Housing task force looking at action against landlord following failed agreement talks

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Youngstown Housing Task Force wants a company that owns over 300 houses in the city to sign a community agreement with them, committing to making repairs and meeting other benchmarks set by members of the task force, but a representative of the company said the task force set an unreasonable timeline for a response.

The company, Youngstown Houses, LLC, has come under the radar of the task force following complaints from tenants about subpar living conditions , a lack of response to their requests for repairs and spikes in rental prices. Many of those rental properties have code violations.

The company purchased 290 single-family homes and 17 multi-family duplexes from Gary Crim, Inc., in April 2023 in a $5.6 million deal, county auditor’s records show.

The task force met Wednesday night and spoke on the phone with a representative of the company. A copy of the community agreement was emailed to the company and reviewed with the representative during that call. When the representative would not make a commitment, task force members gave the company 24 hours to respond.

Jad Pernot, who identified himself as the project manager for the company, spoke to WKBN after that meeting and said he could not sign such an agreement on the spot and felt that they were not given enough time to review it. He also questioned various deadlines for repairs that were mentioned in the agreement.

“They didn’t want to listen. They just wanted to ask this question and close the phone, and they shouted and closed the phone that you have 24 hours or we will proceed legally, so I told them, OK. Do as you wish,” he said.

“I feel like they are pushing us into a corner, and they don’t want to listen to what we have to say. They just want to say what they want to say, and they want an agreement, and they want a signature… They didn’t keep a space for discussion,” he added later.

Jack Daugherty, neighborhood stabilization director for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) and member of the task force, said the task force is willing to make adjustments to the agreement with Youngstown Houses, LLC, if those at the company are committed to working with them.

“Certainly, if they come to the table, the task force would be willing to discuss those timelines with them,” he said.

Daugherty said he felt that the requirements in the agreement were reasonable for any landlord. Among the items listed in the agreement: Youngstown Houses was asked to provide a name and working phone number for the owner of the company and manager of Allstate Property Management; work with the city to complete any outstanding rental inspections by November 12; and bring active code enforcement cases into compliance by March 17, 2025. The agreement also asked that the company respond to all tenants’ outstanding maintenance requests by Sept. 9, 2024.

Daugherty added that the task force tried numerous times to contact Youngstown Houses, LLC before Wednesday night.

Last month, the task force organized a community rally in front of the management company of Youngstown Houses, LLC — Allstate Property Management, located in the Turnberry Apartments on Midlothian Boulevard. They had hoped to meet with a representative of the company then, but the office was closed.

Daugherty said they’ve also sent letters to the company’s property management company and places they believe are connected to the owner before that rally, but those letters went unanswered.

Pernot said they are committed to making repairs but said many of their tenants have not been cooperative.

“We are also concerned about our tenants, and what we are doing is not only for our tenants… it’s for our houses and our units, and we want to preserve them. But for the people who don’t want to preserve the houses, who don’t want to sign their leases, they don’t want to make payments and they want repairs, how can you speak with such tenants?” he said.

He added that repairs can take time when tenants are living in the homes as they have to work around their furniture and schedules.

A s tatement from the company last month also stated that the tenants who were speaking out were just upset about their rent prices increasing.

Tenant Danielle Booth, who rents a home on E. Lucius Avenue, acknowledged that tenants are upset about those increases, but also because repairs aren’t being made either.

She was among several tenants who contacted WKBN with their own complaints about Youngstown Houses LLC, after WKBN published its story.

When WKBN went to Booth’s house earlier in July, there was only one working door. Another door was nailed shut with a board, and Booth said the windows were sealed shut and wouldn’t open. She also pointed to a bathroom sink that did not work.

She said her roof was leaking, leading to water damaging her items. She said the company hired a contractor to fix the roof, but it took a few months. Meanwhile, she said there is damage in the house from that leak.

Booth, who has lived in her home for four years, said the company has not fixed these issues, instead, raising her rent. She said she would be OK with the company raising the rent if repairs were also made, but she does not feel that the house is worth what she is paying in rent now.

“I think it’s ridiculous, especially considering the area in which I live in, the conditions that the house is in. You can’t expect somebody to pay $850 to $1,000 in rent for a house that’s only worth $500. That’s why Gary Crim [the former owner] was reasonable — you got what you expected with what you paid for it. Now, I’m paying almost three times that amount, and I’m not getting what I’m paying for,” she said.

Booth said she wanted to speak out after seeing the issues that other tenants are also facing. She is worried about what will happen to others who are being evicted or forced to leave after years in their homes.

“Speaking for everybody else, we’re all in different types of conditions, but we all live here for a reason, you know, because this is what we can afford, and now you’re trying to like triple our rent to like, push us out? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

She said she hopes that those at Youngstown Houses, LLC will consider the tenants in the future.

“I just hope that the people that own this really, really think about what they’re doing to our people, what they’re doing to the South Side of Youngstown, because running these people out of here, I don’t know what type of demographic you’re trying to get to replace the people that have lived here, but you had solid people that lived here, raised families here, that grew up here, and now you’re pushing them elsewhere, so I hope what you’re trying to do is for the better cause and not just for money,” she said.

While those at Youngstown Houses, LLC say they are committed to following the City of Youngstown’s timeline and requirements, those at the Youngstown Housing Task Force are looking into other avenues for action, saying the company is not addressing its issues quickly enough.

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