Slumlord properties

Submitted by Responsible_Cat_2928 t3_yzi6lh in springfieldMO

Update 11/23/22: following a long phone conversation with the city council member, a few things have happened. BDS has been back out and done an inspection with evidently multiple findings. There's a public notice sign from the city in the front yard. Evidently there's action being taken to require landlords to have a business license which would require them to allow BDS inspections of the inside of their leased properties. By all accounts, it looks like this is going to pass and become law but I'm not sure if it will be city, county or state law.

PAR officer has been looking for more information about the rumored death (overdose) of the husband of the lessee who had been released on bail and may have returned to the house.

Someone from the TV News station has called back and asked for more information about the property, the incidents and everything the neighbors have done so far to try to get someone to help.

So, fingers crossed that there may soon be some peace in the neighborhood.

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Does anyone know if there's anything neighbors can do about a slumlord property?

The property in question was leased to someone who paid rent in advance with HUD vouchers but who has been incarcerated for the last 2 or 3 months and is unlikely to be released anytime soon. The property is now occupied (with no lease or rental agreement) by known criminals/drug dealers/users and transients; in addition to all the associated "extracurricular" activities, there's no trash service and no maintenance being done at the property.

Efforts to contact the owner have been ignored and blocked. The cops are aware and respond when called, city council and code enforcement have been called, HUD has been called, but it seems like neighbors have no rights in these cases. They've even reached out to local news but not getting much interest.

This person owns at least 2 properties and a previous tenant of the other property confirmed that they are definitely a slumlord. 😒

Are there other any other county or state agencies that may be able to help? Any advice, information or resources are greatly appreciated. ✌️

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ho1doncaulfield t1_ix0bjj3 wrote

Missouri is so landlord friendly you’re just screwed

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blurubi04 t1_ix08n1s wrote

Unfortunately, you just have to annoy the city (police and code enforcement) into action. As soon as Housing knows the lease/ voucher holder is not living there, they don’t pay. It’s unusual for H.A.S to pay months in advance. It was probably SAFR or one of the other charities shoving out federal Covid funds. It sucks but there’s little anyone can do.

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Responsible_Cat_2928 OP t1_ix09mea wrote

Thank you. It seems like fraud to me if the landlord takes vouchers for rent knowing that the person is incarcerated but I don't know if it actually is. The HUD office is supposed to call back Monday, so hopefully we'll get more info.

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Tess_Mac t1_ix0aanz wrote

You might inquire at the Attorney General's office.

https://ago.mo.gov/about-us/contact-us

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bobone77 t1_ix0kcu7 wrote

LMAO. Motherfuckers won’t close a “school” where children are tortured and sexually assaulted, but sure, give them a call. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🙄

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usafdirtboyz t1_ix1rnry wrote

This won't do a fucking thing to push his agenda of "owning the libs" so it won't get touched

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sp00ksh0wbarbie t1_ix27lw5 wrote

If anyone knows of any good landlords let me know. I'm a single mom, 2 kids and my lease Is up in July. They raised my apartment to 1000k a month and I hardly have money left at the end of the month. It's getting crazy out here. Been eating Ramen and peanut butter since summer. I hate how expensive Springfield is getting.

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necronicone t1_ix1id8h wrote

We've had luck with BDS https://www.springfieldmo.gov/163/Building-Development-Services

They are part of the city and build cases to remove people from properties legally and sell them to people who will reclaim the space for better use - to my understanding.

Call and lodge complaints, identify evidence of broken laws.

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Always_0421 t1_ix0p6a6 wrote

I'm always amazed when people believe they have the right to dictate others private property, or in this case, terms of lease.

I get being frustrated by dickhead neighbors who are trashy or inconsiderate, but if they aren't breaking the law they're just assholes.

If they do break the law, call it in. If you believe a code is being broken, report it, but outside of that you don't have the right to dictate how people live or where.

That's the trade off of living in a city...having to deal with people.

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Responsible_Cat_2928 OP t1_ix15ori wrote

Let's see if I can help you better understand.

  1. As previously stated, the person who is on the lease IS INCARCERATED. This person is being held indefinitely pending federal charges.
  2. The people who are occupying the house are basically squatters who aren't paying rent and aren't on the lease.
  3. These people are known drug dealers and criminals with publicly available mug shots.
  4. They have been observed selling drugs. They have been observed strung out, passed out, and behaving erratically.
  5. The cops are called, frequently and by all of the neighbors, and the cops have been very responsive when they are called. The parts I didn't include in my original post:
  6. It's not just being trashy or inconsiderate. The neighbor kids found a dead dog in the backyard when they went to retrieve a toy that had gone over the fence. The dog had been abandoned by its owner and died in the backyard because none of the squatters noticed it or they just didn't care.
  7. They evidently have a scanner because when the cops are called, they either go silent in the house and don't answer the door, or they fix whatever the issue is that caused the cops to be called. In one case, the cops were called about a parking violation. Within minutes of the call, someone ran out, fixed the problem and ran back in. Got it?
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Always_0421 t1_ix1ndc3 wrote

You've got shitty neighbors, I got it.

They're doing illegal shit and staying a step ahead of LE and their nosy neighbors, I got it.

What I don't get is how you know the circumstances of your neighbors lease or current rental status when you apparently can't contact the owner, and the supposed leasee is incarcerated.

In any scenario, neighbors don't have the authority to enforce a lease, thats between the property owner and the leasee...I don't think you get it.

The law breaking and suspicious activity is a problem, unfortunately, all you can do is continue to report it.

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Responsible_Cat_2928 OP t1_ix2gq7i wrote

Are you saying that neighbors being concerned about what's going on is just them being nosy, really? And they should just mind their own business and leave every one else alone?

I feel like you haven't ever lived in a neighborhood where the neighbors actually know each other, get along, and generally look out for each other and the best interest of the neighborhood. Bless your heart.

The occupants have been very talkative about their free living situation. The lessee was there long enough to have some interactions with the neighbors before she disappeared suddenly and these other people took over. The rest of the information has come from a variety of sources, other people who know the owner, the other neighbors, etc.

The owner is a well-known person in the community, a former realtor and worked at a local TV News station. The neighbors aren't trying to enforce the lease at all, they started out just trying to let the owner know what was going on because they thought the owner would want to know about the squatters, the illegal activity and the very likely possibility that the property is being damaged by people who have no financial or other obligation to fix it. The longer they are there, the more problems and damage the landlord will incur.

It's well past the point of trying to work together with the owner because the owner is nonresponsive. These people were seen emptying gas cans on the driveway in front of the house and in the yard while wasted out of their minds. Of course, they were nowhere to be found when the cops showed up and even though they could smell the gas fumes, the cops couldn't do anything. If the squatters blow themselves up and burn down a couple houses in the process, it's no skin off your nose but it's an entirely different situation for the neighbors you think are just being nosy.

What I don't understand is why you didn't just keep scrolling if you didn't have any actual constructive advice or suggestions to share, seeing as how you're such a fan of the "mind your business" approach?

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tmcgee417 t1_ix3pych wrote

When you call the cops in the future, ask them not to announce the address, explain that the neighbors have a police scanner.

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Responsible_Cat_2928 OP t1_ix4796x wrote

Yes, that's what the PAR officer recommended going forward, so we hope that will work if/when they are called again. 🤞🤞

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