A Broken System: One Neighbor’s Ongoing Saga

I thought it would be interesting, and potentially helpful, to post the ongoing saga one person has endured while trying to report a negligent property owner and the city’s lack of response to a citizen.

Fall 2011

Vacant was reported through the City’s 311 system, as a piece of the cornice was coming off and could be hazardous to anyone walking below. Baltimore Housing had previously issued a vacant notice for the property (254531A), so it’s not a stretch to assume they’re aware of the property’s poor condition.

December 2011

Emails to Carl Stokes (City Councilman for District 12) go unanswered.  Emails to sent to the Charles Village Civic Association and Greater Homewood Community Corporation were answered.  The building was condemned, and the hanging piece of cornice has been removed.

Mid-February 2012 to Present

After many emails back and forth between the neighbor and various agencies and neighborhood associations, 6 months later the home is still in the same blighted condition with open windows and rear door, there are no citations or violation notices against the property owner, and no response from Baltimore Housing.

The city has a “slumlord court”, Baltimore Housing has inspectors and attorneys — what we can’t understand is how few negligent property owners are actually prosecuted and/or fined.  So many of them seem to get away with leaving their homes in this kind of condition — with no repercussions.

Please note — the owner of this property is a large-scale city slumlord and a marketing professor at Towson Universty.  Also note, this property is on the route for many children who walk to the Barclay School.

Property Address:  345 E 28th Street, Baltimore, MD 21218

Property Owner:  CE Realty, LLC, 3210 Labyrinth Road, Baltimore, MD 21218

Resident Agent for CE Realty:  Ephraim Weingarten, same address

City Council District and Representative:  District 12, Carl Stokes

345 E 28th Street

345 E 28th Street, side view

City-Owned Blight: 2034 N Calvert Street

Property Address:  2034 N Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21218

Property Owner:  Housing Authority of Baltimore City, 417 E Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21202

City Council District and Contact: District 12, Carl Stokes

2034 N Calvert Street

The Most Powerful Man in Baltimore Real Estate?

An interesting way to describe Paul Graziano, director of Baltimore’s Housing Authority.

We received an email from the Baltimore Real Estate Investors Association, inviting us to a meeting where Paul Graziano will speak to the group (including slumlords and owners of blighted vacant homes) and address questions regarding Section 8 housing, vacant homes, and other topics of interest to property investors.

It’s inappropriate for the head of a city agency to be addressing a group that is run by a man whose business practices are questionable at best.  Joe DiMaggio is currently fighting a lead paint lawsuit, has failed to register rental properties, and other housing code violation lawsuits.  He also has an open warrant for failing to appear in housing court.

Again, Mr. Graziano has shown bad judgement by agreeing to address this group as a colleague and not as the head of a regulatory agency — and he has again shown his lack of ethics by maintaining relationships with people who have shown such a blatant disregard for our city and its taxpaying residents.

Link Roundup

Lead poisoning cases are down in Maryland, however — the number of cases linked to homes not covered by Maryland law is on the rise.  Sounds like it’s time to amend the law.

Speaking of lead paint — the venerable Kennedy Krieger Institute is being sued in a class-action lawsuit filed by Baltimore attorney Billy Murphy.  In the lawsuit, Murphy alleges Kennedy Krieger exposed poor black children to dangerous levels of lead.

Not only is Paul Graziano in the hot seat for refusing to pay settlements of lead paint cases, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa would also like to know how Baltimore’s Housing Authority spent $67 million in federal stimulus money.  We’d like to know the answer to that, too.

Jamie Smith Hopkins reports the number of vacant homes in Maryland has increased by 35%, in Baltimore alone, the number rose by 10%.  Jamie also wrote a post about rents in Baltimore — and a number of commenters wondered if the high rents charged by landlords who own subsidized housing is skewing the average rent figures — In 2009, the Cato Institute brought this up in an article on federally subsidized housing:

Some landlords, in fact, specialize in Section 8, becoming experts at the complex regulations, and they skillfully work the system to their financial advantage. With Section 8 tenants, landlords don’t have to worry about nonpayment, because the government deposits its share of the rent—the lion’s share—directly into the property owner’s bank account. Moreover, for many buildings the government-paid rent is more than the market rent would be. The reason is that the program allows voucher holders to pay up to the average rent in their entire metropolitan area, and landlords in lower-income neighborhoods, where rents are below average, simply charge voucher holders exactly that average rent.

You can read the entire Cato Institute article here.

Reader Help Needed!

If you’ve ever called 311 or used the online form to file a complaint and found that your personal information was given to the other property owner, please go to the “Contact Us” page and send us an email.

Oh, and don’t worry — we promise we won’t reveal your identity without your permission.

Link Roundup

New Chief of Administration at Baltimore Housing: The Daily Record reports that Margaret (Peggy) Webster has joined Baltimore Housing as chief of administration for project finance.  Hopefully she will be a strong voice in favor of paying the City’s lead paint settlements.

Why is the city a mess?  It’s not a lack of money or opportunities, according to one former teacher. — it’s the parents.

The Maryland Department of Planning, after reviewing 120 days of public comment on its initial draft of PlanMaryland, today released a revised draft of the State’s first strategic smart growth plan.

Totally not planning, housing, or city related…but hey, I assume you eat?  And if you eat, you should thank a farmer.  Attend this amazing fundraising event, and help Maryland’s farmers.

There’s a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Detroit! Who knew? (Link via Detroit Moxie).

And speaking of Detroit… From @stephencearley — a great article on Detroit in GQ.  Again, a refreshing perspective on urban renewal — one that Baltimore refuses to implement in a comprehensive way.

Yet another property tax scandal in Baltimore — some vacant property owners have been illegally receiving the homestead tax credit.

The Sun’s editorial staff thinks the mayor should be developing a plan to renew the city.  To that, I say “Well…duh.”

A note from me:  Don’t forget to vote on September 13th.  we need new leadership in this city…and staying home on primary and general election days won’t help.  Get off your duff and vote!

SE Baltimore Residents: Action Needed to Save Critical Neighborhood Program!

Banner Neighborhoods Community Corporation, a leading organization in community development and youth programs in Southeast Baltimore urgently needs your help!  Paul Graziano, Director of Baltimore Housing, wants to slash their budget by almost 20% — which will result in a drastic reduction of services to children and the elderly this summer.

They have a small budget, and they use their money wisely — supporting the surrounding ten neighborhoods in the SE Baltimore community!  Their youth programming is vital to sustainability and health of these neighborhoods — please write to Paul Graziano today and ask him to fully fund BNCC’s program budget (less than $80,000!)  His email address is paul.graziano@habc.org, or you can edit and mail this letter (Word format).

Slumlord Pockets $12K from HABC

According to a WBAL I-Team investigation, slumlord Cephus Murrell pocketed $12,000 in HABC payments on a subsidized home, while his tenant was denied access to the home for over a year.

Yet another flub from our scandal-plagued Housing Authority.

Update on HABC Lead Judgement Debacle

According to this morning’s Baltimore Sun, three Maryland lawmakers have written Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake a sharply-worded letter regarding the City’s refusal to pay court-ordered lead paint judgements.

We hope these same lawmakers will also call for the resignation of the head of the troubled city agency, Paul Graziano.

You can read the full article here.

Housing Authority Refuses to Pay Lead Paint Judgements

You may have already read the devastating news in today’s Baltimore Sun, but just in case you missed it…

The city’s Housing Authority (the agency responsible for Baltimore’s subsidized housing stock) has decided it’s not in its best interest to pay any of the plaintiffs who have won hundreds of millions of dollars in lead paint judgments.

According to Paul Graziano, director of the oft-troubled City agency, “While we are totally sympathetic and sensitive to the situation with respect to each of these families and the children involved, we just have to look at the entire picture before us,” Graziano said. “Every dollar we spend on judgments is one less dollar that is available for major capital needs,” he said, adding that “it would be tragic if this organization were to collapse due to financial insolvency.”

Sorry, but if the Housing Authority “collapsed” it would most likely be as a result of gross mismanagement and negligence by City officials, including the current director.  The policy of a government agency to not compensate people — children — who were harmed by the agency’s poor policies and inability to maintain its properties, goes beyond unacceptable.  In my mind, this is nothing short of criminal.  I am hoping there is a State and Federal investigation into this shameful decision, and the agency’s poor leadership.

Every parent in Baltimore City should be outraged and disgusted — and every parent in Baltimore City should voice that outrage — let Paul Graziano know how you feel about this decision to cheat hundreds of Baltimore City residents out of payment for their medical care and special needs as a result of being exposed to lead paint while living in City-owned housing.

Paul T. Graziano
Executive Director
Housing Authority of Baltimore City
417 E Fayette Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone:  (410) 396-3232
Email:  paul.graziano@habc.org