash strewn about the yard.    It's not far fetched to know that sometimes tenants can cause such issues.  Get a pair who fight, sure one can punch a hole in a wall, or throw things.  And there are tenants that will throw trash anywhere, or if they bag it they don't use a can then the bag gets ripped open by rodents outside.  I am not in anyway supporting this guy Khan, I'm just saying that there are tenants out there who will damage a place.  And yes, it's obligation of the owner to evict them, but that often requires a rulling by a city court judge.  If the judge does not find in favor of the landlord, then what?   The tenants stay, continue to leave trash around, etc, and the city will go after the landlord.  But then, this could be a creative way to try to get more owner occupants in the city, if tenants are at fault, and the DEM judges refuse to order the eviction, the landlord is stuck, the landlord gets financially penalized, and ultimately the landlod might just decide to get out of the business, at least in Schenectady, and the DEMS think that people willing to be owner occupants will flock to the city, wow are they (the DEMS) way off base with that.

Here is another question.  If a certificate of occupancy is issued and the tenants do stay long term (maybe section 8 is paying the landlord so the landlord is getting money, paying the taxes, making a little profit), still the landlord has no right to enter the premises.   I could be wrong, but I don't believe that a landlord could tell a tenant that he/she will come around every three months for example to inspect the premises.  Because what happens if there are long term tenants and the units get inspected every three years and so the city comes in, finds holes that were not there when the rental certificate was issued.  The landlord will be on the financial hook for penalties, right?   But the landlord may not have known, because of, as I'm guessing, the landlord does not have the right to enter the premises without permission of the tenant, unless there is an emergency---again, I could be wrong, I'd have to take the time to look up the laws that address this.

Hey listen, I heard this a few years ago (during this period of DEM leadership), I have no "evidence" as I don't live in nor own property in the city, but it was something that someone told me so the "evidence" is merely "heresay."   But someone told me that they were told that if they wanted to hang a cabinet on the wall in the bathroom, e.g., they would go to HD or Lowes whatever, buy a cabinet on the shelf, come home, and "install it" but attaching it to the studs in the wall above the toilet, that requires a building permit.   It seems stupid, doesn't it?  Perhaps board members who have had to get permits for what seems like stupid things will post here there experiences.

If the above was true, that would surely be an indication that what that Mr Hafez is claiming is probably true, and I would take it one stop further and say the city is nitpicking over anything just to charge fees for something in order bring in some money, and collectively all the fees for stupid little things could offset a need for even higher property taxes.   But in doing so, they are really causing opposite results as homeowners aren't going to put up with the crap so they leave, even if that means abandoning the house, causing blight, brings down home values more, etc.

Certainly there is a need for some kind of inspections, whatever, on rental properties as the Popolizios of the world have caused so much problem that all the average people will scream that yes, a CO requirement is necessary.   But there needs to be a balance also of hearing about great landlords who wind up with tenants that are sloppy.   Can you check a tenant?   Sure, let's say they have no criminal background, we'll say that their credit check comes back good because they are on welfare and can't get credit and the taxpayers pay their bills so to speak.   Landlord "checks references" of past "landlords."   Hey, pay me $50 and I'll give you a glowing report about someone who was never a tenant of mine.  Or if I want to get rid of my tenants and a prospective landlord calls me, sure, without any "bribe" I'll say they are wonderful because if the prospective landlords accepts them, then I'm done with them without the cost of eviction.

While the DEM LEADERSHIP in the city is driving around the city nitpicking about the size of house numbers and the height of grass, what is they doing about barbeque grills on porches, particularly on an upstairs porch (do they really think the occupants carry the grill downstairs every time they are going to cook).  Are they citing people with grills on the porch?   I would think the city would look seriously at that because the size of house numbers never resulted in anyone's death, but a grill on the porch can burn a house down and even cause a neighboring house to catch on fire and kill someone.   What are the dems in the city doing about grills on the porch, other than commenting at a council meeting when council people speak at the end "we wish to remind people that they cannot use barbeque grills on the porch."   How many people who would use grills on the porch watch council meetings?

Then of course there is that Deboah Rembert mouthpiece who thinks tenants are entitled to everything courtesy of the landlords and the city (i.e., taxpayers), the city should provide her an air conditioner, and did you love her at the last council meeting speaking against towing fees because if there is a snow storm people might have problems, gee, if you didn't park your car in violation of parking rules during a snowstorm you would not get towed and be assessed a fee, wow, is it that difficult to understand?

These DEMS keep their stuff up like this and there will be no landlords and no owner-occupants in the city, everyone will flee.

Oh, let's not forget this one, I don't know where it stands.  Wasn't the city's "code police" going to around the city by virtue of property class and the DEM DICTATORS were going to order inspections when they ASSUME (we know what happens when you ASSUME) that a property is a rental property, e.g., a couple owns a two family house, lives in one flat and has the other vacant because they use it for storage they don't want to be landlords, etc.   Oh, but yes they still have to pay double for trash.

I think the city comes down hard on the good homeowners (owner occupants) and the relatively small time landlords because those are the people who are want to keep their properties so any financial penalties that they may disagree with gets added on to the tax bill if they don't pay that penalty, and they will pay their tax bill to avoid tax foreclosure.   The city doesn't really care to really go after the bad landlords because they won't pay the fines and the fines get added to the tax  bill and when it comes to the 11th hour, the big time landlords - like Popolizio - manage to weasel their way out of either the fines, paying the tax bill, etc, maybe with some good lawyers.   At the rate Popolizio doesn't pay taxes, he shouldn't own any properties in the city anymore, but somehow he always "wins."

Just sayin'

Never take a stand in Schenectady...it will cost you.

Landlords, homeowners, taxpayers...the vindictive nature of those in power will send your head reeling!!

Wonder how many code violations Galesi has with that falling-peice-of-crap DSS building on Broadway?? Betcha' you won't see him in court, just shooting a round of golf with McCheesy and Death Ray.

Classic.

Quoted from rachel72

Never take a stand in Schenectady...it will cost you.

Landlords, homeowners, taxpayers...the vindictive nature of those in power will send your head reeling!!

Wonder how many code violations Galesi has with that falling-peice-of-crap DSS building on Broadway?? Betcha' you won't see him in court, just shooting a round of golf with McCheesy and Death Ray.

Classic.

Jack Amsterdam has zero, I am sure

Schenectady is shortchanged in another way that most people don't think about. Downstate, these problems go to Housing Court, usually referred to as landlord tenant court. That's all they do, the judges specialize in this stuff. We get these issues taking up time in a noisy, chaotic courtroom where they aren't necessarily given the attention they should be.
I spoke to a police officer about this once - he had been called to deal with a housing related issue that had gotten violent (not MY house), and he agreed with me, the court was necessary. The police have to spend a lot of time on calls where they can't really do anything because it's a civil issue. People from the city and Long Island have also told me they wish they had that court up here. One woman from LI was having trouble because she unsuspectingly rented from one of Albany's worst slumlords, she said that downstate she could've taken him to court but not here. The cities will tell you it doesn't make a difference, because the laws are the same, but the enforcement, much of the time, is at the judge's discretion. Some of the laws are slightly different downstate. Up here there isn't any judge with deep knowledge of these matters, and also none to devote their full attention to them.
We've got such a high percentage of renters, and now we also have a lot of slumlords, why should we be shortchanged on the judicial end? The current system doesn't give enough support to decent renters and decent property owners, and doesn't do enough about bad ones.

This is why 2 family homes are worthless in the city.

The taxes, the purchase price and the code enforcement penalties exceeds the rent.

Dump the properties as fast as you can.

Quoted from Libertarian4life

This is why 2 family homes are worthless in the city.

The taxes, the purchase price and the code enforcement penalties exceeds the rent.

Dump the properties as fast as you can.

Many are trying to dump them but NO BUYERS!!! REaleste folks are staying clear too. It's not worth their time.

Still profitable for out of town slumlords, as long as they don't put any money into the buildings. Milk it and abandon it.

Quoted from Madam X

Still profitable for out of town slumlords, as long as they don't put any money into the buildings. Milk it and abandon it.

On Crane St there is a second hand store across from Combo's.

It used to be in the old Gallo florist shop.

They paid rent there for a couple years while the owner never paid the taxes.

Now they moved to Juryzinski's old office furniture store.

He said follow the properties that are not paying taxes. That's where the cheap rent is.