City Attorney's Office Defends Record

City Attorney's Office Defends Record

The article by Moe Fitzsimons about low income housing in Ann Arbor in the Oct. AGENDA unfairly criticized the Ann Arbor City Attorney's Office for not bringing a receivership action against the owner of rental property at 551 and 553 S. Fourth.

  The article fails to mention the concerted enforcement action by the City that finally brought the landlord to justice. This landlord had operated substandard housing for years. At the direction of the City Attomey's Office,the City Housing Bureau last year began giving the owner weekly tickets. The owner was fined thousands of dollars by District Judge George Alexander. Judge Alexander then told the owner he would be fined more if he did not fix the properties up or sell them.

   The mandatory receivership provisions in the Housing Code did not become effective until early 1988. By then, the owner of these properties was already under the watchful eye of Judge Alexander and was in the process of selling the properties. The new owners were planning to totally rehabilitate the properties. Since the properties were going to be fixed up, the City Attomey's Office concluded that receivership proceedings could not be justified to a courL

   Under the City Housing Code, any interested person can bring a receivership action against a property that is not in compliance with the Code. Significantly, Legal Services of Southeastern Michigan knew this, but chose not to file a receivership action either.

Mel Laracey, Assistant City Attorney

ANN ARBOR, MI