Mall At Steamtown Auction Postponed To Allow Bidders More Time

An auction for the foreclosed and still struggling Mall at Steamtown was postponed three weeks to give potential bidders more time to prepare bids, an agent involved in the upcoming online auction said.

The failure of retired department store chain owner Al Boscov’s past partnership to pay off the loan that led to the foreclosure does not disqualify him from bidding or being part of a bid, said Lynn DeMarco, contact agent for the Shopping Center Group LLC of New York City, which is facilitating the auction along with auction.com.

“This is an open auction, so anybody can bid,” Ms. DeMarco said Tuesday.

The auction, originally scheduled for Monday through today, was postponed to June 22 to 24. Bidding requires proof that bidders are viable and can come up with the money to fulfill their bids. Bidders will submit bids through the auction.com website in a fashion similar to an eBay auction. Bidders can see the highest bid as the auction unfolds. When the deadline for bids passes, the high bidder gets the mall, assuming the bidder has the money, Ms. DeMarco said.

Read more:

http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/mall-at-steamtown-auction-postponed-to-allow-bidders-more-time-1.1892390

Wilkes-Barre’s Sherman Hills Complex Now Prefers Locals

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — The welcome mat is still out for out-of-state residents at Sherman Hills, but under a program instituted by the new owner, locals are given preference to move into the federally-subsidized apartment complex.

The preference also applies if a member of the household waiting to get one of the 344-units has a job.

John VanMetre, director of property management for The Aspen Companies, an affiliate of Teaneck, New Jersey-based Treetop Development, owner of the complex, explained the change in light of a recent report that Sherman Hills had advertised for tenants in the New York City area.

VanMetre said that with the change in ownership, any ads are done locally.

Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/news/50555847/Sherman-Hills-puts-focus-on-locals

Judge Gives South Hills Landlord 30 Days For Tenant Relocation Proposal

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Allegheny County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A landlord facing an avalanche of building and health code violations for a row of town houses and a neighboring apartment complex in Carrick will have until the end of the month to clear out the remaining tenants before his next appearance in front of a local judge.

Davin Gartley of Mt. Lebanon has been cited repeatedly since October for problems related to lead paint, sewage, trash, lack of running water and more.

The continuance Magisterial District Judge Richard G. King granted June 26 required Mr. Gartley to come up with a “good faith” relocation plan for the tenants living in three apartment buildings at 2531-2539 Brownsville Road in exchange for the possibility of reduced fines, said Jim Thompson, deputy director of environmental health for the Allegheny County Health Department.

“We were surprised. This has been a long, ongoing case,” Mr. Thompson said. “Granting another 30 days, with this landlord being so difficult, we’re not sure exactly what that will accomplish.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2014/07/14/Judge-gives-South-Hills-landlord-30-days-for-tenant-relocation-proposal/stories/201407140044#ixzz37SYJI2Nh

Wilkes-Barre Landlord Loses ‘One-Strike’ Appeal

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After losing his appeal, the owner of the first apartment shutdown by Wilkes-Barre‘s one-strike ordinance said he’s taking the city to court.

Red Hill resident Adam Peters, whose rental unit at 216 Carlisle St. was closed by the city in September after his tenant was arrested for dealing drugs, asked for the penalty to be repealed during a hearing at city hall Tuesday. The housing appeals board unanimously upheld the first use of the city’s one-strike ordinance, which allows it to shut down rental properties for six months if they’re the location of a drug or weapons crime.

Peters said he’ll take his appeal to a judge in Luzerne County court. Peters’ attorney John Bradley said he’s also going to challenge the ordinance’s constitutionality. He hasn’t decided whether he’ll do so in county or federal court.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/w-b-landlord-loses-one-strike-appeal-1.1588473

Crime Fears Spark Wilkes-Barre Woman To Speak Out

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE — Her parents’ house on Gates Street is next door, yet Darla Carey doesn’t walk there by herself at night.

Car break-ins in her neighborhood, including her husband Dan’s, strangers passing by on the sidewalks and fear that crime has overrun the city have compelled her to take precautions for her safety and that of her family.

“We keep our porch lights on all night,” Carey said.  On those nights when she walks the 20 feet from her front door to her parents’, she said, “Dan walks me over.”

Carey echoes what some other people have been saying about an increase in crime and the city administration’s apparent refusal to acknowledge and deal with it.  In a David-and-Goliath moment last week, the diminutive mother of four grown children and a grandchild scolded Mayor Tom Leighton before a packed city council meeting for appearing not to care about the safety of the residents.

Read more:   http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/689201/Crime-fears-spark-W-B-woman-to-speak-out

Man Killed In Wilkes-Barre Shooting

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A party at 174 S. Grant St. in Wilkes-Barre came to an abrupt halt around 1:20 a.m. Sunday when shooting resulted in the death of a 24-year-old in the backyard.

Police were called to the house on a report of a “large fight with shots fired” and found Vaughn Kemp lying motionless in the backyard.

Kemp, a black man who lived a few blocks away on Park Avenue, was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy concluded Kemp died from multiple gunshot wounds, said Luzerne County Deputy Coroner Dan Hughes.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/658426/Man-killed-in-W-B-shooting

ACLU Sues Norristown Over Landlord Ordinance

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORRISTOWN — A federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Norristown ordinance that penalizes landlords for the alleged behavior of their tenants was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

The Norristown ordinance penalized landlords and encouraged them to evict their tenants when the police are called to a property three times in four months for “disorderly behavior,” including responding to incidents of domestic violence.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Pennsylvania, and the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP against the municipality, former Municipal Administrator David Forrest, Interim Municipal Administrator Robert Glisson, former Police Chief Russell Bono, Interim Police Chief Willie Richet and Code Enforcement Manager Joseph Januzelli.

“We are planning to file a motion for preliminary injunction to prevent Norristown from enforcing the December 2012 ordinance while the case is pending,” said Sara Rose, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Pennsylvania.  “We hope we will have a hearing soon.  We hope this will be resolved quickly.”

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130424/NEWS01/130429765/aclu-sues-norristown-over-landlord-ordinance#full_story

Oxford Development Co. Still In Talks With Possible High-Rise Tenants In Downtown Pittsburgh

English: Downtown Pittsburgh (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Another deadline will come and go without a decision by Oxford Development Co. on whether to build a 33-story skyscraper on Smithfield Street or renovate an existing building there.

Oxford initially had hoped to decide by the end of 2012 before extending the time frame to Sunday, the end of the first quarter.

While Shawn Fox, director of business development for the company, acknowledged that the firm probably won’t meet that deadline either, he added that Oxford is closing in on a decision.

“It’s not going to go that far into the future,” he said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/oxford-development-co-still-in-talks-with-possible-high-rise-tenants-in-downtown-pittsburgh-681417/#ixzz2P2GZ6Up6

Landlords Vent Over Reading’s Quality-Of-Life Program

Reading City Hall on the NRHP since April 13, 1982. At 8th and Washington Streets, Reading, Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer walked into the lion’s den Tuesday night, answering hardball questions hurled by local landlords in the Real Estate Investors Association.

They were angry at the $505 cost of a half-hour codes inspection for a rental property.

They were livid at what they called the Gestapo mentality of city inspectors, and warned that sooner or later some landlord will hurt them because of their attitudes.

But they vented mostly about the quality-of-life program, with its $25-and-more tickets, which began in early 2011.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=383644

Landlord Ire Over Philadelphia Gas Work’s Lien Policy

YOU’D ASSUME that Gail Newman is using hyperbole when she calls the Philadelphia Gas Works a “fascist” regime run by “devious gangsters” relying on “Mafia-like” tactics to shake her down for $15,000 worth of natural gas she never used.

Bit over the top, right? Turns out, Newman’s not the only one who feels that way.

“They know they can extort the money . . . ” she said. “I’m just a middle-class person trying to make a buck, and they’re taking their boot and squashing us. I’m so pissed!”

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120217_Landlord_ire_over_PGW_s_lien_policy.html