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New Town law brings pressure on irresponsible landlords
"I should be surprised …, but I have come to understand that this is what the Town has decided to become-an illegal operation," he scolded the board. "If you continue along these lines you are going to cost taxpayers a lot of money in civil court." "What is egregious and outrageous is that you stand here speaking on behalf of slum landlords who, yes, will be effected by this," Bellone responded strongly. "But I am telling you that this government and this town board stands on the side of the residents and neighbors and communities who have been victimized by the kind of landlord you represent." Akujuo's organization challenged a move by the Town several years ago to establish a bureau of adjudication, charging it with hearing local quality of life cases such as illegal multi-family homes, and illegal business uses in residential areas. At the time, Town officials were frustrated over what they described as the inability of the district court, which traditionally hears these cases, to move on them in a timely fashion, effectively allowing the violation to continue and disrupting the community, some- times for years. The move was also opposed by the Unified Court System, which sued the town. That resulted in indepth discussions between the court system and town officials who eventually agreed to disband the bureau in exchange for establishment of a Community Court within the District Court system, which is now open and operating. Specifically, the new law gives the Town the right to bring eviction proceedings against a property owner who allows unlawful activity to take place in his or her dwelling. These would include gang activity, prostitution and drug activity and similar nuisance violations that impact on the quality of life within the surrounding area. It takes the Town's nuisance law, which allows the Town to board up homes and buildings for similar disruptions that result in arrests, one step further, said Dennis Cohen, the Town's attorney. The eviction proceedings do not require that the incidents specified result in arrests by the police against the landlord or the tenants. The defendant will have due process, said the Town, in the eviction proceedings, which come before a judge. But that, said Akujuo means that the law penalizes people who have not been found guilty of committing a crime and that landlords have no right to "snoop through the belongings of a tenant to find out what they are doing and no duty to the Town, the state or anyone else to become a police officer." Bellone said landlords and tenants enter into agreements that clearly require a standard of responsibility on both sides.
"The majority of renters and landlords in this Town do care about their communities," said Bellone. "But there are a few landlords who are greedy and who don't care what is going on at their property as long as they are making money. This board will continue to stand up to those kind of landlords to protect the rights of the lawabiding
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