Bucks County Slumlord Gets Shut Down By District Attorney
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Imagine circumstances in your life happened that you are literally a step away from being homeless. You live in an apartment building that is not fit for human habitation. In fact, at times it’s not fit for rodents to live in, that is why the fetid smell of human waste and dead rodents was prevalent during a recent inspection by Bucks County Authorities, when they shut it down.
There was no heat. That meant the six residents of the eight-bedroom building had to rely on space heaters. Those heaters were plugged into outlets with what the DA’s office called “unreliable”. If you don’t like it, you can leave.
Joe Khan, the Bucks County District Attorney filed civil enforcement action against the landlord for allegedly demanding rent from tenants subjected to an uninhabitable residential building in Dublin Borough. This marks the first time the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has utilized the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law to hold a landlord accountable for deceptive and unfair housing practices and appears to be the first action of its kind by a District Attorney’s Office.
The residents were told to gather their things and get out. The building at 113 South Main Street was condemned. The owners of the property, Richard Goetter, Ronald Goetter, had a business called R&R Enterprises, that collected rent from the tenants.
“This is one of the worst cases of squalor and hoarding that I have seen in my 45 years of law enforcement,” Dublin Borough Police Chief Michael Regan said. “While I have seen some single-family residences with these type conditions, this situation was unique in that multiple people were paying rent to live there and felt that despite the conditions they had no choice but to stay as the next step was to live on the streets. It was a tragedy waiting to happen.”
The building had no heat since 2013, Joe Khan said. The District Attorney’s Office believes there may be additional tenants who were subjected to these unfair and unsafe living conditions. Anyone who has previously rented a room at 113 S. Main Street and believes they are a victim of these practices is encouraged to contact the District Attorney’s Office. The District Attorney’s Office is seeking a permanent injunction, restitution for the victims, and civil penalties. Because several affected tenants are over the age of sixty, the defendants may face enhanced civil penalties of up to $3,000 per violation.