A decide took the dramatic step of banning a landlord from an area market after years of neglect throughout his portfolio.
State Supreme Court docket Justice Joseph Lamendola dominated that Mendy Kletzky, a Brooklyn resident, should promote his 18 properties in Syracuse within the subsequent 90 days, Syracuse.com reported. The choice is the results of a lawsuit filed by the town in opposition to the owner, who incessantly ran afoul of the code and tax authorities.
As a part of the ruling, Kletzky and his restricted legal responsibility firms should promote to city-approved consumers and cease proudly owning residential and mixed-use properties in Syracuse. He’s additionally being fined $6.6 million for code violations and greater than $450,000 for taxes and utility payments.
Kletzky can’t acquire lease at his 12 occupied properties within the metropolis, both. Most of his properties are both one- or two-unit properties, although he additionally has a set of vacant properties and empty heaps, the latter a results of demolitions attributable to courtroom orders.
Town sued Kletzky final March, demanding the owner’s eviction from the town. Kletzky didn’t reply to the lawsuit, however filed for chapter safety, placing a pause on the town’s lawsuit. Kletzky didn’t take part within the chapter case, both, resulting in its dismissal final month.
Kletzky couldn’t be reached by the publication for remark.
Kletzky has lengthy been within the crosshairs of the town, a market he’s operated in for almost twenty years. In 2018, he pleaded responsible a 12 months after the Onondaga County District Lawyer’s Workplace charged him for failing to remediate lead paint issues.
In 2024, he confronted extra authorized proceedings and a name from the then-mayor to get Kletzky out of the rental market, a outcome celebrated by his successor, Sharon Owens.
“This can be a clear message that the Metropolis of Syracuse is not going to tolerate homeowners who disregard the legislation and endanger tenants,” Owens mentioned in an announcement.
Landlord bans are a uncommon, drastic resolution taken by municipalities to root out problematic actors. These to face momentary bans in New York Metropolis embody Raphael Toledano and Steve Croman.
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