Feb 19, 2005 By Paul Sunyak 4 min read

The Fayette County Housing Authority board of directors emphatically laid down its own law Friday, informing project managers and staff that it wants strict lease enforcement, including evictions for late payment of rent. At a work session held partly to follow up on security issues, the board also solicited crime-fighting ideas from the project managers and engaged in give-and-take conversation regarding eviction proceedings.

Department head Dennis Barclay, who oversees the project managers, noted that “zealously enforcing the lease” will get rid of more people but will not necessarily reduce crime. He advocated using late payment or nonpayment of rent as a targeted tool, aimed at eliminating tenants who were problems for other reasons.

“I’ve got more drug dealers (evicted) on rent than I have on drugs,” said Barclay. He also pointed to inconsistency among district justices – now called magisterial district judges – as a problem when it comes to evicting public housing tenants.

“Don’t think for one second that the magistrates have any consistency among themselves,” said Barclay. “They are a law among themselves.”

Solicitor John M. “Jack” Purcell said that all FCHA tenants have a right to “peaceful enjoyment” under the standard lease, and any tenant who violates that clause can be evicted. Purcell said that frequent visits by the police to a particular housing unit could trigger a successful eviction, even without citations or arrests.

“There does not have to be a citation. But we do need witnesses,” said Purcell, who urged housing authority employees to bring to his attention any eviction which they felt was improperly dismissed at the magisterial district level.

“If the district justices are unwilling to do that, you need to let me know, because we have a right to appeal (the matter to Commonwealth Court),” said Purcell.

Although Barclay said that mass rent-related evictions wouldn’t necessarily reduce criminal activity, board Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink, who has long advocated eviction proceedings for all lease infractions, said, “We want enforcement of the leases in all aspects.”

Board Vice Chairman James V. Bitonti added that he would like to see a streamlining of the eviction process, noting that the effort sometimes stretches into four, five or six months “before anything gets done.”

Bitonti noted that in those cases, the authority often ends up absorbing higher write-offs in terms of unpaid rents and physical damages to housing units.

Loweda Woods, manager at South Hill Terrace, said that installing a vehicle gate and small portion of fencing to keep motorists from driving around the gate, at a cost of about $30,000, might serve as a crime deterrent.

Purcell said that Brownsville Borough would have to vacate the street in order for gate installation, which would mean the housing authority would take over responsibility for maintaining the road. He added that the housing authority currently performs snow removal on the road anyway.

Department head Andre Walters suggested that the housing authority check with tenants to see if they approve of having a gate at the lone vehicle entrance to South Hill Terrace. But board member Beverly Beal said she didn’t think that was necessary. Other board members said that Mary Wertz, a longtime attendee of FCHA meetings who is active in tenant councils, had been supportive of such a gate.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Beal. “And I don’t think the tenants should have any say-so. It’s our property.”

Walters also supplied the board with a $913,200 cost estimate for installing new security cameras as a crime deterrent. If the board decides to pursue that measure, those cameras would replace existing ones that proved problem-prone shortly after their installation many years ago.

“None of these cameras have worked for (at least) the last five years,” said Executive Director Thomas L. Harkless.

Purcell stressed the importance of tenant screening in curtailing criminal activity and other problems in public housing. Purcell, who commended the project managers and FCHA staff for their work, said it’s easier to keep problem tenants out of public housing than it is to remove them once they’re in.

“Once we house somebody, we’re married to them. And it’s a hard divorce,” said Purcell, referring to an eviction process that includes tenant rights and frequently involves the legal system.

Zimmerlink, however, noted that it’s not impossible to weed out troublemakers, stressing, “But we can divorce them.”

Department head Dave Huston said it’s important for the housing authority to get comprehensive police crime reports, which aid project managers in the eviction process. He said the biggest problem in this area remains getting such reports from the state police.