There’s something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? That’s the problem for village of Saugerties officials looking to cite absentee landlords for violations like un-mowed lawns, trash strewn about the yard, unsafe living conditions, no smoke detectors and abandoned units. Building inspector Eyal Saad says at least one in 10 village rental units are owned by absentee landlords and are in violation of local code. (According to the census, just over half of the village’s 2,000 units are renter-occupied, with 150 vacant units.)
Saad said sometimes a tenant will abandon a unit and there’s no way for him to do a safety inspection.
“And the worst part is, I can’t get in touch with many of these landlords because they live out of the area,” an exasperated Saad said. “In some cases I have had to condemn the buildings because of the problems there; but no landlord to get hold of to tell them.”
Trustee Vincent Buono, speaking at the Village Board’s July 1 meeting, said, “We need to do something about this problem that is affecting a number of rental units in the village.”
The solution: require a landlord who resides outside of Saugerties to have a local contact person.
“That way we can get ahold of someone to come in and take care of the problem, especially if it is an unsafe condition,” Buono said.
A public hearing on the new law will take place Monday, July 15 at 7 p.m. at Village Hall, 42 Partition St.
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