Where Does the Money Go?

Who benefits from the money earned by our slumlords?  We had to wonder where their money goes, since it’s obviously not being spent on repairs and lead abatement in their slum properties.  Paul and Aime Nochumowitz filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, after being sued multiple times for lead paint poisoning.  We started looking into who profits from the slum economy — besides the drug dealers, lawyers, and unlicensed contractors who make up part of Baltimore’s well-documented “shadow economy“.

We remember hearing that Martin O’Malley returned a campaign contribution he received from Stanley Rochkind’s wife, Rhoda.  And then we wondered who else received slumlord contributions…and how our local politicians and state legislators fared — apparently not well.  Our slumlords seem to be a bit tight-fisted with the campain donations.

Between the Nochumowitz family, Lawerence Polakoff, Stanley Rochkind, and Petar Pecovic, we were able to find a total of almost $8,000 in campaign contributions to six candidates.

Martin O’Malley:  Total, $800

• $1,000 from Rhoda Rochkind (not included in the total, since this money was returned – a smart move on O’Malley’s part)
• $500 from Paul Nochumowitz
• $300 from Petar Pecovic

Jim Brochin:  Total, $1,550

• $500 from Amie Nochumowitz
• $500 from Paul Nochumowitz
• $275 from Lawrence Polakoff
• $275 from Larry Polakoff

Bobby Zirkin:  Total $400

• Two contributions of $100 from Amie Nochumowitz
• Two contributions of $100 from Paul Nochumowitz

Ben Cardin:  Total $3,000

• Contributions from the Nochumowitz Family from 1998-2005, the largest was $1,000 and the smallest was $250.

Rikki Spector:  Total $1,000

• One controbution from Lawrence Polakoff

Belinda K. Conaway:  Total, $100

• One contribution from Stanley Rochkind of $100

We understand that our elected officials or candidates can’t stay on top of where every contribution comes from, and we’re certainly not implying that these legislators are guilty of any wrongdoing. In fact, we received the following email from Marc Lazerow, a legislative aide to Senator Brochin:

As the Senator’s 2006 Campaign Manager for his re-election, I accepted, as did the Senator, contributions from those who support the Senator and not from those who sought political favors.  On numerous occasions, I personally witnessed the Senator tell a potential contributor that he/she should financially support his candidacy based on his voting record and what he has done for his district and the State, not what he/she WANTS him to do.  Senator Brochin votes for his district, not for those who give him money.

As you are probably aware, the ground rent issue became front page on the newspapers during the 2007 legislative session.  Prior to the passage of legislation that year, many were losing their homes because of ground rents with short notice.  Several pieces of legislation were introduced and passed to provide rights and protection to help the middle class and homeownership.  Senate Bill 106, which was signed into law and effective immediately, prohibits the owner of a fee simple or leasehold estate in specified residential property from creating a reversionary interest in the property under a ground lease or a ground sublease.  In addition, legislation like Senate Bill 397, entitled, “Conversion of Irredeemable Ground Rents”, provides for the conversion of an irredeemable ground rent to a redeemable one unless a notice of intention is recorded in the land records.  Senator Brochin supported these bills along with other legislation designed to overhaul the flawed, arcane ground rent system that favored ground rent holders, not the people.

With that said, I verified through the Campaign Finance records that the Senator did in fact receive $1,000.00 from Paul and Amie Nochumowitz during his first election.  As shown above, Senator Brochin is not beholden to any special interest groups.

We also noticed that in 2008, Senator Brochin was a sponsor of SB 218, a bill designed to protect homeowners in foreclosure from being swindled by “foreclosure consultants”.  We’re hoping that Senator Brochin will speak out against poor business practices among property owners, particularly absentee property owners and others who force their tenants to live in unsafe conditions.

In an ideal world, we’d like to see these elected officials either return these contributions, or donate the money to a good cause.  We’d also like to see our current laws enforced, and new laws enacted to protect the public from unsafe housing.  Other states are making great strides in this direction — why is Maryland (and in particular, Baltimore City) falling behind?

1003 and 1005 S. Carey Street, Revisited…Again.

Property address:  1003 and 1005 S. Carey Street, Baltimore, MD 21223

Property owner:  1005 South Carey Street, LLC, 17 Warren Road, Baltimore, MD 21208 and 1003 S Carey St, LLC, P.O. Box 32118, Baltimore, MD 21282

Registered agent for both shell corporations:  Jack Novograd, 5616 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215

City Council District Contact: 9th District, Agnes Welch

We’ve written about these two homes so many times, as they’re both owned by shell companies controlled by Stanley Rochkind.  We have to wonder what kind of message the city is sending to this neighborhood, with their lack of action against the property owner.  We’ve been writing about these two houses since February of this year — and a few of the neighbors have filed multiple complaints. Yet here the properties are in their current state.  We wonder if Baltimore City is capable of doing any better than this.

Currently both homes have STOP WORK orders attached to them — and both homes are in terrible disrepair, and open to vagrants.  The windows and doors are broken — 1003 is completely open in the rear of the property, and has no roof.  The front door to 1005 has been off its hinges for at least two months, if not more.

Front door of 1003 S. Carey Street with STOP WORK order.

Broken window on 1003 - note there is no roof or rear wall visible from the window.

Front door of 1005 S. Carey Street - property has been open to vagrants for months.

1507 McHenry Street

Property address:  1507 McHenry Street, Baltimore, MD 21223

Property owner:  BGM Realty #20 Corporation, P.O. Box 32118, Baltimore, MD 21282 (Another Stanley Rochkind-controlled company)

Registered agent for BGM Realty #20 Corporation: Ahvner Rozwaski, 5616 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215

City Council district and contact: 9th District, Agnes Welch

The 1500 block of McHenry Street is full of blighted homes — most are owned by individual slumlords and shell corporations — it would be nice to see this block cleaned up.

1507 McHenry Street

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!

A Pastor, A Drug Dealer, and a Slumlord Walk Into Court…

…and all legal hell breaks loose, according to court records.

Disgraced pastor Kevin Pushia, accused of hiring someone to kill a blind and disabled man with church funds, is also involved in a legal tussle with Baltimore’s most notorious drug kingpin and Baltimore’s most notorious slumlord, according to court records.  In 2007, Pushia filed suit (Foreclosure Rights of Redemption) in Baltimore City Circuit Court against nine corporations owned by Stanley Rochkind, and one owned by Milton Tillman.  Rochkind and Tillman are no strangers to the court system, as Rochkind has been involved in 400+ lawsuits in Baltimore City — all of them centered around his substandard and dilapidated properties.  He also paid stiff fines for multiple lead paint violations found by the Maryland Department of the Environment.  Mr. Tillman’s drug activities have been well documented not only in the courts, but by the Baltimore City Paper as well.

The property in question, 2634 McElderry Street, is currently owned by a Tillman-controlled corporation — M&S Associates, Inc.  It was sold to Tillman by N.B.S. Inc., a Rochkind-controlled company.  The other Rochkind-controlled companies named in the lawsuit are:  JAM #6 Corporation, JAM #7 Corporation, JAM 23 Corporation, JAM 26 Corporation, Best Investment, Inc., KGB #16 Corporation, Uptown Realty Corporation, and Dana #5 Corporation.  Also named in the lawsuit are the City of Baltimore, Director of Finance and The Mayor and City Council.

The property is located in City Council District 13.

1005 S. Carey Street

Property address:  1005 S. Carey Street, Baltimore, MD 21223

Property owner:  1005 South Carey Street, LLC, 17 Warren Road, Baltimore, MD 21208

Registered agent for 1005 South Carey Street, LLC:  Jack Novograd, 5616 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215

City Council District Contact: 9th District, Agnes Welch

Yet another property and LLC owned by Baltimore slumlord Stanley Rochkind. The first floor window is not secured, nor is the rear of the property.  Like 1003 S. Carey Street (also a Rochkind-controlled property), this house is a haven for vagrants and others who have easy access to the lot and interior of the dwelling.

1005 S. Carey Street (rear).

closeup of trash and rubble strewn about the back of 1005 s. carey street

1003 S. Carey Street: Revisited

Looking back at our post on 1003 S. Carey Street from a month ago, it seems as though Stanley Rochkind and Jack Novograd are up to their old tricks.  Substantial demolition inside and out has been done, and without a permit.  The current permit open on this property is for cosmetic items only (see COM2009-01608).  Update: Finally, the Housing Dept. found the demolition permit for this property: COM2009-03548 is a valid permit number. However, it is for INTERIOR demolition only.  As you can see by the photos, exterior demolition has been done.

Rear of 1003 S. Carey Street

After the Ground Rent Series, What Happened To…?

You may remember the Baltimore Sun’s Ground Rent Series from 2006, in which Sun reporters chronicled the evictions of Baltimore residents from their homes for their failure to pay their ground rent payments.  If you’re not familiar with ground rent, and you’re a Baltimore homeowner — beware.  You might own your home, but not the “ground” it sits upon.  For a more detailed explanation, visit this link.

We went back to the Baltimore Sun’s series, wondering if we’d find any links to some of the slumlords we’ve been researching.  We did indeed, and we’ve found that some of the investors and others involved in the ground rent game haven’t fared very well.

One Baltimore realtor who was quoted as saying “You can make a very good living doing this” (Lawrence Polakoff) has been the defendant in at least 23 lawsuits filed in Baltimore City Circuit Court, most involving lead paint and foreclosure.  In a twist of irony, one lawsuit involving Polakoff as a defendant was a Complaint for Ejectment.  Polakoff also has ties to Stanley Rochkind, whose activities as a Baltimore slumlord have been well documented by the City Paper, the Maryland Department of the Environment, and the Circuit Court for Baltimore City (cases too numerous to list here).

Baltimore attorney R. Marc Goldberg was quoted in the article twice — “Business is business” and “I can’t deny an economic incentive to make a windfall profit.”  We hope he invested those profits wisely, because he’s been sued five times since the article appeared — four foreclosures and one Complaint for Ejectment.

Fred Nochumowitz, of Boca Raton, Florida was the trustee of a family trust that held several ground rents in Baltimore City.  The Nochumowitz Trust filed several Compaint for Ejection suits in Baltimore, resulting in homeowners being thrown out of their homes so that the homes could be sold at a hefty profit.According to a 2008 notice in the Maryland Daily Record Fred Nochumowitz and several of his relatives filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as a result of 1 $1.53 million settlement over lead paint violations in the family-owned rental properties.

One of the “investors” that purchased property from the Nochumowitz family was Lauren Montillo.  In 2007, according to court records, she was sentenced to a year’s probabtion for maintaining property in a manner that was unfit for human habitation.  Another “investor”, Petar Pecovic, was quoted in the article, “The ground rent business is a great business.You just have to be ruthless.”  The corporate charter to Pecovic’s business, Touch of Class Properties, LLC, was forfeited in 2007 for failure to file a property tax return.

We also wondered about Heidi Kenny, the lawyer who was the focus of one of the articles in the Sun.  She was tried and convicted in the court of public opinion, and the Clerk of Court for Baltimore City, Frank M. Conaway called for the “immediate suspension” of Heidi Kenny’s law license.  After some searching, it would seem that Ms. Kenny’s license has not been suspended or revoked, as she is currently the plaintiff’s attorney in several ongoing lawsuits.

We’ll keep tabs on these people, and others mentioned in the series, and see just how well they fare now that the real estate market has plummeted.  So far it doesn’t look like most are doing as well as they’d hoped.

1260 Sargeant Street

Property address:  1260 Sargeant Street, Baltimore, MD 21223

Property owner:  1260 Sargeant Street, LLC, 17 Warren Road, Suite 18, Baltimore, MD 21208

Registered agent for 1260 Sargeant Street, LLC:  Jack Novograd, 5616 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21215

City Council District and Contact: 9th District, Agnes Welch

Poor Sargeant Street, you do seem to have more than your fair share of slumlord-owned properties, and this one is no exception.  This house (along with the two on either side of it) caught fire in July of 2008.  The fire was so hot that the siding on a few of the houses across the alley melted right off.  Homeless people were using the house, as were drug addicts and others, for illegal activities.  In fact, we used this house as inspiration for our essay on Broken Window Syndrome.  Calls to the city resulted in no action, and finally we ended up with this:

rear view of 1260 sargeant street

closeup of trash in the rear of 1260 sargeant street

front of 1260 sargeant street

The houses on either side of this mess have been repaired, or are in the process of being repaired.  We don’t hold out much hope for poor 1260, because of the owner.  If you recall, Jack Novograd is also the registered agent for the corporation that owns 1003 S. Carey Street, another blighted Washington Village property, just around the corner from Sargeant Street.  In fact, after doing some checking, we found that Jack Novograd has ties to Stanley Rochkind, one of Baltimore’s most notorious slumlords.  In June of 2001, Rochkind was ordered to perform lead hazard reduction treatments in almost 500 properties around Baltimore City.  All of these properties were owned by the 80+ companies in which Rochkind holds a controlling interest.  We are currently looking into Mr. Rochkind and Mr. Novograd and their current business activities, and will be writing a followup post on these two.  Their blatant disregard for the health and safety of their tenants, and the people in the surrounding communities is shocking, to say the least.  Stay tuned for more.