Link Roundup

Did you know Maryland offers an income tax credit for low-income/elderly renters?  It follows the premise that renters pay property taxes as part of their rent, and therefore should be allowed an opportunity to recoup some of that money.  The deadline for filing each year is September 1.

The past few years have seen an uptick in violent crimes against realtors.  The most horrific of these crimes occurred in 2010 against a realtor named Vivian Martin in Youngstown, OH –  she was found murdered in the kitchen of a burning vacant home. Another reason why municipalities need to combat the growing problem of vacants as a venue for crime.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan announced last Friday the distribution of $42 million in grants to housing counseling agencies, calling the programs “indispensible”.

People ask me all the time why I “hate Baltimore”.  I don’t hate Baltimore.  Seriously, would YOU spend almost all of your free time in the neighborhoods I walk around, documenting blighted vacants, taking risks with your personal safety (albeit small risks) for a city you hate?  Of course not.  You’d simply move away, as so many of my friends and neighbors have done.  What I do despise, however, is the phony head-in-the-sand mentality I come up against — a combination of newer residents who are merely echoing the nonsense they were told by their realtor, city officials who have a vested interest in looking the other way, or long-time community association folks who don’t want to admit their 20-year Plan A hasn’t worked….in 20 years.  Phony boosterism sucks — and here’s why.  The last paragraph says it all, so you can skip ahead if you don’t want to read the whole thing.

Nerd Alert:  I love data.  Especially crime data.  I’ll bet I’m not alone…

Appraisers, lenders, and investors seem to be routinely inflating home values prior to foreclosure, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

One Brookings economist estimates the number of unemployed workers in the US to be around 10 million — how to fix the problem?  He suggests the government should subsidize new hires. 

Baltimore’s Housing Director Paul Graziano continues to duck and dodge when it comes to the health and well-being of city children who live in public housing.  How long are we going to tolerate this, Baltimore?

Two Ohio lawmakers have introduced the Restore Our Neighborhoods Act of 2012, which would result in billions of dollars that municipalities could use to demolish blighted neighborhoods.  Will be interesting to see if Maryland representatives will vote for or against.

Chicago’s answer to Baltimore’s Stanley Rochkind?

Want a vacant home in Buffalo, NY?  Move it, and it’s yours.

Housing Authority Assets to be Seized

WBAL and the Daily Record are both reporting that certain assets belonging to the Baltimore Housing Authority are to be seized by the sherrif’s department in order to pay for lead paint judgements the City has refused to pay.

The assets include vehicles and computers, which will be auctioned off.  Evan Goldman, the attorney who had the foresight to go after non-federally owned assets, said “It’s going to be a public auction advertised in the paper, and anyone can go there and bid on a non-federal vehicle and all the funds are going to be used to pay the judgment.”

By the way, in case you were wondering — taxpayers have been paying the tab for HABC’s legal fees.

City-Owned Blight: 2302 and 2304 E North Avenue

Property Address:  2302 and 2304 E North Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21213

Property Owner:  Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) PO Box 1917, Baltimore, MD 21203

City Council District and Contact:  District 12, Carl Stokes

2302 and 2304 E North Avenue

Link Roundup

You’ve probably heard that Senator Charles Grassley (R, Iowa) has launched an investigation into the fraud and waste at Baltimore Housing — read a letter from Senator Grassley to Sean Donovan, HUD Secretary here.  Link opens a PDF.

Property owners receiving the homestead tax credit — beware.  If you’re not actually living in the home, you’ll probably lose the credit, and owe the city back taxes.  And rightfully so.  However, we find it odd this article doesn’t give credit (no pun intended) where credit is due.  A resident is responsible for finding the city’s negligence, as documented here in an earlier article.

Kevin Pushia, a disgraced pastor and slumlord, was sentenced to life plus 45 years for his role in the murder of a mentally disabled man in Baltimore. You can read more about this “man of the cloth” here.

The FBI has released the 2011 National Gang Threat Assessment report — interesting reading. You can see which gangs are active in each state here.

Richmond has two slots for tenant representatives on the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, yet one of the slots remain unfilled.

New multi-family subsidized housing comes to Brewer’s Hill and O’Donnell Heights.

Residents are frustrated with the unfinished work by a City-hired contractor.  Considering his track record, we’re not surprised.

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.

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).

Link Roundup

The Tenants in Foreclosure project of the Public Justice Center won an award!  Congrats to attorney Matt Hill and his staff for this much-deserved award.  If you or someone you know is living in a rental that is being foreclosed on, you should contact the Public Justice Center — you have rights, make sure they’re protected!

Housing prices continue to fall, according to a Case-Shiller/S&P report.

Housing Authority Director Paul Graziano continues to deny  responsibility for lead paint payments.  And in this article from the Baltimore Sun, City Councilman Jim Kraft says (out loud!) what the rest of us have been saying all along:  Paul Graziano is a liar.

Think your 311 complaints are anonymous?  Guess again.

State lab employees resent having to actually work, so they destroyed blood samples in a lab?  More shady behavior in lead paint cases, sad.

The City Council took Paul Graziano to task (being called a liar was only the beginning…) and you can read his side of the story here (link opens a PDF file).  Sorry, Mr. Graziano — HABC needs to pay these judgments.  HABC owned the homes, children were poisoned, and it’s your responsibility as the director of HABC to ensure the safety of these children — and pay dearly when you fall down on the job.

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.

Link Roundup

Boston tenants fight to keep low-income housing, despite wishes of landlord.

African-Americans are leaving declining cities for the South, in record numbers, according to the New York Times.

Most Americans think you shouldn’t walk away from your mortgage.  What do you think?

More on the City’s refusal to pay lead-paint judgments — Maryland Senators aren’t happy.

One of troubled East Baltimore Development’s highest-paid employees is also the girlfriend of Paul Graziano — head of Baltimore City’s scandal-prone Housing Authority. It just never seems to end, does it?

Special housing codes for students in Towson?

Baltimore’s new Deputy Director of Housing is coming from Richmond, another city with a blight problem.