. . . Joan’s aide puts rosy
spin on housing court

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Six months after its inception, the success of City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski’s rental-housing court at the 8th Police District comes down to how you interpret it.
Krajewski (D-6th dist.) worked with former Licenses & Inspections Commissioner Robert D. Solvibile Sr., Deputy Commissioner Fran Burns and Municipal Court Judge Gwendolyn Conway to create the court and add a little more oomph on the side of justice when it comes to addressing nuisance properties and absentee landlords.
If L&I cites a property owner for violations that are not rectified, the owner is scheduled to appear before a trial commissioner at the rental-housing arm of Municipal Court at 34 S. 11th St. in Center City. If the property owner fails to comply, he is scheduled for a rental-housing court hearing before a judge at the 8th Police District’s headquarters at Red Lion and Academy roads.
The court is scheduled for the second Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m., with up to 15 slots, in the 8th district courtroom. On Tuesday, April 8 (the second Tuesday), there was no judge, no landlord and no angry neighbors.
Since November, 30 cases have been listed there. However, only one hearing actually took place, according to Patricia McDermott, the deputy civil court administrator.
McDermott referred questions to L&I about whether the agency was able to properly notify the 30 property owners of their day in court, but L&I, in turn, referred questions to Krajewski’s office and Deputy City Managing Director Tom Conway, who oversees the CLIP program.
According to L&I spokeswoman Gayle Johns, L&I hadn’t been involved with the court since December, since Solvibile left the city agency.
That seemed to be news to Krajewski’s office.
"The councilwoman will be revisiting the rental court to kick-start it up again with the new commissioner of L&I," Krajewski aide Patty-Pat Kozlowski wrote in an April 24 e-mail to the Times. "When this was created, Commissioner Bob Solvibile and Deputy Fran Burns were on board and agreed with (Councilwoman Krajewski) to this project. With the change in administration and the change of key people, it seems the chain of command hit a pothole. We are in the midst of getting that pothole filled."
The Times had sought to discuss the issue directly with Krajewski, but her aide sent another e-mail on April 29.
"JK (Krajewski) called another meeting on Thursday about this — we’re trying to get the answers too," Kozlowski wrote.
Finally, after three weeks of requests by the Times to speak with the councilwoman about the rental-housing court, Kozlowski issued this statement by e-mail at 4:14 p.m. on May 2:
"Newly appointed L&I Commissioner John Elfry has expressed his commitment to help us battle the absentee landlords and nuisance rental properties in Northeast Philadelphia with investigation, enforcement and court proceedings. This has been a top priority of my office as they field constituent service calls and complaints. The compliance-rate numbers from L&I and CLIP investigators are well received — these investigators are out there trying their best to curb these nuisance rental properties and protect the quality of life of Northeast Philadelphia.
"I will continue to hammer away with legislation to protect my neighborhoods of the 6th District. Stricter laws and regulations for rental properties as well as zeroing in on absentee landlords and make them take responsibility for their tenants and their properties is our ultimate goal," the statement said.
In an interview with the Times, Elfry also said that a system is in place in which L&I sends cases to court, and he said the department never stepped away from the process. He also discounted any problems tracking down good addresses for absentee landlords.
"It may require some investigative work. We do our due diligence," he said.
According to the L&I commissioner, the high compliance rate of cited nuisance properties is the reason there haven’t been many cases at the 8th district rental-housing court.
"The good news is (because of the work of) so many of the folks between the CLIP program and their work through L&I, the success rate has been tremendous," Elfry said.
If the success rate is so high, is there a need for the Northeast court at all?
Kozlowski responded to the question by e-mail.
"The 8th district court was sort of like a last measure — the end of the line. JK (Krajewski) wanted a court so that residents of NE Philly could go and testify at a court after working hours in their neck of the city. Let’s face it, having a court case at 1 p.m. on a workday at 34 S. 11th St. wasn’t getting any takers," Kozlowski wrote.
In reality, when there actually are cases to be heard, the court is scheduled at 4:30 p.m., which still falls during the workday for many residents. They also might not know that their nuisance neighbor is appearing in court, since there is no system in place to notify them about a pending hearing.
While they are not notified, residents can track a property by its assigned department service number, according to Kozlowski.
"You can track the DS number through L&I and find out if the property complied with the violations, when L&I went to investigate the property and when it is going to court," she wrote.
Communication breakdowns and confusion about the process and the court seem to be evident at every level.
Tacony Civic Association president Lou Iatarola was involved when Krajewski called community meetings beginning in 2005 to address the absentee-landlord problem, but he expected a multi-neighborhood meeting with Krajewski’s office when the court was ready to go.
Kozlowski said she’d be happy to walk civic groups through the process. She also took a moment to praise her boss.
"Chances are — and the numbers show it — because of the enforcement, the landlords are complying and bringing their properties up to the required permits and licenses as well as other violations instead of taking their chances in front of a judge at the 8th Police District," Kozlowski e-mailed. "So, we see it as a win, because in the end, Joan’s getting these absentee landlords and nuisance renters to take responsibility for their actions and the way they live in our neighborhoods. It’s not all about the rent check." ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com