ROCKLAND, Maine — City officials have sent out a warning to the owner of one apartment building that has been the source of numerous complaints of bad behavior.
The owner, however, said that the problem rests with disorderly tenants and there should be a system set up to identify those people.
City Attorney Kevin Beal said one letter was mailed Friday to the owner of an apartment building at 25 Maverick St.
He said a second case is being worked on at a different location but it has yet to reach the point of receiving a warning.
Rockland’s police chief wrote in his weekly report that his department was working with the attorney concerning two “disorderly house” violations within the city.
“We’ve sent a cautionary letter; it has not yet been declared a disorderly house,” Beal said of the Maverick Street property. He said the second location was in another section of the city but did not identify the street.
The complaints at the 25 Maverick St. apartment building are about noise from late night parties. He said that there also was an altercation one time outside the building and police had to respond to detain some people to keep the peace.
The property is a two-unit apartment building, according to the city, owned by Sandra and Gordon Mank Sr.
The Rockland City Council enacted a disorderly house law in June 2003 following a series of complaints about tenants in an apartment building on State Street. Those complaints came to a head when six members of the same family were arrested on a variety of charges related to disorderly conduct.
Under the city law that resulted from that State Street issue, the city notifies landlords when there are three or more complaints originating from their property within a 30-day period. At that time, the city would contact the landlord and request a list of the tenants and copies of leases.
If police receive five or more calls within a 30-day period, the landlord could face a charge of $50 for every subsequent call.
If the council declares a house to be disorderly, the city could condemn the property.
Sandra Mank said Tuesday that she has given an eviction notice to the culprit responsible for the problem at 25 Maverick St.
Mank said, however, the city law is unfair because it targets landlords and not problem tenants.
“There must be a better way to deal with these problems. The city should keep a list of disorderly tenants,“ Mank said.
She said that some landlords will give good references in order to get rid of a bad tenant and that passes the problem on to other owners of apartment buildings. She said she checked after receiving the letter from the city and meeting with police that the problem tenant had 13 previous complaints against him at other locations.
“I’m really upset. We have these problems and Rockland has such high property taxes. We’ve been doing this for 20 to 25 years. It’s a financial loss. It’s a nightmare,” Mank said.
Police Chief Bruce Boucher said the ordinance is a good tool to get landlords to deal with problems.
Beal said he has sent out notices to landlords on three previous occasions but none have reached the point of being declared a disorderly house by the city since he has been on the job beginning in 2007.
The police chief said he recalls only one instance — when he arrived in 2005 — of an apartment building being declared a disorderly house. Eventually, the designation got the landlord’s attention and the problem was solved.
The attorney and chief both said the letters are sent so that the landlord and city official can sit down and discuss how to prevent further complaints. He said there are instances when the landlord may not be aware of problems since many do not live at the property and may not even live in the community.
What a bunch of bull.. If tenants are breaking the law, then the tenants should be locked up in jail. I guess the police in Rockland don’t want to do their job… The landlord should be able to “fine” the city for their police not doing their job… and as for throwing tenants out onto the streets the same city officals will protect tenants from evictions.
Got to agree with you on this one, push. “Disorderly house”? More like disorderly people isn’t it? I’ve been a landlord, and know what a pain in the rear poor tenants can be. But, to be responsible for their behavior is just too much to bear. The disorderly house law deflects responsibility for police calls away from the actual root of the problem. I think a better law would be to allow a landlord the right of immediate eviction, with the help of the police, after five complaints in 30 days. But, if the landlord chooses to let them remain, well, at that point they become party to the parties.
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Pacific heights.
I do not consider landlords blameless in these situations. I do not know the landlord in this article, but Rockland is well known for having more than it’s fair share of slumlords. This law forces the landlord to take action and evict the offenders, whereas without the threat of a fine, they would ignore the problem. They make good money on these rental units. Sure they pay a good deal in taxes, but with little or no upkeep on the property, the rest is gravy.
If the City is going to hold the landlord responcible they could atleast keep a list on their website of repeat offenders…The tenant in question had 13 prior complaints in other apartments and landlords gave them good references to get rid of them and the owners ONLY found out about it after meeting with the cops..If you know anything about the state laws in regard to the issue of evicting people you know how difficult it can be…Especially if children are involved…To force this all on landlords isn’t right..Keep going down this road there won’t be any low rent housing..Oh , that’s right..If privately owned low income housing goes away it means more CITY owned housing projects , at 300 grand apeice to build by contractors who have friends in high places , more City jobs for hack friends to oversee them and we all know how well run those are in other cities…
My daughter rented her first apartment from a well known landlord in the MidCoast. The place was infested with mice and spiders. When I say infested, I mean infested. The other apartment in the building was rented to a Section 8 renter. A lot of these landlords bleed the system through Section 8 housing, collecting overpriced rent on substandard housing. The landlord let my daughter out of the lease and returned her security deposit because I threatened to call Section 8. Don’t feel bad for slumlords.
The first couple of places I rented in Belfast back in the 80’s was the same way..We cleaned it up best we could and saved our money to move up..Pretty good incentive if you ask me…Everyone nowa days wants to start out making 80 grand a year living in a townhouse..Nobody wants to earn it or start at the bottom..
Upon futher reflection on your fairytale , did you even look at the place before renting it ?? Your story seems a little fishy to me…Good story though…LOL..
Spoken like a true slumlord! How many buildings do you own? So, according to you, we should thank these slumlords for building our children’s character.
The problem is really the laws protecting the tenants. Trying to evict a tenant is not an easy process, made far more arduous if they’re receiving any state or federal aid. The landlords cannot get rid of trouble soon enough, and the City will never be allowed to post problem tenants names, talk about opening themselves up to legal action. Get real, this is the system we’ve built by allowing people to take advantage of a system designed for those truly in need, not those that would rather party than work.
Maybe the Landlord needs to do better check on there tenants, It has nothing to do with Property taxes.Maybe it time to get out of the rental bussiness……………They are your tenants……….
As a previous landlord I can tell you that you do not always know when a tenant will go bad or is bad. You can check them out quite a lot but there can still be problems. Just read the tenant rights on the web and getting rid of a bad tenant can be a real hassle.
in the article, Sandra Mank said that she looked the tenant up after she received the notice from the city and found 13 complaints against the tenant. She probably could have found the same complaints if she had checked before she rented to them.
The landlord can do a better job at screening tenants,as well as police can hold tenants accountable for their personal actions. When I rented my townhouse, my landlord did a credit check, called my employer and former employer for personal character checks, did a criminal background, as well as checked my previous landlords and Their reputations. Sounds like a lot, but this is a quiet, nice place to live, and they have no problems.
Key word here is “townhouse”…
I call my place a Town house because I have my own front door. There are over 70 apts. on this property…and they do accept section 8, but it is a very nice area, because the landlord does their research……
Although this law may seem to target landlords…it may also make it easier for them to evict problem tenants (which can be difficult)….I think the fee should only apply when a landlord has not done anything to solve the issues rather than after so many complaints in a month
The place is a dump which only attracts less than desirable tenants. Check it out.
So what do you suggest we do with the poor ?? Ship them to Bangor..LOL..