Renting Homes In Foreclosure, Utility Shut Offs, Trash Accumulatons, Code Violations Among The Accusations Against One Landlord

In Adams, Massachusetts, The Berkshire Eagle has published a couple of articles recently that describe local code enforcers, legal aid attorneys and tenants reportedly having their hands full with the alleged conduct of local property manager and landlord Daniel Borer.

• "Every time (Borer) is not responsive to the tenants or our orders, tenants are suffering," said Scott F. Koczela, Adams code enforcement officer. "He shows up for rent, the tenants tell him about the problems, and guess what — he never comes back." Officials are tired of spending so much of the town's resources on one property owner, Koczela said. So now they're trying a new tactic in their struggle to protect the public health, and have gone to court to have the four properties put under control of a third party to bring them back up to code and ensure tenants' safety.

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• "The problem is, he keeps getting away with it," said North Adams Mayor John Barrett III. "The arrogant attitude he shows — he walks into court a half-hour late for his hearings. He has no respect for anybody. He has no respect for the local enforcement officers, no respect for the courts, no respect for the people he rents to."

Reportedly, one tenant, a widowed mother of three, is out nearly $6,000 because the apartment she rented from Borer was foreclosed on three weeks after she moved in. Another single mother lost $2,600 when she moved to North Adams thinking she had arranged for an apartment rental from Borer, but she learned there was no apartment at all, according to one of the articles.

Lack of heat & hot water, accumulating garbage, health and safety hazards and forced moves on short notice are among the alleged problems Borer's tenants, their advocates, and local officials are trying to address. For more, see:

• Town targets landlord,
• Landlord issues keep North County officials busy,
• Officials: Renters should know their rights.