MDE Issues Enforcement Actions Against 11 Baltimore City Slumlords

The Maryland Department of the Environment issued 11 enforcement actions against 11 Baltimore City property owners for lead paint violations.  The enforcement actions resulted in $267,500 in fines, and affected 75 properties.  Many thanks to the MDE for the excellent work they do on behalf of Baltimore City’s residents.

The property owners are as follows:

• Oluranti Jacob Awe
• Richard Burke and John Burke
• American Equity Rentals Three, LLC (Registered Agent:  Julius Balzac, 11436 Cronridge Drive, Owings Mills, MD 21117)
• LKW Real Estate, Inc (Not a registered corporation in Maryland)
• 3133 North Calvert, LLC  (Registered Agent:  Gordon D. Fronk, 502 Washington Avenue #700, Towson, MD 21204)
• Pride Investment & Development, LLC  (Registered Agent:  John Conway 916 Whitelock Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21217)
• Syed Zakir Shah, Shamim Shah, and Shah Real Estate, LLC
• Ida Gowans
• TMG 21223, LLC (Registered Agent is a dissolved corporation, “1106 W. Pratt St., LLC” with the address of 1700 W. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21223)
• William A. Glide, Jr.
• Joseph L. Russ

$2.5 Million Awarded in Lead Paint Lawsuit

From the Baltimore Sun:

A city jury awarded more than $2.5 million Tuesday to a pair of siblings who were poisoned by lead-based paint while living in a West Baltimore rowhouse that their mother had been told was “lead safe.”

The siblings, Dontae Wallace, 20, and Searra Wallace, 17, have permanent cognitive and behavioral disabilities that stem in part from being exposed to lead paint in the house their family rented from City Homes Inc., a nonprofit organization, for four years in the early 1990s, medical experts said in court.

Court records show that the owner of City Homes, Inc. has been sued several times for the same issue.  We hope this nonprofit is put out of business quickly before more children suffer the same fate.

You can read the entire Baltimore Sun article here.

MDE Issues Enforcement Actions Against 9 Baltimore City Property Owners

October 5, 2009

The Maryland Department of the Environment issued enforcement actions against nine Baltimore City property owners, whose properties were alleged to be out of complaince.  The actions resulted in a total of $205,000 in fines, and a total of 59 affected properties (property owners listed below).  Kudos to MDE Secretary Shari Wilson and her staff for their dedication to this issue.

• Elizabeth Isabemoh
• Robert Lambert,
• West End Ventures, LLC and Curtis E. Boteler
• Marsha Johnson Gladden
• Marc Wynder and 3031 Oakley Avenue, LLC
• BH Property Management, LLC and Jadwong Paul Olweny
• Shelton A. Burton
• Ernest Spellen and Sandra Spellen
• Brett Rodgers

MDE Issues Enforcement Actions Against 10 Baltimore City Property Owners

From the MDE’s press release:

MDE’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program coordinates statewide efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. Under the 1994 “Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing Law,” MDE assures compliance with mandatory requirements for lead risk reduction in rental units built before 1950, maintains a statewide listing of registered and inspected units, and provides blood lead surveillance through a registry of test results of all children tested in Maryland.

The following property owners were fined for lead paint violations in Baltimore City:

• Venture Alliance Partners, LLC and Olatunde Ogungbade (Resident agent, Olatunde Ogungbade, 7203 Baywood Drive, Lanham, MD 20706)
• Abidemi K. Lawanson
• Esperanza Banks
• Anthony E. Kirkland
• Bryant A. Pagan
• Luis George
• Lydia Mills
• Jonathan Wade
• 1645 N. Calhoun Holdings, LLC (Resident Agent, Joseph Chetrit.  Corporate office address:  900 Bestgate Road, Suite 200, Annapolis, MD 21401
• Marble Hall Holdings, LLC (Corporate address, 4300 Marble Hall Road, Baltimore, MD 21218)

There were a total of 52 properties affected, and a total of $251,500 in fines.  We continue to applaud MDE Secretary Shari T. Wilson and her staff, along with the Attorney General, for making housing safe for children in Baltimore City.

House Bill 1156

What is it?

Requiring specified manufacturers of lead pigment to reimburse specified persons for damages caused by lead-based paint in residential buildings in Baltimore City; establishing the types of damages caused by the presence of lead-based paint in residential buildings in Baltimore City for which manufacturers of lead pigment are liable to specified persons; creating the Lead Paint Restitution Fund; etc. (from the Maryland Legislature)

Why is this important?

Like tobacco, lead paint was actually deemed “safe” at one time.  Now we know better, as lead paint can cause severe neurological damage in children — and there is no cure.  There needs to be a fund to meet the needs of these children, and the manufacturers need to be held responsible for the damage they’ve caused — you may think that lead paint is no longer being manufactured — and you would be wrong.  As recently as 2007, giant toy manufacturer Mattel issued a recall for toys that were manufactured in China, because of the high lead levels found in the paint.

We need legislative support for this important bill, and we need it now.  Please let your legislators know that you care about Baltimore’s children by calling and emailing them — let them know how important this is to you.  If you don’t know who your representatives are, click here to find out.

MDE Issues Enforcement Actions Against 28 Baltimore City Property Owners

This month, the MDE has been busy citing Baltimore City property owners for lead paint violations — 28 property owners in all, resulting in $404,750 for 121 affected properties.  Read the original press release here.

The property owners fined were as follows:

• Darnell G. Collins
• Ella L. Neal & Kim I. Brown
• Herbert Lee Belton
• Edward B. & Theodore S. Thornton
• Property Resources, LLC
• SUP Investments, LLC
• Blue Globe Properties, LLC
• Jin Suk Kim
• Mohammad T. Rahman
• Javed M. Nasir
• Mohammad Khalid
• 10th Baltimore Acquisition, LLC
• 4th Baltimore Acquisition
• Marsha J. Hitch
• Ruth A. Driver
• Deborah L. Chandler-Jackson
• Raymond D. & Marjorie M. Sells
• Lateef Aderomilehin
• De Soto Apartments, LLC
• Magnolia Properties Management, LLC
• Charoles Goldsborough
• Magnolia Property Management, Inc.
• Raymond R. & Norine Katzen
• Ibiom Ikotidem
• Wilco Management Holdings, LLC

Once again, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Shari Wilson and her staff for a job well done!

MDE Issues Enforcement Actions Against Three Baltimore City Slumlords

MDE’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Program serves as the coordinating agency of statewide efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning. Under the 1994 “Reduction of Lead Risk in Housing Law,” MDE assures compliance with mandatory requirements for lead risk reduction in rental units built before 1950, maintains a statewide listing of registered and inspected units, and provides blood lead surveillance through a registry of test results of all children tested in Maryland. The following actions were for properties alleged to be out of compliance with lead risk reduction standards:

The property owners named were:

Linwood Stevens, Jr.:  Two properties totalling $33,000 in violations.

Baboolal Collins: Two properties totalling $21,000 in violations.

Debra Laubach:  Eighteen properties (not all in Baltimore City) totalling $44,000 in violations.

As usual, we congratulate Secretary Shari T. Wilson and her staff for the hard work they perform on behalf of the citizens of Baltimore City.  Lead paint poisoning is one of the leading causes of health problems in Baltimore’s children.

Maryland MDE Issues 80 Enforcement Actions

In a recent press release, the Maryland Department of the Environment announced that it issued 80 enforcement actions for pollution, including lead paint violations.  Of the 13 lead paint citations, 11 of them were handed out in Baltimore City. Receiving citations in Baltimore City were:

Sergey Ivanov
Charm City Housing Associates, Inc
Research Development Services, Inc.
Research Development Services, LLC
Terry Lee Coffman II,
Rent Man Limited
3401 Woodbrook, LLC
1645 N. Calhoun Holdings, LLC
Mortgage Solutions Consulting Group, LLC
Helen Falodun
Damion O. Brissett
Paul Stitzel & Helen Stitzel

The total number of homes in Baltimore City affected were 97, and the total dollar amount in fines was $256,000.

Again, we applaud MDE Secretary Shari Wilson and her staff for their continued efforts to make Baltimore City a safer place for children.

Baltimore City vs. Stanley Rochkind

Interesting to note that the city has filed for the condemnation of five Rochkind-owned properties on W. Saratoga Street.  Besides the properties in the 900 block of W. Saratoga Street, a Rochkind controlled company also owns 1127 W. Saratoga Street.  This property is on the list of outstanding lead paint violations issued by the Baltimore City Health Department.

We’re hoping the city will follow up and condemn more of his blighted lead paint-filled properties, and get them out of the hands of this slumlord.We suggest starting with 1003 and 1005 S. Carey Street, as we’ve written about these properties in this blog, and they’re also owned by Rochkind-controlled LLCs.

We wish our city attorneys the best of luck with these cases!

MDE Issues 14 Enforcement Actions for Lead Paint Violations in Baltimore City

A total of 95 properties were affected, according to a May 15 press release, issued by the Maryland Department of the Environment.  The following individuals and companies were cited:

KMS Property, LLC

KMS Property 2, LLC

Pirate, LLC

Pigama, LLC

Drek, LLC

Moshe and Miri Raphaely

Dong Yong An

Cely and Jaime Faria

Robert Nkojo

Jaros Jindrich

Gary, Anna, and Vladmir Kosoy

Corey Willis and Shanna Chaney

PR Capital, LLC and Pathik Ramy

Landon Wilson

Again, we applaud the MDE and Secretary Wilson’s efforts to clean up lead paint poisoning in Baltimore City.