Announcement: New business coming to the North Side of Youngstown...

[Leah]

Best of luck to you Allan!

[AllanY2525]

Just another foot-note to my previous post - I'm gonna use CAPS for emphasis - but I
am not trying to "shout" at anyone here.....

1) Montgomery County, MD has a "RENT COURT".... In Rockville, MD where I live, rent is DUE on the FIRST of
the month.  Rent is considered LATE at 9 a.m. on the SECOND of the month.  On the FIFTH of the month,
a landlord can file a "Failure to pay rent" lawsuit in the county court house - for $4.50 !!!!

The "RENT COURT" will send a subpoena to the tenant - if they fail to respond, the landlord is AUTOMATICALLY
AWARDED a judgement - and the eviction process commences without delay.

2) The "RENT COURT" also looks out for tenants' rights - allowing them a legal recourse against SLUM LORDS
who WILL NOT keep their rental properties up to code, etc.

This system has worked, and worked WELL in Montgomery county for years and years....there is NO reason
on God's green earth why it would NOT work for Youngstown.  The "RENT COURT" is there to protect the
rights of both landlords and their tenants, and make sure that when disuptes DO arise, they are settled in
a fair, equitable, and TIMELY manner.

If Youngstown and Mahoning County are willing to establish a county registry and a rent court, then bad tenants
and bad landlords will SOON become a thing of the past in this area - once and for ALL.  This, in and of itself,
will help to rebuild Youngstown's neighborhoods, by forcing both landlords and tenants to GIVE A SH$% about
the places they rent out, and the places that they call "HOME".


::::::::::::Stepping down off my $3 soap box now ::::::::::::::::::


Allan

[AllanY2525]

I don't think the city of Youngstown has a legal right to force landlords to screen their tenants,
unfortunately.  I would like to see Mahoning County implement the "county registry" that
Montgomery County, MD uses back home.  It's basically like a credit bureau database
for tenants.

If a landlord leases a home or apartment to a tenant who turns out to be a bad tenant,
then the landlord can report them to the county registry - which is checked by other
landlords prior to leasing their rental units to a new tenant.

For tenants who do not pay their rent on time, can't keep the place clean and decent,
can't get along with their neighbors, etc,  it will become harder and harder for them
to procure rental housing as time goes on, due to more and more entries about
their behaviour(s) being logged in the county register.

It's a way to legally "blackball" bad tenants so that no one in their right mind
will rent to them - and also a way for landlords to let other landlords know
about them being undesirables due to their behaviour(s).

[jay]

Maybe we need a landlord screening process.  Many landlords are not willing to screen tenants by your method.  The upper south side (Hilton, Judson, Ravenwood, Lucius, Avondale area) has a very big problem with rental units.  Is it too late to improve this neighborhood?  Could our city force a landlord to screen tenants?

[AllanY2525]

Jay,

It's not the amount of the monthly rent that determines the kind of tenants that live in a rental
property - it's the discretion of the person who OWNS the property and decides who DOES,
and DOES NOT - move into it.

I will NOT rent to drug dealers, drug users, criminals, etc.  This is what separates my company
from many of the fly-by-night outfits that currently operate within the city of Youngstown.  I
DO check people's credit, I DO check former landlord references, and I DO check criminal
backgrounds on ALL potential applicants - BEFORE renting to them.  It is this practice of
[ legally ]  screening tenants prior to signing a lease with them, that will bring quality people
back into the neighborhood around Wick Park.  This, and safe, modernized and up-to-code
housing units that folks will be HAPPY to live in.

It is not a tenant's annual income bracket that determines what kind of tenant and
neighbor they will be.  As Dr. Martin Luther King once said "judge people by the content of
their character".  A person's credit report, criminal background check and landlord references
are ALL very good indicators of the content of that person's character.

FYI,

Allan

[jay]

What I like most about the plan is your intent to sell the homes to people who will live in them and own them.   The south side of Youngstown is plagued with many low rent properties and the problems that come with them.

[northside lurker]

Good to hear!

I'd like to do the same type of thing over here on the lower west side, but I just don't have the money, time, or ambition necessary to get started.

[AllanY2525]

Folks,

I am pleased to announce that as of this week, I am forming a new business entity, which
will be known as "Northside Renaissance Properties, LLC" - which will be based solely on
the North Side of Youngstown.

Our mission is to acquire vacant, abandoned and distressed properties in and around the
Wick Park Historic District and rehabilitate them - bringing them TOTALLY up to the current
building code, and then either rent them or  resell them to owners who will become owner/occupants.
We want to provide safe, DECENT housing for folks - whether they wish to rent or to own -
and make our neighborhoods whole again.   Among other things, EVERY rental property we
rehab will have an ADT security system installed into it.

We are going to help rebuild the near North Side, one property at a time.  Currently,
we are working on the single family home at No. 114 Woodbine Street, and have
contracts for sale on properties located on Illinois Avenue and also on Bryson
Street.

A photographic record will be made of the progress on each and every property. 
I will continue to post the photos on the Annex web site, at:

http://www.youngstownphotos.orgfree.com.

I am personally committed to helping the North Side of Youngstown become
a better place to live by cleaning up the neighborhoods around the Wick Park area
and attempting to attract new residents to move back into them, thereby taking an
ownership stake in the local community.  Hopefully, we will be able to lead by
example. 

In addition to renovations and rental properties, my crew will be available to do small
jobs for individual home owners who need minor repairs, landscaping work, etc but
cannot afford "contractor" prices.  Things like interior and exterior painting, plaster
and drywall repair, weatherizing and energy efficiency improvements, lawn work, etc. 


FYI,

Allan