RUMFORD — Seven landlords of Rumford buildings will soon receive letters from the town attorney advising them to bring their buildings into compliance for the safety of their tenants.
Selectmen voted 3-0 Thursday night to have lawyer Jennifer Kreckel write the letters to the following landlords after Code Enforcement Officer Rick Kent reported they’ve been unwilling to comply. They are:
* Sarah Broughton, owner of 649 Crescent Ave.
* Stephen W. Leavitt, owner of 226 Pine St.
* Spruce Street Associates, owner of 298 Spruce St.
* David Lafleur, owner of 412 Knox St. and 102 Lincoln Ave.
* Gauthama Thompson, owner of 344 Hancock St.
* Clyde Wardwell, owner of 246 Waldo St. and 46 Essex Ave.
* Stephen O. Cote, owner of 539 Somerset St.
Kent named them all in a letter to selectmen dated May 7. It was received prior to Thursday night’s meeting.
In that letter, he wrote, “One owner chose to have me leave and recently announced she was speaking with her lawyer; another has never responded to any of my attempts at contact.”
“A few of these owners have given a plan of correction and never followed through,” Kent said. “The one I find most interesting is the individual who decided to do nothing because he could not ‘afford’ to and proceeded to buy another building to which he still can’t afford to fix.”
Kent said that over the past few years, he has been conducting fire safety inspections based on the NFPA 101 Life Safety code for Rumford.
He said several landlords “bit the bullet and did the (required) renovations.”
“An exceptional amount of landlords have been working with me to bring their building(s) into compliance for the safety of their tenants,” he said.
However, Kent said that of the more than 150 buildings he’s inspected and reviewed for compliance, only the above seven owners “have been unwilling to be productive in this manner.”
Kent urged selectmen to take action to gain court order compliance. Should that not work, the last avenue is having the buildings vacated and demolished.
“He hasn’t had a response at the lowest level from those with issues,” Town Manager Carlo Puiia said.
Puiia said the next step is to involve the town attorney to ensure that life safety issues are taken care of and “those who rent are not being taken advantage of.
“Everyone should be assured that they live in a minimal amount of safety,” said Selectman Jeff Sterling, acting chairman of the board.
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