City files lawsuit over unpaid vacant property bills

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/01/2024 (646 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE City of Winnipeg’s recent campaign against derelict properties has brought it to court, suing the owner of a number of vacant inner-city houses for unpaid fees and reimbursement for bylaw inspections.

The statement of claim, filed Jan. 5 in the Court of King’s Bench, names John Stepien as defendant. The lawsuit is seeking a total $20,183, plus court costs, related to four properties Stepien owns.

Stepien had not yet filed a statement of defence in response.

Under the city’s vacant building bylaw, enforcement officers are granted powers to inspect such properties to enforce standards, which include maintaining boards blocking unwanted access via doors and windows and basic upkeep. They also issue an annual fee for the inspection.

The bylaw also allows the city to charge owners an annual empty building fee worth one per cent of the most recent property assessment, after the building in question has been inspected five or more times.

Darrell Warren, president of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association, has been working for years with the city to try to address vacant and derelict buildings and other blight in the neighbourhood.

He was encouraged to hear of the City of Winnipeg’s lawsuit over unpaid bills.

“I’d definitely like to see the city go ahead and crack down on these guys, it’s been a long time coming and they have to be responsible property owners,” Warren said Monday. “They should go after them hard… That’s money lost if they don’t pursue these guys and they need to collect.”

Warren added he did not want to paint all building owners as irresponsible.

“But there’s guys that just keep bucking the system, and we need to crack down on the ones that are bucking the system… that go ahead and scoff at the city and their bylaws and their rules.”

“In general, the city works closely with property owners to resolve bylaw and community safety issues, and only takes this step once other alternatives have been exhausted.”– city spokesperson Adam Campbell

A city spokesman said officials would not comment specifically on the lawsuit while it’s before the court, but added such a move is not the city’s first step when trying to collect vacant building fees.

“In general, the city works closely with property owners to resolve bylaw and community safety issues, and only takes this step once other alternatives have been exhausted,” Adam Campbell said Monday.

Campbell added 676 properties are currently subject to the vacant building bylaw.

In 2019, bylaw officers first inspected 253 Chambers St., between Logan and Alexander avenues, after neighbours told them the house had been vacant for about a year.

The officers found damaged siding, missing eavestroughs, a damaged roof, garbage on the property, boards on the windows and doors, and feces smeared on the interior walls of the house, the court papers allege.

Stepien owes $6,132 for five years of inspections of the Chambers Street property, the city’s claim says, plus an unpaid $720 empty building fee.

Bylaw officers have inspected a house at 444 Magnus Ave., between Powers and Salter streets, beginning in 2020. They found the residence boarded up, damaged and unoccupied, while garbage and furniture were on the property and combustible materials were littered inside, the court papers say.

The city says Stepien owes $3,714 for the Magnus Avenue house. The court papers also suggest the home is no longer considered vacant or has changed ownership.

The city inspected a home at 643 Dufferin Ave., between McKenzie and McGregor streets, four times from 2017 and 2020, finding it unoccupied and damaged, covered in fire damage and graffiti, while trash littered the property, the lawsuit says.

Stepien owes the city $4,655 for the inspections, according to the court documents.

Bylaw officers inspected 2183 Gallagher Ave., between Quelch and Vine streets, four times beginning in 2019, finding it damaged and partially boarded up.

The officers, according to the claim, found derelict vehicles parked on the property owned by Stepien, along with garbage strewn about and feces smeared on the walls of the building’s interior. The inspections cost $4,962, which has yet to be paid, the court papers say.

The lawsuit comes after the city recently moved to give its vacant building bylaw more teeth, as concerns over blight and fire dangers have grown in recent years.

City council voted early last year to amend the bylaw to bill owners for part of the costs of any firefighting on vacant properties.

Some property owners, however, have taken issue with move.

One who has been sent such bills totalling more than $100,000 told the Free Press last week she has tried to fix up her Elgin Avenue building, but it has been repeatedly targeted for arson.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca