Christopher Coen
Melissa Sogard
nancylee1
Slumlords in the Twin Cities continue their wicked ways, with refugees and other immigrants making an easy target. A landlord in St. Paul allegedly used threats in an attempt to silence tenants — who now fear imminent eviction. An article in the Pioneer Press explains what’s happening:
For years, residents of Westminster Court in St. Paul have complained about rodents, bugs and dilapidated conditions at their apartment complex.
During a recent inspection, city officials recorded some 600 code violations at the 1205 and 1225 Westminster St., near Maryland Avenue and Interstate 35E.
Now, residents are walking a tightrope as they beg city officials for help. They just want their homes fixed, tenants say. But if problems persist, they fear the [apartments] could be ordered vacated.
“If they closed [them] down, that would make us homeless,” said tenant Joe Parker.
[It has] become something of a Catch-22 for the St. Paul City Council and other city officials, who are eager to clamp down on the problem properties without unduly punishing the tenants, most of whom are low-income immigrants or ethnic minorities with children.
Tenants say they’ve been paying market rent to put up with failing heating systems, bedbugs, rodents, damaged walls, doors with no locks, piling garbage, mold, poor sanitation and illegally overcrowded apartments.
A Nov. 21 city fire inspection on a handful of units found 48 code violations, ranging from missing floor tiles to extension cords used in lieu of permanent electrical wiring. Those items later were found to be the tip of the iceberg…
…Several apartments were “condemned as unfit for human habitation,” mostly as a result of bedbug infestations
Both are in foreclosure, and city officials say the listed owners – Randall T. Chun and Peggy J. Chun of St. Paul, Mark and Lisa Marie Thomas of Woodbury, and Pelimar Properties of Grand Avenue in St. Paul – have been uncooperative and unresponsive…
…Several tenants said they were notified through an intermediary, a handyman they know only as Roberto, that if they spoke to the city, they would be removed from the [apartments] or referred to immigration authorities.
Resident Halima Eidl, who recalled such threats, said she and other tenants also received a letter from Peggy Chun telling them they would be fined $50 late fees if they stopped paying rent, as several have in reaction to the conditions.
“This money, I don’t want to give it to her. These are human beings,” said Eidl, who said most of her neighbors are Mexican or Somali immigrants. “She’s taking advantage of the people….Last weekend, when I was cooking with my kids, my oven blew up.”… Read more here
