SCRANTON — In a new approach to crack down on the city’s worst scofflaw landlords, Scranton plans to hit them where it hurts — in the wallet.
Scranton may start seizing tenants’ rent from landlords who have not complied with the rental registration program and are chronically in arrears on city taxes and fees.
The city authorized this step about three years ago under a revamp of the rental registration program but never acted on it. That’s because the city was waiting until a lawsuit that challenged certain facets of the rental registration program concluded. That lawsuit recently settled in Lackawanna County Court.
The settlement coincided with reporting by The Times-Tribune in March and April on tax and fee delinquencies, including those of landlord Ken Bond and his PSN Realty Inc. of Bronxville, New York, that owed about $250,000 in delinquent trash fees and city, school and county taxes.
At the April 29 council meeting, Councilman Wayne Evans referenced Bond and PSN Realty in calling for the city to now seize rent from noncompliant landlords. This step would include having a code enforcement officer direct tenants of
unregistered units to send their monthly rents to the city. The city would set these rents aside in a rental escrow account until the scofflaw landlord complies with rental registration rules and makes good on delinquent city taxes and fees.
Evans said he drove around to get a look at PSN properties and found some vacant and blighted but others occupied by tenants and producing rental income for a landlord in arrears on taxes and fees.
“It is disgraceful that we are allowing this landlord, the worst of the worst in what he owes to the city of Scranton, almost a quarter of a million dollars, to operate and collect rents in some of his buildings, when we have an ordinance” to seize rent, Evans said. “So we can do it. We have the law on our side. We have the rules on our side. It just has to be enforced.”
In a phone interview this week, Evans said the goal is to go after big scofflaws for compliance and hopefully send a message to smaller ones.
“You go after the major offenders first because that’s where the impact will be felt. They have the multi-units,” Evans said. “It will trickle down quickly to every landlord in the city that this could happen. You have to make an example out of the larger ones because that’s where the impact is anyway. They’re generating income. These are fully operational businesses, not ‘Mrs. Jones.’”
Still untested
Whether it would work or withstand a potential legal challenge remains to be seen.
Scranton modeled its rental escrow on Kingston’s in Luzerne County. Officials there created the step as an enforcement tool several years ago, but have not yet seized any rent, said borough Administrator Paul Keating.
“Even though we came up with it, it’s still something that is untested,” he said.
Scranton’s ordinance says it is an “absolute defense” against eviction for a tenant following the city’s directive to send rent to the city.
As for whether the rental escrow move would put tenants in a tough spot, caught between their landlord and the city, Evans said he understands such concerns but the city ordinance protects tenants.
“The money doesn’t disappear. It goes into the escrow account until the landlord does what he’s supposed to have done all along,” Evans said. “Once it (rental escrow) happens a few times, the message will be clear that the city is serious about this issue.”
Reached by phone, Bond declined to comment.
On Monday, council introduced an ordinance to establish the rental escrow account. The ordinance will come up for a vote on advancement on second reading at council’s meeting Monday at 6 p.m. at City Hall. If advanced, the rental escrow account would go to a third vote on adoption June 24.
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