26 N. Curley Street

Property address:  26 N. Curley Street, Baltimore, MD 21224

Property owner:  Joshua Adam Wodka, 2601 E. Fairmount Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224

Baltimore City Council district and contact:  District 1, Jim Kraft

City Housing Code Enforcement Attorney and contact:  Evan Helfrich, evan.helfrich AT baltimorecity.gov

This house is missing a roof and is boarded on both sides. The previous owner (Jesse Wodka) was taken to court in July 2008, but the case was dismissed after Jesse sold the house to another Wodka family member.  Apparently, Evan Helfrich never refiled a complaint against Joshua Wodka, despite the fact that no work has been done on this property since it was first cited.

156 N. Decker Avenue

Property address:  156 N. Decker Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224

Property owner:  Walter & Patricia Johnson, 6910B Windsor Mill Road, Baltimore, MD 21207

City Council District and contact:  District 1, James Kraft

On the surface, this property doesn’t look that bad, beyond the fact that it’s boarded up and vacant.  However, according to a neighbor, this has become a nuisance property — attracting drug addicts who hide in the rear yard.

We have had dumping in the past and have had 311 and a volunteer group out to clean it up twice. We frequently [see] drug users hanging out by the back door and shooting up.  There are definitely needles in the “yard” and I often kick people out of there.  [Kids] hang out on the steps constantly.  It’s been vacant as long as I’ve lived here (3 years).

Again, this illustrates the underlying problem with boarded-up homes, especially the ones owned by absentee investors.  Their properties end up being everyone else’s problem — between trash and crime — it’s an unacceptable situation, one that the City could fix, simply by enforcing the laws and making the penalties tougher.

156 N. Decker Avenue

Rear of 156 N. Decker Avenue

8 N. Ellwood Avenue: The Saga

We received an email from one of the neighbors who has been watching 8 N. Ellwood Avenue go from bad to worse, and thought it would be interesting to share this with our readers, as we think there are several lessons to be learned from this.

When I moved to this block in July 2005, the house was relatively quiet. A middle-aged man, James Sidebottom, was living there at the time. He seemed friendly enough until around early 2007 when several prostitutes and their drug-dealing pimps moved into the property. The situation got worse around Memorial Day of 2007 when they were constantly hanging outside the property during the wee hours of the night. One of the most interesting conversations that my wife and I heard at this property was when a hooker shouted out at 7AM one morning, “F**k you bitch! Everyone knows that I give the best p***y on this block!” The police knew that the situation was bad enough that they ended up raiding the house on two occasions in August and October 2007. The second raid resulted in the arrests of Mr. Sidebottom and a prostitute, Ayanna Murray for CDS possession. Sidebottom was given 2 years probation, but the charges against Ms. Murray were dropped.

After the raid I began working with the state’s attorney’s office for housing code enforcement to have a drug nuisance suit filed. After a few months of trying to get the police to send their raid paperwork to the SA’s office, we were finally able to get the tenants evicted in February 2008. I spoke with the owner, David Rotz, a few weeks after the eviction (while he was securing the property). He basically said that the tenants had done so much damage to the property that there was no way that he could afford to fix it. Before the raid occurred, I learned that Sidebottom was not paying his rent, yet the Rotzes would not evict him or the other illegal tenants because they feared retribution.

James Sidebottom had several drug arrests dating back to 1988, but was relatively clean between 1999 and 2007. As I mentioned before, he was friendly until the time that the hookers moved in. My theory is that he fell off the wagon sometime in 2006 or 2007, and his supplier made a deal with him to give him drugs in exchange for agreeing to let the hookers live at the property.

The most glaring problem here is with the enforcement of our laws. A landlord wants to get his tenant out, but can’t do it because of fear? What does this say about the legal system in Baltimore City? Charges are dropped, probation is handed out like candy on Halloween, and in the meantime — the neighbors are stuck with a nuisance house. Where’s the justice for the decent people who live on this block? While we commend this neighbor for getting involved, it shouldn’t have to require half the neighborhood and countless emails and phone calls to get our State’s Attorneys to indict and convict our criminal element. We have nuisance property laws on the books — hold your elected officials accountable! (Yes, the position of State’s Attorney is an elected position.)

As for the property owner, this home has been vacant for over a year, and it’s creating yet another nuisance (and eyesore) for the surrounding neighbors. This is only one of many stories we hear about speculative investors who move into a neighborhood and then can’t (or won’t) fulfill their obligation to the community, with regard to safety and quality of life issues. With little or no restriction, this story is repeated over and over again, in neighborhoods across Baltimore. We hope the City takes this home away from Mr. Rotz and hands it over to someone who actually wants to be part of this thriving neighborhood and will fix up the house to live in.

8 N. Ellwood Avenue

Property address:  8 N. Ellwood Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224

Property owner:  David & Deen Rotz, 5500 Cynthia Terrace, Baltimore, MD 21206

City Council District and contact:  District 1, Jim Kraft

8 N. Ellwood Avenue

This property owner has a court date of June the 16th — contact Jim Kraft and let him know that the house has been vacant for well over a year, and the condition has deteriorated in that time. There is a broken window on the second floor, and it’s an eyesore on an otherwise decent block.center

2 N. Decker Avenue

Our friends in Patterson Park are so helpful with slumlord reports!

Property address:  2 N. Decker Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21224

Property owner:  David A. Fisher, P.O. Box 38316, Baltimore, MD 21231 (See also 3018 E. Baltimore Street, below.)

City Council District and Contact: District 1, James Kraft

Mr. Fisher owns quite a bit of property in Baltimore, most of which is vacant.  2 N. Decker Avenue is no exception.

2 N. Decker. Located just behind 3018 N. Baltimore. Had a fire years ago and still shows damage. The back is a junk yard (see photo). The property is often unsecured, both from the front and the back. The police were called to the property at the beginning of February because the front door was wide open at 10:00 at night. The inside of the house is filled with junk. Neighbors have called Fisher directly about this house, to no avail.

front of 2 n. decker avenue

rear of 2 n. decker avenue

3018 E. Baltimore Street

Another tip from our friends in Patterson Park:

Property address:  3018 E. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21224

Property owner:  David A. Fisher, P.O. Box 38316, Baltimore, MD 21231

CIty Council District and Contact: District 1, James Kraft

Our friends in Patterson Park tell us:

For years, this property had a wide and deep open pit in the back yard, which would have been easy for a pedestrian to fall into from the sidewalk. Thanks to pressure from Councilman Kraft and Delegate Hammen, the open hole was filled in last year. Unfortunately, the house remains vacant and blighted. Calls have been placed to Fisher directly by neighbors regarding this property. Deutsche Bank was listed as a purchaser for 3018 E Baltimore, but it appears that the purchase was voided (the court records show that the purchase was stricken). On the positive side, a bust of Elvis — yes, the King — has been spotted in the side window. Attached are photographs of the property and of the now-vanished pit, for posterity’s sake.

Mr. Fisher has two businesses registered to this address:  GPI 1214, LLC (charter was forfeited) and Fisher Moving, Hauling, and Demolition (trade name registration is current).

rear of 3018 e. baltimore street

hole in front of 3018 was filled in due to pressure from the city