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, VOL VI NO. 18 APRIL 4 -10, 19 4
G
,
TI
BE TO HARBOR­
, e have a family living in
a ticking timebomb."
That wa how Rev.
athaniel G thright, pre -
dent of the Concerned Ten­
ants, described the home of
the tenants at 235 Lake St.
The property is owned
by Action Rentals. Action
Rental wa also the land­
lord of the property here
three toddler and their
t b by er:PeIish d
in a fire February 28.
right listed three "d ger­
ous" conditions.
A copy of the city
inspection report, done
arch 16, w attached.
The three dangers, are:
"(
-An overloaded fu
box described by the city
inspector s "un e." .
- 0 temperature and
pre ure relief valve on the
hot water heater. The heater
could explode at 'y tlmt,
Rev. Gathright d the in­
specters noted.
- 0 ga v on the
ga line to the ga range.
Rev. Gathright. , d it a
problem with the range oc­
curred, there ould be no
ay to ut off the ga
"We are talking about
po ble explo on or ga
leak," th Concerned Ten-
ants president noted.
could not put her rent
allowance into escro a Other violation Usted by
allowed by state law. This is th city include: de eriorat-
tool available to tenan to ed roof, peeling paint, de er­
force landlords to correct iorating front eps and re­
unsafe conditions. Further, tainin wall, broken wind­
. DSS also said they could no 0 , among many other
longer inspect rental proper- item .
ties . prior to DSS cllent The property wlIl re ert
renting them. -This is a viola- to the state May 1 fOT non­
tion of county code. payment of SI,345.30 in
• taxes, County record re-
Continued 0 12 veil .
In a statement made
to the pres Monday, April
4, in front of the 235 Lake
Street property, Rev. Gath-
tory, turn
. .
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'BE: to HARBOR­
The . Concerned Tenant
A . ,don (CTA) has chal­
lenged "the city and Berrien
County to de clop plan for
code enforcement.
The challenge com in
the Ike of a fatal fire
February 28 in hich three
children under three years
of ge and their teenage
b by sitter were killed.
Sin th t fire, the CT A h
ed for city inspec­
tion of 12 rental propertl
in the city. '_
Accordin to CT A pre
dent athaniel G th-
right th In ctions are
fir din to an ultl-
each department develop
a plan for code enforce­
ment and in ection of
rental property prior' to
tenant moving' in, Rev.
Gathright said.
''When we were trying
to get the projects fixed up
e couldn't get any here
with the city," Rev. Gath­
right d of the 1981 uc­
cessful rent strike gainst
the Benton Harbor Housing
Commission. "The county
nt in its inspectors and
got some of tho place
condemned; then we got
ction."
Rev. G thright d that
the County h code on its
boo requiring property
rented to DSS client be up
to code, but that the coun­
ty ot funded the In­
the job In
"DSS ys their hand are the February 28 fire re­
tied if the city won't en- . mains standing, not boarded
force its codes." up and open for vandal
"As recently as arch or kids to play in.
27, I talked with chief Rev Gathright outlined
city in pector specifically the steps his group has
about this hou and the' taken:
dangers here," Rev. Gath- 'e met with the
right continued. "The in- Berrien County D partment
spector said he didn't know of Social Services officials
how his department WI Monday, March 26. They
going to deal with Action told us the ADC client who
. Rentals to bring the hou is I tenant here in this hou
--------------------------------------------------------�
up to code."
Rev. Gathright said the
Tenants had also asked the
city to condemn the house.
· "If the property were con­
.demned, DSS could relocate
the tenant under' emer­
gency provisions."
As reported in the March
7 issue of The Citizen
Action Rentals owns 97
properties in the city with
clo to 200 rental units.
They owe over $105,756.25
in back taxes with 68 of­
their pieces of property
ready to come back to the
ate ay 1.
The city has taken no
action against Action Ren­
tal to force code compli­
ance. The property at 248
8ellvie that I the site of
to air B'.
c
•
gator for the Berrien 'County Pro cu­
tor's office.
The C ere � compared th Car-
ter story to 'that of Lynel Geter in
Texas, which C pecial a . gnment
crew also ired before the story was
picked up by CBS's Sixty Minutes.
Carter was arrested two year
after the crime in his hometown of
Gary, Indiana. The warrant for his
arrest wa based on what proved to be
p rjured testimony. 0 phy cal evi­
dence or motive were ever produced
to link Carter to the shooting.
He was convicted by an all- bite
jury. The sho is entitled' e aur­
ice Carter File."
Cable ews etwork (CNN) will
air a two-part rles on the aurice
Carter story and the role of this news­
papers in bringing Car er's plight to
public attention.
The serie will air Monday, April
16, and Tuesday, April 17 throughout
the d and evening on C . (Chan­
nel 23 for Benton Harbor Cable TV
viewers.)
The ries silo again on the
following weekend, Saturday April 21
and Sunday April 22 during the Spec­
ial As . gnment program also on C
Carter i rving a life sentence for
, the Dec. 20, 1973 ult on then, Ben-
ton Harbor police offlcer Thoma
Scha er. Sch dler is no an investl-
