Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Norristown landlords speak out on rentals
Owners criticize illegal practices in wake of fatal fire
NORRISTOWN >> Several Norristown landlords who comply with the municipality’s rental license and inspection program called a fire on May 7 that resulted in the deaths of four people in an illegal rental building an “absolute crime” and a “horror story.”
“It is an absolute crime that someone died in there. I feel bad for the families. I don’t know how they got away without getting a license,” said Michael Marchese, a West Norriton Realtor who owns two apartments in Norristown. “I don’t know how they did not get a license. Why weren’t there working smoke detectors? Why weren’t there working carbon monoxide detectors?”
Marchese said he pays for rental licenses every year.
“I only have two apartments. We make sure they get their smoke detectors,” Marchese said. “Last time the borough inspected the apartments they qualified for the rental license.”
Marchese also has two rental properties in East Norriton and in Avalon, N.J., and he complies with the rental inspection program in both locations, he said.
“I’m sure that there are other rentals in Norristown that don’t comply with the rules,” Marchese said. “If the town had more residential homes in town it would be in better shape.”
George Korkus, a Whitpain Realtor, owns four buildings in Norristown with 10 apartments.
“It is a horror story. Obviously he wasn’t complying with the rental program,” Korkus said. “I think everyone should comply with the inspections and the required smoke detectors.”
Korkus said it was “pretty easy” to comply with the annual inspection by code enforcement.
“We need someone to look out and make sure we do it right,” he said. “The apartment leases require tenants to maintain the batteries in smoke detectors. If a smoke detector goes out how are we (the landlord) going to know that?”
Korkus emphasized that tenants need to tell a landlord when there are problems with a rental property.
“There has to be some responsibility by the tenant,” Korkus said.
Young Kim, the owner of the illegal rental building at 825 DeKalb St., was cited Friday by Norristown code enforcement for operating an illegal rental building and failure to register for a rental license at a second Norristown building at 44 E. Oak St., said Michael Simonson, the manager of Norristown code enforcement.
The citations, which include fines ranging from $300 to $1,000, were sent to Magisterial District Judge Gregory Scott to schedule a hearing.
“I didn’t get clearance from the Norristown police to cite 825 DeKalb St.,” Simonson said. “They don’t want the civil penalties to jeopardize any potential criminal penalties. We already have the documentation to cite 825 DeKalb St.”
A spokesman for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said Friday that the investigation had not been completed yet.
Young Kim and Hyun Kim purchased the DeKalb Street home for $130,000 in April 2006 and it was listed as a “single-fam-
ily dwelling” on the May 1, 2006 use and occupancy permit.
“The owner never held a rental license on the property,” Simonson said. “It was an illegal rental property.”
Young Kim has not responded to attempts for comment through email, telephone calls and visits to the DeKalb Thriftway on DeKalb Street, which is also owned by Kim.
“This guy was not able to
pass inspections to obtain a rental license so he didn’t apply for it,” said Daniel DeCastro, the owner of three Norristown buildings with 12 apartments. “He didn’t care. He was just taking the cash. If this guy doesn’t do time I will be very angry.”
DeCastro said the inspection process gives a landlord 60 days to comply with requested repairs from code enforcement.
“They are really thorough. It doesn’t cost that much money to comply with the inspections by code enforcement,” DeCastro said. “You are not issued a rental license until
you pass inspections.”
DeCastro said he does not lose rentals to illegal landlords because he charges $895 to $995 for a one-bedroom apartment.
“I bring in people who are able to pay top dollar,” he said. “The type of person who this landlord rented to could not qualify for a rental apartment from me.”
DeCastro said the large number of rental buildings in Norristown and the small size of the code enforcement staff explained why the illegal rental was not discovered before the May 7 fire.
“There was no way the borough could know about this,” he said. “There are scumbags out there that can take advantage of that.”
Gary Grimm of Norristown, the owner of two Norristown rental properties, said, “I am awaiting the final determination for the cause of the fire, where it originated and if there were active smoke alarms in the building.
“This may help explain why these individuals were unable to escape from a rear multitiered building that individuals could have dropped from one story to the next to escape,” he said.