Housing quality has been a source of concern in Lima. One company that has purchased and renovated several Lima properties said it feels that Lima code enforcement has been more strict on their properties than owner-occupied ones.
LIMA — They are a familiar sight in some Lima neighborhoods: boarded up or broken windows, lengths of siding falling off, porch floorboards warped and decaying. Blighted housing has long been an area of concern when it comes to Lima’s economic and community development, and while the city has encouraged homeownership as a means of investing in city properties, some companies have been purchasing some of these decaying structures in order to renovate them and use them as rental properties. One of these companies, however, is concerned about what it sees as a lack of cooperation from the city.
Blue Chip Housing has been purchasing properties in Lima for more than a decade.
“I bought my first house on North Street — 1118 W. North St.,” Blue Chip Construction owner Brady Schroeder said. “I bought it for $6,500. I put a new roof on it, siding, all new windows, it was a gut job.”
Since then, Blue Chip has grown its portfolio to where, as of February, it owns and manages 114 rental properties and eight short-term Airbnb properties in Allen County, all but two located within city limits. Last month, the company purchased an additional 26 properties for a total of nearly $1.5 million, according to land transfer records.
As Schroeder and his company have been rehabbing and renting these properties over the years, they have increasingly felt that they are being held to a higher standard by city inspectors than homeowners have.
“They know they can come to me having over 100 rentals and say, ‘You’ve got to fix this and we’re just going to fine you. We don’t care,’” he said. “They’ve charged us for a cracked sidewalk. You go up and down the sidewalks and everyone’s got a cracked sidewalk.”
Schroeder also pointed to issues like overgrowth of trees and vegetation along fence lines in alleyways or grass being too tall in yards as areas where they get cited. Even small blemishes get noticed on their properties while much more blatant issues are ignored on properties close by.
“One time they fined us for having paint chipping on a garage door,” Schroeder said. “You look around the neighborhood and there are garage doors falling off.”
Schroeder also expressed frustration with newly acquired properties getting hit with code violations before his team has had the chance to begin work on that house, since they are often working on fixing up several properties before moving on to the next ones.
“I feel like in Lima, all they do is make headaches for us,” he said. “There’s just hurdle after hurdle after hurdle.”
City officials pushed back on this assertion, saying that both rental and owner-occupied properties get the same treatment as far as code enforcement and that working with both homeowners and landlords is a top priority for the current administration. According to Public Information Officer Jessica Begonia, the majority of violation notices have gone to property owners, with only 24.5 percent of notices going to property investors.
“We care about bringing everyone’s voice to the table: landlords, homeowners, and rentals,” Public Information Officer Jessica Begonia said. “I think the mayor and our team here at the city have done a great job of being responsive to the things that they’re hearing.”
Begonia pointed to the city extending periods for appealing notices of violations from 10 to 45 days as one example of the administration’s responsiveness.
“If extra time is needed for repairs and to correct these notices of violations, the property owners are always welcome to request a written extension to allow for additional time,” she said. “We want our neighborhoods and homes and properties to have that curb appeal.”
Schroeder expressed some hope that, as the city has transitioned into a new administration, there could be some improvements when it comes to how the city relates with landlords, but time will tell.
“There’s been some turnover,” he said. “We reached out to [Mayor Sharetta Smith] and I think it’s helped in that she’s at least acknowledged our frustrations.”
Reach Craig Kelly at 567-242-0391 or on Twitter @cmkelly419.
