Will this be another vacant lot belonging to the city of Pocomoke, It doesn't look like it will be long before forth street looking north west, will be water front/view property at the rate houses are burning in that area.
A local man faces fines due to unsafe levels of lead inside a home he was renting, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
MDE says it was spurred by a third-party complaint that two units at 204 Walnut Street in Pocomoke City contained high levels of lead throughout the house. The organization says it inspected the residence and then issued a fine of $15,000 to Berlin resident John Jay Cox.
Maryland state property records show the house was built in 1920 and is owned by Cox. Cox could not be reached for comment by phone or at his home.
MDE says Cox was renting rooms and didn't take steps to remove the sources of lead, which MDE says is against the law.
"The property owner had not complied with the state law which requires registration of properties, pre-1950 rental properties, and doing risk reduction treatments before tenants can occupy those properties," said Alvin Bowles, a program manager with MDE.
The fine was issued in April and since then, MDE says Cox has appealed it. Neighbors say besides concerns of lead paint in the house, there was also a fire that destroyed part of the home in May.
Walter Eskiewicz, who lives in an adjacent home, said he had to rescue the occupants from the home when it caught on fire.
"The place was filling up with smoke and oddly enough I didn't even hear a smoke detector," he said. "But eventually we got everyone out before the fire department got here."
The house is now condemned with part of the building charred from the fire. There are also broken windows and litter scattered throughout the yard. Doctors say lead poisoning from things like lead dust particles or paint chips can be serious.
"The big bad problem is brain problems: Mental retardation, problems with thinking and processing," said Dr. Geraldine Goertzen.
Dr. Goertzen said anemia can also be a concern with lead poisoning.
A local man faces fines due to unsafe levels of lead inside a home he was renting, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
MDE says it was spurred by a third-party complaint that two units at 204 Walnut Street in Pocomoke City contained high levels of lead throughout the house. The organization says it inspected the residence and then issued a fine of $15,000 to Berlin resident John Jay Cox.
Maryland state property records show the house was built in 1920 and is owned by Cox. Cox could not be reached for comment by phone or at his home.
MDE says Cox was renting rooms and didn't take steps to remove the sources of lead, which MDE says is against the law.
"The property owner had not complied with the state law which requires registration of properties, pre-1950 rental properties, and doing risk reduction treatments before tenants can occupy those properties," said Alvin Bowles, a program manager with MDE.
The fine was issued in April and since then, MDE says Cox has appealed it. Neighbors say besides concerns of lead paint in the house, there was also a fire that destroyed part of the home in May.
Walter Eskiewicz, who lives in an adjacent home, said he had to rescue the occupants from the home when it caught on fire.
"The place was filling up with smoke and oddly enough I didn't even hear a smoke detector," he said. "But eventually we got everyone out before the fire department got here."
The house is now condemned with part of the building charred from the fire. There are also broken windows and litter scattered throughout the yard. Doctors say lead poisoning from things like lead dust particles or paint chips can be serious.
"The big bad problem is brain problems: Mental retardation, problems with thinking and processing," said Dr. Geraldine Goertzen.
Dr. Goertzen said anemia can also be a concern with lead poisoning.
Don't these type of rentals get inspected by the city before people move in?
ReplyDeleteWhy wasn't it reported to MDE before the house burned? Just seems to me that if lead paint is so dangerous the MDE would send inspectors into these houses before they become occupied.
This is just another one of those rental properties with a landlord that doen't care who rents to tenants that don't care.
I don't think you should just blame the landlord. Some blame needs to be put on the MDE for not making sure these rentals are safe instead of "after the fact". Why did it take a "third party caller" and a fire to bring this to someones attention?
You can't always blame the landlord. My guess these people lost their homes, didn't care what it was painted with before they moved in, but by golly they do know..........someone told them they could sue the landlord. You know, it just may not be entirely the landlords fault. If the MDE is responsible for making sure lead paint is removed from homes built in the 20's and after then it needs to stop "hiding in the bushes" and let landlords know.
I just don't think you can blame the landlord entirely. I'd ask questions before I moved in.
jmmb
JMMB:
ReplyDeletePocomoke City has NO RENTAL CODE!!!
The city housing "inspector" is not qualified to current state standards to inspect your home for a bank loan.
Pocomoke is slumlord friendly in all respects.
If Mayor Mike McLiar had kept his word there would have been a rental code on the books three years ago.
He promised a "sundown" for unregulated rental units. That means when the property changes hands or a new tenant moves in the regulations would go into effect.
Boss Hogg and his cronies don't like the idea of regulated rentals.
Before we bought our home and were looking for a rental we called one of "landlords" on the list given out at city hall.
He said "I don't have anything fit for white folks..." we asked to look anyways.
Everything was substandard in old houses cut up into 3 to 7 "apartments" renting from $250 to $700 per month EACH.
His name is still on the list at City Hall.
This all goes back to the cry of the dead horse cavalry.
NOTHING IN POCOMOKE WILL CHANGE UNTIL BOSS HOGG RUSS BLAKE IS REMOVED FROM CITY HALL!!!
and it's simple to comply if you do have lead paint, if the law has not changed all you have to do is scrape the loose paint and re-paint over the lead paint and all's well.
ReplyDeleteand yes, I have an email from the mayor promising me that the multi family rentals will be "gone" and purchased by "respectful families"
this cutting big old houses up into 5-6 section-8 rentals is bull shit and should be stopped.
I used to work for a landlord that would do just that and that was my job, (to make 2-3 rooms from 1 big room)
in one house, in fact it was a converted garage, I put a dividing wall in a 12'x12' room to make 2 rooms, I told him a 6'x6' room was not big enough for anyone, his reply to me was, and I quote.
"it's a black section-8 family, as long as they can get a single bed in there, 'they' are happy"
Is this the house on the other end of the same street that the blessed mayor and Councilman Morrison live on?
ReplyDeleteSorry. I still don't think the landlord is to entirely blame. This crap for housing is all over Pocomoke and has been. I am sure it's not the only home with lead paint.
This is some more pure Pocomoke BS!
And with this burned structure being at the end of Walnut St., same street that 2 of Pocomoke's most dignified live on, it surprises me that city hall hasn't bull dozed it yet!
So the tenants somehow set an accidental fire and the landlord gets fined by the MDE for lead paint. MY, my.
jmmb
Every single property built before 1982 has lead in it. This was told to me by the MDE.
ReplyDeleteDon't people realize that this is just another way for the government to justify it's paychecks?
Do you know why the old Firehouse that was painted bright red, now looks pink?
No lead in the paint.
Lead was used as an additive to paint, and to nail polish, hair dye, and pottery to keep the red really red.
Without the lead, red heads have to have their hair color fade faster, and buildings like the Firehouse oxidize and turn pink.
If you don't allow your children to lick the walls, or engage in home improvements before you child is 6 years old you can be pretty sure that their lead levels won't be too high.
However, if you are a woman that was exposed to lead as a child and you become pregnant the lead actually settles in your bones and leaches out when you are pregnant.
When your doctor says your baby needs a lead test, don't be alarmed if your child tests positive for lead unless you have been doing home improvements.
State and County officials do not yet recognize this as fact, yet it is.
How would a baby get lead poisoning unless they are licking lead painted woodwork, window sills, or teething on paint chips?
All of that aside, Pocomoke has no landlord regulations except those set up by the state.
In Snow Hill, and Salisbury, landlords are registered with the city and the building inspector comes to the property and inspects it before it can be rented and the landlord is given a rental certificate. But not in Pocomoke, and the citizens who are the most vulnerable are the ones who suffer the most.
If a person is renting property to others then it needs to be up basic levels of safety, and decency.