Write a commentMy first experience with a landlord was on Ontario Street in Oswego as a college student in the 2000s.
Excited to have an apartment, my friends and I signed a lease not knowing anything about what to look for before signing.
My first winter, I saw snow sneaking into my room between the window frame and the wall. It piled up for hours, the outside cold filled my room and heat escaped. I called the landlord to ask for help 11 times over 3 weeks, and left 11 voicemails but never received a response.
A family member suggested I buy insulating window wrap. I put it on all 5 windows in my room, which helped immensely. The snow still piled but it was warmer. A couple days later with no notice, while I was at class, the landlord entered my room, tore down the insulating wrap and filled some gaps with yellow foam. He never called back, never reimbursed me for the insulating wrap that he destroyed, and never acknowledged the issue.
A Code Enforcer looked through the house and told us that there were major violations. I asked what would happen, and she replied, "Probably nothing. He is close with the mayor and nothing seems to happen when people complain."
Today, we know about the exploitation and abuse local landlords commit. Doug Waterbury has a documented history of using cheap rent to solicit sex from people seeking shelter, of stalking, bribing, and harassing community members, and college students know how horrible the conditions are in his rentals. I experienced these conditions myself. No one should have to choose between sexual abuse or being unhoused.
Landlords sit on the Zoning Board of Appeals and work closely in local government to benefit their own interests, protect one another, and get inside information. These boards decide whether service providers, like Haven of Hope, get access to serve unhoused people. People are unhoused because of landlords, and landlords block people's access to homeless services.
We also know, thanks to iHeart Oswego, of the neglect and deprivation Dario Stipisic and Les Baker created in Country Haven Mobile Home Park (and others). Pictures and videos show the rat infestation that happened after they cut garbage pickup. Tenants complain about water being shut off due to pipe issues for hours at a time. Screenshots of emails and texts demonstrate how demeaning they are when people need help and answers.
We know there are other landlords who don't get discussed because people are scared to lose housing. We have a list of people we tell others to NEVER rent from, but it seems nothing is being done to stop these violations.
What does it take for the city, county, or state to hold landlords accountable for the conditions they create for their own profit and power, where tenants' health and stress worsen daily, when even code enforcers have no hope that anything will happen?
