A choose took the dramatic step of banning a landlord from an area market after years of neglect throughout his portfolio.
State Supreme Courtroom 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 town towards the owner, who continuously ran afoul of the code and tax authorities.
As a part of the ruling, Kletzky and his restricted legal responsibility corporations should promote to city-approved patrons 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 not gather hire 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 as a consequence of court docket orders.
The town sued Kletzky final March, demanding the owner’s eviction from town. Kletzky didn’t reply to the lawsuit, however filed for chapter safety, placing a pause on 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 town, a market he’s operated in for practically 20 years. In 2018, he pleaded responsible a yr after the Onondaga County District Legal professional’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 consequence celebrated by his successor, Sharon Owens.
“It is a clear message that the Metropolis of Syracuse won’t tolerate homeowners who disregard the legislation and endanger tenants,” Owens stated in a press release.
Landlord bans are a uncommon, drastic determination taken by municipalities to root out problematic actors. These to face non permanent bans in New York Metropolis embody Raphael Toledano and Steve Croman.
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