City Seeks Arrest Of Ex-Landlord Who Abandoned 16-Unit Building; Tenants Left Without Heat, Hot Water; Bidders Show No Interest At Foreclosure Sale

In Springfield, Massachusetts, The Republican reports:

• An Illinois-based bank has agreed to make repairs and correct code violations at [a 16-unit] apartment block on Belmont Avenue, replacing a landlord who is accused of abandoning the building and leaving tenants without heat and hot water the day before Christmas.

***

• Some families have “lived through chaos and fear” since the landlord, Paul Woodward of Dracut, apparently abandoned the building, said Assistant City Solicitor Lisa C. deSousa said, during the hearing before Judge Robert G. Fields. One family had to be moved to a hotel after their apartment was condemned recently due to severe water damage caused by a water pipe break from an upstairs, unheated apartment, deSousa said. Tejanae Wilson, among tenants attending the hearing, said there is mold in the building and trash piled outside. “It’s really disgusting,” Wilson said. “It’s a disgrace.”

***

• The city has been unable to locate Woodward, and will seek his arrest on a civil warrant issued recently by Fields. The bank is willing to take responsibility for the building after a recent foreclosure auction apparently found no successful bidders, Johnson said.

For more, see Banco Popular North America agrees to make repairs to apartment block at 65 Belmont Ave., Springfield. frozen pipe