The City Council is pictured discussed ongoing issues with people buying multiple properties in the city under different LLCs at the latest council work session. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

With work looking to ramp up again on some demolitions in the city, and the recent Chautauqua County tax foreclosure auction wrapping up, City Council members are raising concerns about those who purchase multiple properties in the city under different LLCs and let them sit.

Councilman Jeff Russell, R-At Large, referred to people that do this as “housing predators” saying that they might have multiple LLCs that they operate under to buy these homes, and that they might have multiple existing code violations on the houses that they already own, and possibly back taxes.

“Yet, through weak legislation or legislation that needs to be passed on the county and state level, these housing predators are still able to go in under the ruse of multiple LLCs and purchase more homes, even though they’re neglectful on the ones that they own,” Russell said.

Councilman Russell Bonfiglio, R-At Large, asked if the city had the ability to refuse a sale, and city development director, Crystal Surdyk, said that the sale is not up to the city but the county. It was noted that people have the right to buy property, and that if purchased under different LLCs the county does not necessarily have the ability to refuse the sale. Additionally, Councilman Joe Paternini, R-Ward 4, said that if a house has a code violation that goes unreported it might go unnoticed for a while as well.

“It doesn’t mean that we don’t know those violations still exist, just to be clear on that,” Surdyk said. “We do have a strategy that we’ve been working on trying to get more violations and more property owners, whether it’s one property owner that owns 16 different LLCs, to try and be more efficient in the way that we’re pursuing prosecution of code violations.”

When a house is sold the Department of Development needs to close any previous code enforcement cases on the house from the previous owner and open them up again under a new case for the buyer, and Surdyk said just because they have to do that the cases do not fall off of the department’s radar. She noted that sometimes people will buy the same homes again under a new LLC name and that the department is trying to keep track of that.

“So, to stop that type of practice you stated that not only would there have to be legislation passed at the county level, but obviously we’re going to have to elicit some assistance in some laws being changed on the state level as well,” Russell said.