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Sons of woman killed by a crack addict at Charlotte complex are awarded $132,000 over claim of inadequate tenant screening.

By Ely Portillo
elyportillo@charlotteobserver.com

Negligence by the Charlotte Housing Authority led to an elderly woman’s 2007 death at the hands of a crack cocaine addict, a jury ruled Tuesday.
Attorneys sued the agency on behalf of the estate of Eva Dunlap Green, 63. She was strangled three years ago in her ninth-floor apartment at Charlottetown Terrace, a public housing complex for the elderly and disabled near uptown.

Her 46-year-old neighbor Kenneth Cyrus – a man attorneys said has a history of violence, drugs and mental illness – was convicted of her killing.
Jurors awarded Green’s sons a total of $132,000 – far less than the $10.4 million in damages they were asking for. Jurors said they couldn’t agree on a monetary amount, and the final figure was a compromise.

At issue in the two-week trial was whether the Housing Authority properly screened Cyrus before it let him live in the Charlottetown Apartments on Baxter Street.
“There were so many signs along the way that Kenneth Cyrus should not have been living in public housing,” said Green’s attorney Harvey Kennedy.

He argued that the Housing Authority violated its own procedures by doing only an N.C. background check – not nationwide – on Cyrus.

That check missed violent crime and drug convictions in Maryland that would have prevented him from living at Charlottetown, according to Kennedy.
The jury agreed. “We feel like (Green’s killing) could have been prevented,” said foreman Brian Henry.

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It’s a story ripped straight from the headlines and a haunting tale of what can happen if you don’t properly screen a potential or current tenant. The importance of maintaining a safe living environment for your tenants and their family cannot be stressed enough, specifically with regard to criminal activity. Criminal Background Checks have become a staple in today’s rental market for landlords and a fast way to protect yourself, your property and your tenants.

Comprehensive. Affordable. Detailed. These are qualities that you rely on when running a criminal background check on a potential tenant. Tenant PI offers instant & secure nationwide criminal background checks. You can comb through more then 300 million criminal records with over 3 million photos to view. In addition search the Nationwide Sex Offender Registry including 475,000 photos.

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Visit http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/46914772.html to read more about the above story.

Snag in tenant screening raises concern
Story by; Heron Marques Estrada, Star Tribune

During a lengthy police standoff with a tenant, Shane Schilling, on probation for attempted robbery, got into a standoff with police, threatening violence and promoting police to evacuate the building and barricade a surrounding street. No one was hurt in the incident, but Schilling was later charged with two felonies for making terroristic threats and illegal drug possession.

After reviewing Schilling’s rental application, the property manager discovered Schilling’s criminal history, but it was simply overlooked. His felony conviction should have prevented him from getting an apartment in the first place.

A subsequent review of all residents’ applications uncovered a convicted sex offender who has been living in another unit.
Visit www.startribune.com to read the full story

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The above tenants never should have been allowed to reside in the affordable housing development based on their criminal backgrounds history. If a detailed and comprehensive criminal background check had been performed, along with careful review of the tenant’s application, neither a convicted sex offender nor a convicted felon would have been granted housing. Applicants aren’t always forthcoming when revealing their personal history. Running a criminal background report is vital to help ensure your community is a safe place to live and reducing your chances of housing a dangerous tenant.

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This horror story comes from an actual court case (Rosales v. Stewart) whereby a landlord was held liable for injuries caused to a neighbor by his tenant. He was held liable because the landlord knew of the tenant’s dangerous propensities and failed to terminate the tenancy after acquiring the knowledge.

In this case, a neighbor’s child, a 10-year old boy, was killed by a gunshot fired by the tenant. The 10-year old boy lived in the house across the street. The landlord knew the tenant liked to discharge firearms periodically in his back yard. The landlord failed to evict the tenant once he found out that he was conducting dangerous activities on the property. The court found that the landlord was under a duty to third persons to remove dangerous conditions on the property, even if that meant getting rid of the tenant.

The lesson? A landlord must not allow a tenant who poses a danger to others to remain in residence. This would apply to a tenant who has a dog that is known to be vicious or has a history of biting people, for example, or a tenant who is known to be a reckless driver, as well as any tenant who poses a danger to others in any way.

Proper background screening is crucial not just for the safety of your tenants but for the landlords own liability.  Thoroughly screening each tenants background is vital to ensure a secure place to live and protect you and your tenants.

To learn about Tenant PI’s Nationwide, Instant, and Detailed Criminal Background Checks click here.

Source: Kentucky Landlord Solutions

http://kentuckylandlordsolutions.com/HorrorStories.html

ALTON – The recent arrests of two nonresidents at Oakwood Estates public housing complex is prompting the Alton Housing Authority to remind tenants that a strict drug policy applies to both them and their guests.

“All residents are required to sign the Anti-Drug Abuse Act (agreement) prior to moving into an apartment and during their re-certification each year thereafter,” said AHA Executive Director Andy Hightower. “The rules governing drugs in public housing are made very clear to all residents during their orientation. During the past five years, 14 residents have lost their apartments because of drug activities.”

The act dates to 1988, and gives public housing authorities legal right to evict a tenant if he or she, a household member, guest or other person “under the tenant’s control” is involved in or convicted of illegal drug activity on or near public housing. It defines drug-related criminal activity as use, possession, manufacture, sale or otherwise distributing an illegal or controlled substance.

The tenants’ obligation list, which is attached to the lease, includes an assurance that the renter, a member of the household or a guest will not engage in: “any criminal activity that threatens the health, safety or right to peaceful enjoyment of the Authority’s public housing premises by other residents or by persons residing in the immediate vicinity of the premises, or any drug-related criminal activity on or off the premises. Any criminal activity in violation of the preceding sentence shall be cause for termination of tenancy, and for eviction from the unit.”

Lisa Brown, AHA housing manager and program development director, echoed Hightower’s remarks.

“Part of this process is to continue criminal background checks on potential residents,” he said. “These background checks include charges for drugs and other criminal activity. Depending on the results of the background check, a person may be denied entry into the housing program.”

Following the arrest of two men and subsequent felony charges Aug. 21 of unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, Alton Mayor Tom Hoechst asked AHA officials about the drug policy at the housing units.

After the two men were arrested at Oakwood Estates on Aug. 20, police obtained a search warrant of an apartment at which one of the suspects’ girlfriend lives in the 900 block of Oakwood Road.

A summary on the search says police found a “Louis Vuitton male handbag” with a plastic bag inside, out in “in plain view” containing an “off-white, rock-like substance” that police later said tested to contain crack cocaine.

Check out Tenant PI’s instant and nationwide criminal background checks.

Linda N. Weller

http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/housing-31076-drug-activity.html

www.thetelegraph.com