East End residents to be moved over housing conditions

More than 100 Homewood, Larimer and Garfield residents face relocation after their private landlord failed to meet housing standards under a public assistance program, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development reported Wednesday.

HUD said it’s drawing up plans to move 106 eligible tenants of Bethesda-Homewood Properties, citing “the owner’s continued failure to correct physical deficiencies.” Affected residences include small apartment buildings and row houses in 32 locations, according to Wilkinsburg-based Aishel Real Estate, which manages the properties.

“In accordance with HUD regulations, the property and grounds were to be satisfactorily maintained and managed,” the department said in a statement. “HUD takes the quality of life of residents very seriously. They have a right to fair housing that’s decent, safe and sanitary.”

The department provides subsidized housing for Bethesda-Homewood tenants under a Section 8 assistance program.

Mayor Bill Peduto’s office said it’s working with city Councilman Ricky Burgess and others to provide relocation support. The administration also is looking to “acquire the properties, improve them and return them to the affordable housing market,” the office said in a statement. It called conditions at the units “deplorable” and “unacceptable.”

Still, Chaim Davidson, a broker at Aishel Real Estate, said about 85 percent of the deficiencies cited by HUD “would probably not bother me or you in our home.” He said they included problems such as baseboard damage.

About half the remaining concerns were tenant-caused issues such as disconnected smoke detectors or blocked exits, Mr. Davidson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He said the

management had prioritized correcting “health and safety” problems such as a “leaking toilet, any water leak, true electrical issues.”

“We did address a good majority” of the repairs that HUD sought, Mr. Davidson said. “We could not address all of them. They decided it was taking too long.”

He cited “a shortage of funds” and said he tried to secure loans for more repair work. Yet HUD didn’t give him sufficient direction to satisfy prospective lenders, he said.

“We’re more concerned about [tenants’] safety than anything else,” Mr. Davidson said. He said the property managers would give tenants any information that arrives from housing agencies.

As for the individual owners of Bethesda-Homewood, Mr. Davidson identified them as a group of investors from New York. “That’s as much as I can share.”

HUD is holding meetings with residents to review relocation services, the mayor’s office said.